Good to begin with but quickly went down hill!
After I found Amanda I was thrilled with what she explained she could offer our child whilst she cared for him. Her house was very clean and I felt like she would be a good fit with our family. Once our son had started it was very clear that when you try to communicate verbally with her about any concerns she takes things very personally and the break down in a professional working relationship case around fast due to this. Our child had a few instances where he came home injured, and I’m not oblivious to the fact children fall over and hurt themselves. However this happened one too many time and some quite bad injuries to our under 1 year old.
When I brought the last concern about our sons injury to her attention explaining I wasn’t happy, she decided to say that she will be terminating the contract as it doesn’t seem like I trust her to care for our son. Only when I mentioned the cat scratches that potentially came from her pets on my sons body did she decided to drop the bomb shell that she will be terminating the contract. I found this extremely heartbreaking and disappointing as a parent really does take a lot of time looking for a childcare provider and wasn’t expecting this. I had to adhere to her contract and for a further 4 weeks he attended her setting which was extremely awkward for me as a parent baring in mind she ended the contract.
I would say if you are a mum like me that is vocal and likes to talk openly to your childcare provider, Amanda is not the right option as she takes everything personally instead of just reassuring that she will keep an eye out for any concerns brought to her attention going forward.
There were many other issues such as saying her fees include all food. However for the 6 months my son attended I had to provide food and she only mentioned this after I had sighed the contracts and he started. She said because he isn’t weened. Overall I felt like I was sold a lie.
Ananda provides a written communication book where she writes daily food and nappy changes. Also any other thing she wants to communicate. She didn’t talk verbally at pick up unless prompted.I had to ask her that if he hurt himself or anything serious to actually verbally speak to me not just write it down and expect me to read when I got home. She seemed to understand this point intermittently.
Apart from the complete lack of understanding from a parents point of view, Amanda has taught Our son skills and he has progressed well in the 6 months he was with her. So academically I was satisfied. I’m sure he will miss the familiar face he has gotten used to.
I do hope Amanda can improve these flaws to make it a more pleasurable experience for the parents as well as the child.
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Overall
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Cleanliness
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Communication
Response from Amanda A
Responded
I have been a childminder for many years and pride myself on giving a good, high a quality service to all my parents, twice achieving an outstanding grading from Ofsted. This is the first time I have felt the need to terminate a contract with a parent. It was something I thought long and hard about but due to confidentiality I cannot explain openly the reasons for this but hope that as it is a first, and I have supported and worked with many families over the years, that in itself speaks volumes to perspective parents.
At pick up times, I still have children in my care who require my attention and supervising. It is therefore impossible for me to spend a long time at the door going through every aspect of a child's day. This is why I use a communication book, which has all the routine of a child's day such as food, sleeps, nappy changes and a brief description of what the child has done in it. When a parent picks up their child they are verbally informed of any significant event, such as achieving a goal, what their mood has been like and if a child has had an accident . If an accident has occured , parents are asked to sign an incident report detailing the accident and given a copy of the report. If, parents have any queries regarding the circumstances of the accident or how it was dealt with they can of course ask at this time. In respect to my cats, I never saw any evidence of a problem. The cats are rarely around the children, no concern was raised with me prior to me giving notice.
If a parent has a concern or needs a longer conversation with me regarding their child's care or their learning and development, I am always happy to give them a call in the evening when I am no longer supervising other children or can arrange a meeting at the weekend, when I can give that parent my full attention.
When I take on a young child, it is explained to parents that I only provide food once the child is fully weaned and able to eat from my normal menu, alongside the other children. This has always been my policy and whilst some parents like me to say what age this will be, I cannot define an age as this will be different for each child.
It has saddened me that I have had to give notice to a family, but I guess that one family in 14 years of childminding is a testament that the families I look after are generally happy with the service they receive from me. For perspective parents, I ask that you come and see for yourself what I can offer your child and make your own minds up.
