Emily

About Me

My name is Emily and after 13 years spent as an Early Years class teacher, I opened a childminding setting from my home and large woodland garden in East Grinstead.

The children spend as much of their day as possible outdoors, connecting with nature, in a wonderful natural garden with a (fenced off) stream, wild ‘meadow’, sheltered decked area and lots of amazing trees and wildlife to explore! They also have access to a dedicated indoor play space with open-ended resources and opportunities to engage in creative experiences including process art, music and storytelling. Most importantly they have plenty of uninterrupted time immersed in child-led play.

Children are also provided with:
- A caring, responsive adult and warm relationships
- Small adult to child ratios 1:3
- A rich child-centred learning experience informed by the children’s own interests and ideas
- Opportunities to grow their own food (a vegetable garden is our first project for next year!)
- Opportunities to engage in cooking, handwork and gardening
- Exploration of the local community including visits to local outdoor spaces
- Nutritious home cooked food and a thorough understanding of dietary needs (having Coeliac Disease myself)

I have a deep understanding of child development, how children learn and how to build on children’s interests to support them to have the richest play and learning experiences. I'm passionate about offering exceptional care and education where children are supported holistically with their emotional well-being as well as their learning and development. I left the teaching profession to raise my daughter (10 months) whilst at the same time being able offer the type of childcare that matches my values for early childhood care and education.

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage, but also take inspiration from for example, Reggio Emilia, Forest School, Pikler and Frobel approaches to early childhood and care.