Teacher By The Brook

Definitely home away from home (and more!)

Zehra has most certainly provided a home away from home environment and has heavily invested in the development of our child.

Our child started with Zehra during covid. Although he was not used to being around unfamiliar faces, he warmed to Zehra quicker than we had expected. He will be starting school soon and will hugely miss Zehra, the setting and his friends. Already he asks us to drop him at Zehra’s on the days she is closed!

Zehra’s use of the Montessori approach enabled our child to develop his own interests which Zehra encouraged him to explore. Zehra encourages outdoor learning and has taken the children to the Gruffalo park, the farm, white water rafting and other places. As the children were learning about dinosaurs Zehra took them to the natural history museum. Our child loves cooking with Zehra and often talks about how delicious her foods are. Zehra allows him to learn at his own pace, for example, if he was uninterested in an activity being explored with the other children, Zehra allowed him to pursue his interests. We can see how he’s grown in confidence and developed overall. Zehra has highlighted areas we could work on to support our child’s development and to grow in independence. He loves going to Zehras, seeing his friends and also to spend some time with Zehra’s family. Our child often talks about Zehra’s children and husband with great excitement. He often comments he plays football with them. Leaving your child with someone is a difficult choice for parents, however, we are happy we chose Zehra and know he and his needs are well looked after once he is dropped off. We would highly recommend Zehra. Thank you Zehra for everything!

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by Shahida on 10/07/2023

Definitely home away from home (and more!)

Zehra has most certainly provided a home away from home environment and has heavily invested in the development of my child.

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by Shahida on 10/07/2023

Outstanding childcare provider!

We are very thankful to Zehra for taking care of our children and would love to share our experience with other families looking for outstanding and safe childcare in the area.
We have two children that Zehra is currently taking care of. Our daughter has been there since she was 2.5 years old (currently – 4, starting school in September) and our baby son joined them at the age of 1. They are both attending full-time.
Both my daughter and my baby son absolutely love going to Zehra’s. As a family, we appreciate the care, consideration, reliability, and support that Zehra provides. I love that she offers the best of both worlds – reliability, and structure of a nursery (very important for working parents!), but also personalised, nurturing, and child-focused home environment.
Here are a few more detailed comments to help you decide:
1. Activities & learning– days are well structured with a variety of indoor/outdoor activities, regular visits to a local library, parks, soft plays, and further afield. Daily age-appropriate learning. Zehra noticed that my baby boy needed a little help with developing his fine motor skills and tailored activities accordingly. My daughter is well prepared for school, loves learning, recognizes and blends letters, understands numbers and basic calculations, and can hold her pen and scissors well, all thanks to daily practice with Zehra. Children often do cooking and baking activities as well as crafts. I feel there is a good balance between learning and free play.
2. Setting – a beautiful big garden that is set up for children’s play– mud kitchen, outdoor toys, gardening, Wendy's house, climbing etc. Very homely, clean, and tidy environment. Both of my children are active – Zehra manages to keep them busy and engaged.
3. Zehra sets up very clear boundaries and rules. Children know what is expected of them and are encouraged to participate and contribute. She promotes kindness, respect, and empathy as well as doing activities that teach patience/waiting for your turn.
4. Feedback – she uses Babydays app to keep us updated on daily activities. We receive a number of photos and videos daily, as well as detailed info about the menu & activities.
We feel so lucky to have found Zehra, she plays such an important role in our family’s life and is an asset to the community. We highly recommend her childcare setting!

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by Roma on 13/06/2023

A home from home

We can’t thank Zehra enough for everything she’s done over the past 3 and a half years.

Finding the right childcare setting for our 1 year old felt incredibly daunting - we met several childminders and nurseries - but as soon as we entered Zehra’s we knew this was the perfect place. The smaller-supportive setting, the creative activities available, and Zehra’s nurturing approach was evident from the outset. Zehra and her family couldn’t have been more welcoming!

Communication was great - from sending text updates to reassure me on the first week to regular food diaries and photos on a secure website as well as check-ins at the end of the day.

Zehra recognised that Edie would benefit from being more assertive and supported her (and us) to achieve that which made a big difference. The routine provided Edie with stability, increasing her independence and confidence - singing songs together in the morning, learning numbers, letters, how to write her own name, creative play, preparing her own snacks and going to the toilet on her own. She couldn’t be more prepared for school!

In addition the trips to local playgrounds, farms, even a trip to Buckingham Palace made it feel like a home from home. Edie has made friends for life at Zehra’s. Thank you for everything! We will miss you.

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by Louise on 07/09/2022

Wonderful Montessori home away from home

My daughter Ella started at Zehra's just before turning 2. As first-time parents, we wanted to find a nurturing home away from home that would allow our daughter to learn in a creative and engaging way. At Teachers by the Brook, Zehra carefully plans daily activities to ensure that the children in her care reach their EYFS milestones, and more - she takes them out to local parks and playgrounds almost daily, and they spend lots of time exploring her incredible garden which is pretty much every child's dream! Ella absolutely loved her time at Teachers by the brook. She stayed in Zehra's care for over two years and even today, she keeps asking after Zehra and the children, and often wants to paint them a picture or send them a photo of what she's doing.

From a parent's point of view, I found Zehra incredibly approachable and trustworthy. She kept us posted on Ella's progress - via photos and a summary of activities and how well Ella did. She also offered advice to help us figure out various life milestones like toilet training, welcoming a baby sister and more.

We were sad to have to leave Zehra and move overseas, and are so thankful for the two and something years of help and support. She's an amazing childminder and person, and highly recommended!!

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by Katerina on 13/06/2022

Exceptional care

I enrolled my son at 18months and he was in Zehra’s care until he joined nursery at 3. He loved every day and the happiness on his face when he would see her allowed me to go to work reassured and happy. She followed the eyfs milestones and ensured his learning was inline or above the expectations of his age through fun and engaging activities. All activities are planned with individual children’s needs in mind. She enriched his learning with visits to local parks and play centres and ensured he was always fed on a healthy meal plan. She fedback daily on his progress even done the toilet training! Zehra was always on hand to give advice and even though I live 35 minutes away and there were closer childminders I would each day happily drive out of my way to take him to her. I highly recommend her.

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by Emine on 19/04/2021

Excellent care and learning in a homely setting

My youngest daughter has been looked after here for 2 years and I can honestly say I would recommend Zehra whole heartedly. She is kind, caring, passionate, thoughtful, enthusiastic and brought my youngest daughter on in leaps and bounds. I was worried she was missing out by not going to nursery but in this setting she covered numbers, letters, shapes, getting dressed, putting your shoes on, everything. My little one loves her as does my older child who has wrap around care supplied here.

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by Parent on 06/09/2018