Claire
Childminder in Sutton
Usually responds within 5 minutes
Female Member since Aug 2022 Last Updated Nov 2024 Last Login 29 Nov 2024
My Summary
About Me
Welcome to my profile, I’m glad you’re here!
My name is Claire, I have been childminding since October 2022 and haven’t looked back since. My previous career was working as a registered nurse in the NHS. However, as I have 3 children it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage the demands of family life and continue my career in oncology nursing. Then Little Hedgehogs was born!
My setting is a true home from home and children will be welcomed with open arms. The children feel very comfortable with me and my family. We are a happy home full of love, laughs and children can be free to express themselves. I take the time to really get to know your child, likes, dislikes, favourite toys, activities, interests and build my relationship from there. I believe each child has their own unique interests and I follow their lead, children are listened to, understood, and validated here. The childrens mental and physical wellbeing is my upmost priority and in my setting we are working on the foundations to build children with confidence and self-esteem.
We are an inclusive predominantly outdoor setting, and we spend most of our time around the local area exploring nature and wildlife or in the garden. I take the children out in all weathers and all children are appropriately dressed in wellies and waterproof clothing which are provided by the parents. The children love our forest picnic with a story. I have a huge passion for children being able to play freely and allow their own imagination to shine through. The children adore the muddy puddles, having the freedom to climb, run, pick up sticks and leaves and work on those important gross motor and fine motor skills, we often bring out the mud kitchen accessories and the children love playing in the mud, the learning we do here is organic, not over planned, or rigid. There are 3 quotes I stand by, and I believe makes my setting special and unique.
“No such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing”
“Children are washable”.
“Children can’t climb the walls if we take them away”.
We meet up with other childminders and friends and do regular day trips such as National Trust Parks, Wisley Gardens, Farms, Chessington Zoo and lots of other exciting places!
On the days we do decide to stay at home, your children will have plenty to do. I have two dedicated rooms, one for eating, crafts and painting and a well resourced playroom to suit children of all ages, I adapt the space to the ages of children in my care and we do regular toy rotations to continuously spark new interests. We use tuff play and play trays for sensory play set ups and encourage the children to get stuck in! The dining/craft room leads onto a secure decking play area. Stairs leading down to a grassed area with a bespoke jungle gym complete with swings and monkey bars.
My Experience
A mother of 3 children is the best experience you can have, my eldest is almost 15, I have a 6 year old son and a 3 year old daughter. I understand the realities of working parents and how challenging it can be. Which is why I work so hard to keep your little ones happy, secure and very busy so you can go about your daily life knowing they're in safe hands. My last ofsted report was completed in October 2023. I was awarded an overall 'Good' score with some areas emerging into 'outstanding'. I am assessed every year to ensure we are working at the highest standards.
A copy of my report is available to you.
My Qualifications
Paediatric first aid course
Registered Nurse
Full childminder training completed including food hygiene, early years foundation stage and safeguarding children
My Availability
Tuesday to Friday 7.30am - 6pm
Minimum 2 days a week contract accepted.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Morning | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Afternoon | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| After School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 19/11/2024 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £8.50 per hour
£85 per day
All meals, snacks and activities included.
My Local Schools
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Cheam Fields Primary Academy
My Documents
- Childminding Agency Certificate (added 27/10/2022)
- Proof of Covid-19 Vaccination (added 22/09/2022)
- DBS Check (added 22/09/2022)
- First Aid Certificate: Paediatric First Aid (added 05/09/2022)
Reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Claire. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk users and not of Childcare.co.uk. Parents must carry out their own checks and references on childcare providers to ensure that they are completely happy before enaging in the use of their services.
So lucky to have our 2 girls with Claire. We really appreciate the openness and transparency shown whenever we’re discussing our girls development, current situations and future plans.
With Claire’s support and environment our first, who has needed additional support, has really improved her confidence and speech. The second is the juggernaut and adapted very quickly to being in full time care and now can’t wait to play with the others. The exposure they get is unrivalled. Best decision we’ve made.
Couldn’t be happier!
Thank youuuuuuu
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We feel so incredibly lucky to have Claire minding our two year old son. She is so kind, patient and caring with him. He struggled at the start leaving us and Claire was so understanding and reassuring. She sends lots of updates during the day and now our little boy walks in happily every morning. We love that she takes him exploring and really feel like he has grown in confidence.
Claire is so hardworking, you can see that this is a passion for her and not just a job. We have no hesitation in recommending her.
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Our son loves his 2 days a week with Claire. Claire is very warm and welcoming and treats the children like her own. We feel very confident leaving our 15 month old son in her care. She sends photo updates each day of what the children get up to. One thing we love most is the children are always outside in nature, rain or shine. Claire has also taken the children out on day trips, they are experiencing so much and we much prefer this type of setting over a nursery plus the children always get home cooked meals. We would recommend Little Hedgehogs to any local parents and are very happy with our choice 😄
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Our 4 year old son has been at Claire’s setting for the last year as wraparound care whilst attending nursery at a local school. He has really enjoyed his time there and loves Claire and her whole family. The children all clearly interact well and he’s never short of a story about what fun games they have been playing that day. It is a pleasure to know he is being looked after by someone who obviously takes such care in nurturing and developing his character and, most importantly, he is very happy there.
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by
Joanna
about
Claire
on 18/07/2024
Response by
Claire
on 18/07/2024:
Thank you so much for your lovely words. I hope he has a lovely start to his new class ⭐️
I will be forever grateful to have found Claire. Our son has ASD and through no fault of his own we found ourselves having to move him from a nursery without an alternative provision lined up. A couple of weeks later we were at our settling session and didn't look back. Claire was extremely understanding, patient and relaxed (in a good way) about his needs. She allowed him to be himself, explore and develop in confidence. Nothing made me happier than the days he spent running around forests and parks, eating picnics (and new foods!) clearly loving life. Having watched how unhappy my son had been in his final month at nursery and how distressing the environment has been, Claire's home was a sanctuary and he never looked happier.
I have no hesitation in recommending Claire, she was exactly what my son and I both needed ☺️.
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by
Hannah_T
about
Claire
on 18/07/2024
Response by
Claire
on 18/07/2024:
Hannah, thank you so much for your lovely review. Good luck to your beautiful son in his wonderful new setting 🥰
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