My Summary
*Current Vacancy Available*
About Me
I am a fully qualified Early Childhood Specialist and experienced Ofsted Registered Childminder, dedicated to providing exceptional early years education and care in a nurturing, safe, and stimulating home-from-home environment.
I have an expertise in caring for babies and toddlers aged 0–3 years and this is the age group Huggie Bears Family Childcare specialises in.
I offer high-quality early years education and care in a warm, safe, and stimulating home-from-home environment where babies and toddlers can truly thrive.
The first three years of a child’s life are the foundation for everything that follows, and I am dedicated to supporting every stage of your child’s development with sensitivity, patience, and purpose. My setting is carefully tailored to meet the unique needs of under-threes, blending gentle routines with rich, EYFS-aligned play experiences that inspire joy and learning.
With a strong foundation in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, I offer a carefully planned setting where children can learn through play, explore their creativity, and build their confidence — all while having fun!
I believe childhood should be magical, and my approach combines structured learning opportunities with the freedom to discover. Every child is unique, and I tailor care and learning to meet individual interests, needs, and developmental stages.
My approach:
• Specialist Care for Children Aged 0–3
I provide expert care tailored to the unique developmental needs of babies and toddlers. With a deep understanding of early attachment, sensory development, and responsive caregiving, I support your child through every important milestone in a calm, nurturing environment.
• EYFS-Aligned Early Education
All activities and routines are thoughtfully planned in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. Through age-appropriate, play-based learning, I support each child’s development across all prime areas — including communication and language, personal and social development, and physical growth.
• Outdoor Learning and Forest School Approach
Outdoor play is an essential part of our routine. Inspired by Forest School principals, I offer enriching, nature-based experiences that promote curiosity, independence, and physical development, encouraging children to connect with the natural world in a meaningful way.
• Safe, Stimulating Home Environment
Huggie Bears Family Childcare offers a warm, welcoming atmosphere designed specifically for under-threes. It provides a secure space for rest, play, and discovery, with carefully selected resources that inspire imagination, encourage exploration, and promote holistic development.
My Experience
With over 25 years of experience in early years education and care, I have had the privilege of working across a wide range of early years settings in England, Ireland, and Germany, gaining valuable insight into diverse childcare practices and cultural approaches. My career has taken me from hands-on roles with babies and toddlers right through to Nursery Manager, giving me a deep understanding of what high-quality care looks like at every level.
As an Ofsted Registered and fully insured Childminder, I now specialise in caring for children aged 0–3 years, providing a warm, nurturing, and developmentally supportive home-from-home environment. I hold a Paediatric First Aid qualification, and my setting is carefully designed to meet the specific needs of young children.
Children benefit from a dedicated playroom filled with age-appropriate resources to encourage learning through play, a separate sleep room to ensure restful naps, and a large, secure garden for safe outdoor exploration. I focus on building close, trusting relationships with both children and parents, ensuring that every child feels secure, valued, and supported in their individual development.
My approach is child-centred and family-focused, with a strong emphasis on working in close partnership with parents. I consider clear, open communication is key to ensuring continuity of care and supporting each child’s individual needs. I provide regular updates, encourage daily feedback, and work closely with families to align routines around sleep, feeding, and development—helping to make transitions smooth and consistent between home and the setting.
I follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to guide learning and development, tailoring activities to promote key early skills such as communication, movement, social-emotional growth, and early curiosity.
Daily routines are structured yet flexible to meet the individual needs of each child, helping to support emotional security and confidence.
Healthy growth is supported through nutritious, home-cooked meals prepared daily, with attention to dietary needs and weaning stages.
My goal is to provide a caring, consistent, and stimulating environment where each child can flourish during their most formative years. This is enabled through the creation of a warm, friendly and professional home-from-home environment where every child feels safe, valued and supported.
My Qualifications
E.Y.P.S. - Early Years Professional Status
B.A. Degree Early Childhood Studies (Hons) (Level 6)
Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy (Mont. Dip.) (Level 4)
Diploma Nursery Nursing (N.N.E.B.) (Level 3)
Certificate in Childcare (Level 3)
Certificate in Home Based Childcare
Advanced Forest School Leaders (Level 3)
Elklan Speech and Language Supporting Language and Learning for 0-3’s (Level 3)
Principles of Special Educational Needs - Early Years SENCO (Level 3)
Safeguarding - Designated Safeguarding Lead
Paediatric First Aid
Food Hygiene & Safety Level 2
AET Level 3 (Adult teaching award)
CAVA (Assessor award – Adult training & education)
Previously lectured on Early Years Education and Care (Childcare) courses.
Numerous other Continuous Professional Development courses completed.
Former Area Lead for the Department for Education Childminder Mentor Programme.
National Literacy Trust Early Words for Childminders Programme - Part of a four year project (2025-2029).
My Availability
*One vacancy available *
Full days only - no half day sessions available. No Term-Time.
If you require different to the availability above, please use the 'Contact Us' page of our website and state you wish to be added to our waiting list. Minimum of two days per week for children in the early years.
Opening Times: Monday to Friday 7:00am to 7:00pm
Overnight Care also available
Full day care for children aged from 3 months to 3 years in full-time or part-time placements.
Overnight Care
Weekend Care
Bespoke Childcare packages
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Morning | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Afternoon | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| After School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Last Updated: 05/06/2025 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £12.50 per hour
Huggie Bears Family Childcare offers a fully inclusive service.
Fees include: meals, baby formula (up to twelve months old), nappies, wipes and creams. Please contact us for our current fee structure.
I am registered with Wandsworth Council to deliver the Working Parent Entitlement, offering 15 and/or 30 hours of funded childcare. Additionally, I am registered with HMRC to accept payments through the Tax-Free Childcare scheme.
My Local Schools
This childminder has not yet informed us whether or not they provide any drop off or pick up services at local schools.
My Ofsted Inspections
The inspection grades below have been obtained from the Ofsted website based upon the registration number the childcare provider has provided to us. You should verify this information yourself prior to using the childcare provider.
My Documents
- DBS Check (added 16/05/2025)
- Ofsted Certificate (added 16/05/2025)
- International Passport (added 16/05/2025)
Reviews
4.94 out of 5
Latest reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Huggie Bears. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk members 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.
Our son has been in Huggie Bears care for more than a year now (since he is 9 months old), and we could not be happier with the care he has received. Our son always comes home happy!
Huggie Bears home is always welcoming, clean, and well-organized. It provides plenty of toys, role play stations and a cozy area filled with books.
Weekly activities at the library, forest school and playgroup provide a great balance with his time at the setting.
Geraldine is extremely supportive, knowledgeable and provides plenty of information to help with any question regarding our son's development.
We are kept updated of his activities, sleep and feeding through his daily dairy and tapestry online account.
We highly recommend Geraldine to any parent looking for a professional, trustworthy and caring childminder.
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by
Jaye
on 27/11/2024
Our son has thrived at Huggie Bears Family Childcare for the past two years since he was 10 months old. It has been wonderful to see the relationship our son and other children at the setting have with the childminder. The environment is stimulating with daily activities, weekly trips to the library and forest school and regular excursions to the theatre and Museums. We felt fully supported by the setting with key milestones such as potty training. When our child was ill, we have been contacted promptly and his needs met by adjusting his routine/food etc.
Our son has done exceptionally well with the care and attention at Huggie Bears. Everyday, he has a variety of rich learning experiences and his developmental needs have been challenged and tailored. For example, Geraldine purchased 25 piece jigsaws to expand on our son’s advanced interest in this area.
We would not hesitate in recommending the childminder and hope to send our second son there.
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Evelyn
on 02/08/2023
After a difficult first experience at a nursery, we knew we had found the right place when we came to Huggie Bears and I thank my lucky stars that Geraldine had a space for us! Our son has been at Huggie Bears for more than two years, since the age of ten months. We couldn't have been happier with his and our experience. The level of care is exceptional and he has thrived in this positive, nurturing environment. Geraldine's planning and communication is meticulous and the range of activities and opportunities that our son has enjoyed during his time at Huggie Bears has been wonderful - over and above what one could expect. The weekly forest school and trip to the library provide a perfect balance to time in the setting, where the children also enjoy activities in the garden daily. Geraldine fosters an excellent rapport with the children she cares for; our son has bounced in since his very first day and loves his time there. He has firm bonds with the other children at the setting and has benefitted considerably from the small but welcoming environment. As parents we have been thoroughly supported with any question with regards our son's development and we have kept up to date with his daily activities and mood through the daily diary and his tapestry online account, which we have found both useful and reassuring. I trust Geraldine completely, and can't recommend Huggie Bears highly enough.
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Eliza
on 11/05/2020
Our daughter (20 months) has been at Huggie Bears for 6 months and it is a wonderful place for little ones. The only reason we are taking her out is because we are moving abroad. She has really flourished while there and I am sad to be taking her out! I feel that she has learned a great deal, she has been really well taken care of, she has done lots of activities pertinent to her age and has been cared for in a warm and loving environment. The actual setting is fantastic, with lots of spaces for learning, reading and an outdoor area for summer activities. The childminder takes amazing care of the kids - my daughter always came home well fed, clean and very happy! We even got little drawings and cards from her for different holidays. The communication between parents and childminder is excellent - so you know what they have done during the day, eaten and anything that is going on with them. I would highly recommend Huggie Bears to anyone and I would certainly put her back in if I had the chance.
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Chigno
on 19/07/2019
Our 18 month old son has attended Huggie Bears for the last 8 months and we couldn't be happier with his progress in this time.
Geraldine's professionalism is matched by her enthusiasm for the personal development of our son, providing regular, comprehensive feedback on his progress.
Geraldine plans many developmental activities in the setting with visits to local playgroups and trips to the local parks however what is most encouraging for my wife and I, is seeing how happy our son is every morning on drop off and evening on collection from the setting.
I can highly recommend Geraldine and Huggie Bears.
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by
eoing
on 11/07/2019
Our 3 year old girl has been with Huggie Bears Family Childcare for over a year now and we think it is exceptional. Our little girl loves her days with Geraldine and has progressed considerably since she joined. The amount of support is over and above what is expected. We were even supported along the process of exploring if our daughter had delayed speech development. She has come on leaps and bounds and we are convinced that there isn't a better place for her to develop her social and life skills than at Huggie Bears. Safety standards and overall professionalism are relentless and we couldn't be happier.
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by
Parent
on 29/05/2018
We highly recommend Huggie Bears Family Childcare. We trusted our 1-year old son to the care of Geraldine for 3 days a week, and were extremely impressed with the happy, nurturing and safe environment she provided.
The activities on offer really helped with our son’s development, and we saw huge progress within a very short space of time in terms of his speech, memory recognition and confidence. We are especially pleased with the bond between our son and Geraldine, which can only be a result of the quality time she has spent with him. To add to this, daily reports about nutritional meals, activities undertaken and nap times have been a great help.
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Kyly
on 29/04/2018
Geraldine is a highly competent childminder.
She takes good care of every single aspect of a kid's daily needs.
She knows how to teach them the appropriate behaviour, how to express themselves and how to be independent.
The food she provides is all fresh and of high quality.
The entire environment is clean and very hygienic.
She gave me loads of good advice anytime I asked for it.
I surely recommend her, my daughter was happy there.
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by
Parent
on 11/09/2015
In November 2014, we trusted our son to the care of Huggie Bears Family Childcare. We have never regretted or felt disappointed with such decision.
Huggie Bears childminder spend quality time and have done an incredibly professional job in developing our little one's skills.
On top of all her dedication to our son, and to all other babies and toddlers under her care, she has always been available to give us, and other parents, advice and feedback based on her experience and knowledge. We appreciate the way she does it and the methodologies she uses for that effect.
Moreover, Huggie Bears offers all the required facilities to give children a safe environment whilst keeping a comfortable environment for them to feel like at home.
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by
Parent
on 22/08/2015
We were looking for a childminder for our 10 months old daughter. We wanted someone who could provide a safe environment, was passionate, caring and committed. When we met Geraldine at Huggie Bears we felt she ticked all boxes. Now, 7 months later, we know we took the right decision and are very happy with the dedication and care our daughter gets.
Geraldine is very thorough, professional and has a great eye for detail: we get a daily diary that tells us how the day's been and are punctually informed of anything that's significant.
We have got no hesitation and highly recommend Huggie Bears!
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by
Maggimo
on 13/07/2015
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