Jen has been our childminder for several months now and our son loves. going to her. He attends her setting regularly and has a lovely time doing various activities whilst he's there such as walks in the park, going out to the farm, baking or just having a lovely play in the garden. Jen is very organised and has a wide range of toys available for the children to play with. She is very kind to my son but also expects to him to play kindly and fairly with the other children.
Jen takes a great deal of pride in her setting and has thought about the little details, such as the organisation of toys and having printed language around for the children to read. The day is well structured and she has very much listened to the routine we have at home and attempted to keep to this but will be responsive to his needs (for example putting him down for his nap when he needs it, not just at the time I have said he usually naps). She really thinks about the ages of the children that she has and what they might enjoy doing.
I find communication with Jen great. We have a little book where I find out all about what he has eaten, his mood, activities he has done and the all important nappy change info. This is brilliant as my little one is 20 months so can't tell us about his day. She also is available for any questions etc at the start and end of the day and is thoughtful to our needs as parents. Invoicing etc, is done by email and we have detailed contract and policies.
Jen really is lovely and at times I have had to work extra days and, when she has been available she has happily had our little one for us which has been a god send.
Marilyn works with Jen and my son also really likes her. It works brilliantly because sometimes the children will do activites in different groups according to age or, for example, when my little monkey didn't want to nap at the same time as the others, Marilyn took him for walk in the buggy.

Quite a detialed reveiw but the above are things I was looking for in a childminder so I thought it would be helpful to share the info with other people who are looking.

Thanks Jen and Marilyn for being super stars!