Maria
Childminder in Sudbourne (also available for babysitting)
Female Member since Feb 2010 Last Updated Jan 2025 Last Login 07 Jan 2025
My Summary
About Me
Hi I am an Ofsted registered childminder just been graded outstanding in all areas on my ofsted inspection carried out 2nd February 2017. specialising in forest childcare. Forest childcare gives children the opportunity to spend time in the great outdoors on a regular basis. Outdoor play and outings can contribute to children's confidence, learning and health and most importantly help children to appreciate the natural environment.
I became interested in working with children twenty years ago when teaching English as a foreign language in Taiwan. After that I worked for social services here and then worked at local schools for ten years and I am a qualified higher level teaching assistant. I live in Sudbourne close to Orford, Snape, Saxmundhum and Aldeburgh. I live next door to the beautiful Tunstall Woods where the children will love to play and explore - I’m specialised in forest schooling with the children.
I have a lovely garden and 2 dogs - a golden Labrador and a cavalier King Charles spaniel.
I live with my husband who is also has an enhanced dbs check.
My Experience
i have a level 3 nvq in children and young people and over ten years working with children of all different ages and abilities - i have a degree course in child development, mathematics and the social sciences and am a qualified higher lever teaching assistant. I also have a certificate in forest school learning. I have attended many courses on management, behaviour, role play, sign language , safeguarding children ....and am trained in paediatric first aid.
My Qualifications
Ofsted registered childminder
Certificate in forest childcare
Quality assured network childminder - can take funded children
level 1 in home based childcare.
Accredited childminder.
level 3 diploma in childhood studies
crb checked.
certificate in fire safety.
certificate in safeguarding children.
qualified first aider.
higher level teaching assistant
Worked in schools for ten years
Follow eyfs every child matters
Open university degree level passes in child development, social sciences, mathematics and specialised teaching assistant
My Availability
i am available from 8:00am until 6pm Monday to Thursday
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Morning | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Afternoon | yes | no | no | yes | no | no | no |
| After School | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 07/01/2025 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £6.00 per hour
- Babysitting from £10.00 per hour
£6 per hour
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 Documents
- UK Passport [DELETED] (added 26/04/2019)
Reviews
5 out of 5
Parents say
The childminder receives consistently glowing reviews, praised for providing a loving, fun, and educational environment. Parents appreciate the regular updates, photos, and detailed daily reports. The childminder is described as caring, flexible, and passionate, offering a wide range of activities including outdoor adventures, trips, and learning experiences. Children are reported to be happy, developing well, and thriving in her care.
Summary generated by AI from the text of most recent member reviews
Latest reviews
Below are the latest reviews for maria. 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 daughter has been going to Maria's since the beginning of 2019, and we are so thankful for all the care, education and fun times she provides.
As I work as a freelance and my schedule is never the same, but Maria has been so accommodating and flexible.
We love the fact that she sends up pictures through out the day, so that we know what our girl is up to!
We love her!!
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Haruka
on 21/09/2019
Maria offers a loving home-from-home environment which our two children who are now 4 and 6 years old have been lucky to have benefitted from since they were babies. They absolutely love going to Maria's and regularly ask to go for extra days. She is extremely caring, enthusiastic and passionate about what she does and this is really evident in the quality care our children receive. Maria works really hard to ensure she offers the children brilliant opportunities to learn and develop all whilst having lots and lots of fun. She checks in regularly with parents to establish the children's current likes and interests so she can tailor child-led activities to each child's level or need. She provides lots of fun games to help them learn numbers, letters, colours, shapes, reading and writing, along with weighing/measuring, cooking, creative and messy play etc the list is endless really. We are always amazed by how much they learn each day when they are at Maria's.
The children spend a lot of time outdoors learning about the world, this could be anything from a treasure hunt in the park, putting on wellies and jumping in muddy puddles, trips to the beach, or growing vegetables at her allotment. She regularly organises trips to places such as the vets, fire station, optician etc, along with attending local children's groups. She also works closely with a local elderly care home which the children visit weekly and they get to do all sorts of activities, games and singing alongside the residents who they have developed lovely relationships with.
All this means she has been a fundamental part of getting our children ready for school, working with them on anything from counting or identifying letters to being able to do up their buttons independently. Additionally tools like circle time help the children develop in confidence, speak in front of their peers and to be able to sit and take turns and listen to others. To help them transition to school she suggested we bring a book bag each week (during the year they were due to start school) in which she puts a different storybook and related activity sheet to work on at home. She also suggests activities to try at home in line with the children's current learning needs.
Maria communicates with parents via a learning journal, which she fills in daily so you always know what has happened during the day, including what they have eaten (always healthy and homemade), whether they have napped, used the toilet, their activities and any observations. The aspect that we also love is the regular photos we receive during the day documenting exactly what the children have been up to, which really helps to know that they are happy and having a wonderful time.
Maria is awesome and we really can't recommend her highly enough.
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Aprilf
on 02/09/2019
From the moment my little girl started with Maria she loved it!
Maria collects my daughter from school and has her in the school holidays, she gets to experience so many different things whilst continuing her learning.
Maria caters for all weather's and the children are always out and about having fun, taking part in the community and learning skills.
I'm am kept up to date at all points throughout the day with photos of the fun my daughter is having.
I couldn't recommend her highly enough!
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Emma
on 26/08/2019
If you need a childminder Maria is your lady ! My child started with Maria after I came out of a relationship and needed childcare in order to go to work , Maria looked after my son whilst I went to work and my son (even though he’s at school now ) still asks to go see Maria . She has helped shape my child into the lovely little boy he is today . Maria is kind considerate ,caring ,understanding passionate , and just the most loveliest lady ever !! Maria takes the children on the most wonderful days out , does lots of fun activities with the children playgroups the list is endless !! I really recommend Maria she always has a smile on her face and has the biggest heart ever !! Your child will be nurtured with Maria what more could you ask for !!
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Lauren88
on 26/02/2019
Our daughter has been with Maria for a few months now. Wow she's come on leaps and bounds. She's only 21 months but everyday she suprises me. It can be tough leaving little ones when you are working but I couldn't fault Maria. She messages throughout the day with photos of my daughter and what she's up too which really helps when we miss her. We have a lovely diary to read when we get home too listing all her activities. From the moment we met Maria we knew she was the best of the best.
I love the fact the children are constantly doing activities and going out. Especially to care homes and interacting with the local community. Home cooked meals are fantastic too my little one loves Maria's cooking!
Such a lovely, caring and kind lady and great team with her mum and daughter.
Couldn't recommend enough :)
Xx
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Sophia
on 28/01/2019
Maria is well worth sitting on a waiting list for, along with her beautiful mother and daughter team.
The home environment is a well-equipped chaos of fun, learning and love.... but most of the time the kids are out and about anyway, in the park, woods, local care home or at a day trip to an educational venue such as a dentist, optician or even the AIRPORT (all arranged by this fantastic team). You get great pictorial updates throughout the day which is lovely to see and share as the children run around like a happy pack. My 2YO daughter has a group of friends that greet her at the door and take her in by the hand.... my heart melts every time. As far as learning goes, my daughter has learnt all her basic colours, can count to 15 and has more words in her vocabulary than most teenagers... so Maria must be doing something right :)
All food is prepared by Maria... some of the ingredients are picked by the kids in her allotment. It's fresh. It's healthy. The kids tend to eat a lot better there than at home!
In short, I could not recommend Maria enough.
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by
Julia
on 16/11/2018
As soon as we met Maria, we knew we didn't want our daughter to go anywhere else. Maria is such a lovely warm person and the biggest compliment is how much the children and parents love her.
Our daughter has been with Maria for over a year now and she loves going to Maria's. Maria makes sure the children's days are packed with activities and learning and keeps us informed of our daughter's progress towards milestones. We love getting pictures throughout the day and looking at our daughters book in the evening to see what they have been up to.
Maria lets us know what the activities and themes are for the week and I love that the children have plenty of outdoor activities as well as indoor, they go to the allotment, beach, park, library, and even the fire station. They also regularly visit the local care home and it is so nice to see the children interacting with the residents and having all these different experiences.
Our little one is so happy, confident and chatty and Maria is such a big part of that. I don't know how she does it!
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by
Parent
on 19/09/2018
We are so pleased we found Maria! Whilst we waited for a place in her setting we had to send our son to a nursery for 6 months, but since being with Maria he has been happier, confident and literally bursting with energy. If he could talk he would be telling us so much about his day. But we are part of it through Maria's updates throughout the day and it makes us smile to see how much he is doing and learning, and taking such a keen interest in all the new things he is taking part in.
Maria does so much with the kids and with so much passion,enthusiasm, creativity and energy, he has experienced so much more than the nursery could ever give him. One of the reasons we had wanted him to be with Maria is because of all the outdoor learning, and he really is getting that and exploring so much with all the toys in the garden, the beach, the woods, the allotment and transferring all this back to the house with displays and cooking. It is a great environment for him to be in and he loves Maria and the dogs so much!
If we can't be with him every day then we are very glad he is with Maria exploring the world and learning so much, he is a very happy, busy boy.
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Genette
on 17/09/2018
We met Maria when I was pregnant with our daughter, she had been recommended by friends that use her for their children, as I was going back to work after maternity leaving a 4 month old, I was very nervous about leaving my baby so young, but Maria has been brilliant!!! Amelie is now 17months and loves Maria! And her setting, she has so much fun! I wouldn’t trust anybody else to care for here whilst me and my husband are at work, they do so much activities and learning, even from a young age!
She really is a fab childminder!
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by
Wilson
on 01/07/2018
I was very lucky to find Maria through a friend who’s little girl already attends Maria’s setting. I warmed to Maria the moment I met her as did my son, who was 6 months at the time. He started 6 months later and like all first time mums I was a little anxious. Maria didn’t disappoint. He only attends one day a week and I feel at times he misses out by only going the once! Her days with the children are fun packed with activities, indoors and out. The children at the setting he spends his days with are well behaved which is a clear testament to the parents and of course Maria. It’s just perfect for Tommy, he is a real boy loving love and all it brings. Maria easily keeps Tommy entertained and fulfilled. I would have no hesitation recommending Maria. A fantastic Childminder. Tommy is one lucky little boy ?
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Parent
on 08/10/2017
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