Latest Reviews
Here are some of the latest reviews that we have received from parents who have used childcare providers and tutors listed on Childcare.co.uk.
Rating Distribution
4.9 from 75,083 reviews
We are very happy with the care and support Sylvia has provided to our son Abhay. From the beginning, she has been kind, caring and patient with him and we have always felt that Abhay is safe, happy and well looked after in her care.
Abhay really enjoys his time with Sylvia and looks forward to going to the childminder. We have noticed a positive change in his confidence, learning and social skills since he started. Sylvia takes the time to understand his interests and encourages him to learn and explore through fun activities.
We really appreciate the regular communication and updates about Abhay’s day. It gives us great peace of mind knowing that he is in such a caring and supportive environment.
Thank you, Sylvia, for everything you do for Abhay. We would happily recommend Sylvia to other parents looking for a caring, trustworthy and dedicated childminder.
To Whom It May Concern,
I am delighted to provide a reference for Martina Demjanova, who worked as a childminder for our family from June 2017 to September 2021.
Martina cared for our two children, who were aged two and four when she started working with us. She was an incredibly important and valued part of our family for the four years she was with us, and we would highly recommend her to any prospective employer.
Martina is a kind, loving, creative and fun childminder who genuinely cares about the children in her care. Our children always looked forward to spending time with her and were happy, engaged and well cared for when they were with her. She brought a wonderful sense of fun and creativity to their days, while also providing a safe, structured and nurturing environment.
Her responsibilities were varied and included taking sole responsibility for the children when my husband and I were working all day, as well as during school holidays. During term time, she took our eldest child to and from school and managed the children's busy schedules, including swimming and dance lessons. She organised playdates and outings to parks, galleries, museums and other activities, always making sure the children had interesting and enjoyable experiences.
Martina was also responsible for many aspects of their day-to-day care, including cooking meals, helping with homework and reading, and taking the children to various appointments when I needed to work extended hours. We trusted her completely to manage these responsibilities independently, and she always did so with care, good judgement and a calm and positive attitude.
One of the things we particularly valued was Martina's willingness to go above and beyond when our family needed her. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she stepped up and provided invaluable additional support, helping us to keep everything running so that my husband and I could continue with our work and responsibilities. Her flexibility, reliability and positive attitude during such an unprecedented and challenging period meant a great deal to us.
Martina was also extremely tidy and respectful of our home. She took pride in keeping things organised and left the children's areas and our home neat and well looked after. She was conscientious and responsible in all aspects of her work.
Throughout her four years with us, Martina proved herself to be loyal, reliable, trustworthy and hardworking. She communicated well with us as parents, and we always felt confident that our children were safe and in excellent hands. Most importantly, she developed a lovely bond with both children, and we knew they were genuinely happy and cared for when they were with her.
We would highly recommend Martina without hesitation to any family or prospective employer. She was a wonderful childminder and a valued member of our family, and we are very grateful for all the care, support and happiness she brought to our children's lives. We feel very fortunate to have had Martina looking after our children during such an important part of their early years.
Please feel free to contact me should you require any further information.
Yours faithfully,
Jean
JC77
As parents we are always worried about our children, but Zafreen has always assured me that my baby is in good hands and my little one’s reaction whenever she’s dropped off is proof! The environment is safe and filled with educational and fun activities for all babies. I’m always kept up to date on how my little one is doing through videos and interactions with Zafreen. That’s my babies second home!
Safiya
Shaz has been absolutely wonderful with my 3-year-old daughter. She was very caring, attentive and interacted with her really well. She spent time playing with her and made her feel comfortable and happy. My other children also really like Shaz and enjoy having her around. I’m very pleased with her and would definitely recommend her to other families.
katie
My daughter started with Carmen and Marta just after her first birthday, and stayed with them until she left for "big school" at three and a half.
Carmen and Marta gave her such incredible loving care and really helped her to grow and develop. She has left Carmen and Marta's a confident, curious child who skips into school every morning and is independent and capable in a school setting.
The small scale of the setting allows the children to develop close bonds, like an extended family, which was important to us as our daughter was our first child and didn't have siblings at home. It also allowed her to receive lots of one-to-one care and attention, with Carmen and Marta helping her to learn to eat, play and clean up after herself independently- toilet training, in particular, was easy with Carmen and Marta helping so much during the daytimes and she learned quickly and painlessly under their care and attention.
They also build in so much fun and joy to the day, with stories, dancing and play, as well as opportunities for learning in and out of the setting; trips were planned and undertaken successfully to the zoo, to post letters to Santa, and even on the cable car at Greenwich! I don't know how they did it with a string of little ones, but they were all safe and happy throughout, and our daughter came home bubbling over with stories and excitement.
Thank you so much, Carmen and Marta, for everything you've done for our daughter. We can't wait for newborn son to start with you next year when he is one!
Unfortunately, our experience was disappointing. We hired her for regular part-time childcare and, after only two days of working with our family, she informed us that she had decided she could no longer continue because she could not balance the role with university and her other commitments.
Even if she seemed to be very kind and friendly with our son, what was particularly frustrating is that the hours and the part-time nature of the position were clearly discussed and known before she agreed to take the role, so there had been no change to what was expected of her.
In addition, only after she had started working with us did she mention that she would be unavailable for around 10 days shortly before half term. This had not been communicated when we discussed the position and agreed for her to start.
Of course, we completely understand that someone may reconsider a role or realise that it doesn’t work with their other commitments. However, given that this was a childcare position and a family is relying on that person, we would have expected some consideration of the impact on us — for example, offering a short notice period or some temporary flexibility while we found a replacement, rather than simply informing us that she would not be coming back.
Reliability, transparency about availability and reasonable communication are extremely important when arranging childcare. Unfortunately, after only two working days, we were left having to restart our search at very short notice.
Based on our experience, I would not recommend her for a family looking for consistent and dependable ongoing childcare.
Artemis
Hayley is truly one in a million! she genuinely cares about Leyland and has played such a huge role in his development, confidence and happiness over the years. He absolutely adores her, and knowing how safe, loved and happy he is in her care means the world to me as his mum. I couldn’t recommend Hayley highly enough; she has gone above and beyond and we feel incredibly lucky to have her. ❤️
Chelsea
We booked a wedding sitting session - 8 hours was there through the ceremony to take my daughters 8 month olds who was hangry, give bottle and popped to sleep. Through the meal/speeches We also booked a cosy corner with toys, books, crafts and a tent, which children loved as they wandered about and relaxed away from the noise. Fab
Diana has been helping me look after my one-year-old son, Kyrie, and she has been brilliant. She is reliable, caring and patient, and most importantly I feel completely comfortable leaving Kyrie in her care.
She has built a really good relationship with him and has been great with his evening routine, including dinner, bath time and getting him settled for bed. She is also very helpful around the house once he is asleep and always communicates well with me.
I would happily recommend Diana to any family looking for someone trustworthy, experienced and genuinely caring to look after their child.
My son has been with Muna since he was one year old, and we have had such a positive experience with her.
Before moving to her setting, my son briefly attended a nursery, but since being in her care I have seen a significant improvement in his development, particularly in his fine and gross motor skills. Muna has supported and encouraged him incredibly well, and it has been lovely to see how much he has progressed and grown in confidence.
Most importantly, my son has developed such a strong and loving bond with her. He has become very attached to her and genuinely loves being in her care, which gives me so much reassurance as a parent.
Muna is caring, attentive and genuinely invested in the children she looks after. I am extremely happy with the care and support she has given my son and would highly recommend her to any parent looking for a nurturing and supportive childminder.
Our child was cared for by Nina and her team for 3.5 years, and they quickly came to feel like extended family.
Nina’s wealth of experience means that she is calm and reassuring in any situation, and our child flourished under her care, growing into a chatty, confident toddler. He would run into Nina’s each day with delight and regale us with his adventures at the end of the day (everything from tree planting to street art).
Nina was also incredibly flexible and supported our family through a difficult time. Her setting truly is a special place – a warm, nurturing home away from home where children are genuinely loved and cared for.
After meeting the nanny, agreed on the terms, schedule the days and showed her the school and nursery, on the agreed day, she simply did not show up to collect our child from school. She only contacted us 15 minutes after the scheduled pick-up time with a brief WhatsApp message, leaving us to urgently call the school to make sure our child was safe.
I tried contacting her afterwards to understand what had happened, but she did not respond to any of my calls and only got back to me two days later via whats up.
Lucia
I honestly cannot recommend Mama Mia Bilingual Childminding Services enough. My three children have been going there, and they have been absolutely fantastic with them each and every time.
They are so caring, kind and patient, and I always feel confident knowing my children are safe, happy and well looked after. My children genuinely enjoy going there which gives me such peace of mind.
Communication has always been excellent, and they are very supportive and reliable. I also really value the bilingual environment as it's a wonderful opportunity for the children to naturally learn and develop another language while they play and have fun.
Mama Mia's dedication, kindness and professionalism are genuinely appreciated.
I am so happy with the care our children receive and feel very lucky to have found your exceptional services, my kids found a second home 😁 Highly recommend.
My daughter attended CJ Childminding from the time she was just 10 months old right up until she started Reception. Leaving your baby for the first time is never easy, but throughout her entire time there, I was completely confident that she was safe, happy, and incredibly well cared for.
The environment is warm, nurturing, and provided the absolute perfect foundation for her early years. We will always hold a special place in our hearts for CJ Childminding and the wonderful start they gave my daughter in life. I cannot recommend them highly enough!
Daina has been looking after my son for 10 months now and she has been so intentional and genuine in her care. Cannot recommend her enough.
Kim once said that a nursery should reduce the stress of childcare, not add to it—and she has done exactly that for us over the past year.
She has been incredibly kind, considerate, and accommodating, especially with our rota needs, which is something we truly appreciate. Rainbow Cubs has earned a fantastic reputation among parents and even local school teachers, who are happy to welcome children into Reception after their time there.
We feel incredibly lucky to have found Rainbow Cubs. Highly recommended!
Sadaf
I genuinely cannot recommend El-Elyon highly enough. Phoebe, Esi, Akos and, most recently, Bernice have played such an important role in our family over the past three years, and choosing them to care for our children has honestly been one of the best decisions we’ve made.
Our oldest, Ben, started at just seven months old, full-time. I was going back to work earlier than most of the other mums I knew and I remember feeling really nervous about leaving such a young baby, particularly when most of the children around us seemed to be starting childcare closer to a year old. It didn’t take long for me to realise how unnecessary that worry was. Within about two weeks, Ben was practically leaping into their arms in the morning without so much as a glance back at us!
One of the things I’ve always appreciated most about El-Elyon is how thoughtful they are about each individual child. They really get to know their personalities, what they need and where they are developmentally, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. When each child starts, they talk with you about their development, the milestones they are working towards and what you might expect at different stages. But it never feels rigid or like the children are being pushed to tick boxes. Instead, you can see how naturally they weave that knowledge into the way they play with, encourage and support each child.
When Ben eventually left, they gave us a personalised book documenting his time with them, including his development and the milestones they had tracked along the way. Seeing his whole journey laid out like that was incredibly special, and really brought home just how closely they had been paying attention to and supporting his development all those years.
They also put so much time and effort into planning activities for the children, whether that’s crafts, learning, music, imaginative play or outings, and they make a real effort to get them outside nearly every day.
There is always a sense that there is thought and purpose behind what they are doing, while still giving the children plenty of space to just play, explore and be little.
They have been there for so many of Ben’s milestones. He took his first steps with them, made his first friends and learned to tidy up, say please and thank you, dance, draw, count and so much more. When he was struggling with solids and weaning, they put so much time, patience and care into helping him get on track. They haven’t simply looked after him — they have helped raise him.
Communication with parents has also always been wonderful. No matter how busy the day has been, they make time at drop-off and pick-up to chat and tell us how things are going, and we get photos throughout the week so we can see what the children have been getting up to. Particularly when Ben was a baby, that connection and reassurance meant so much.
Obviously I’m biased, but Ben has grown into such a smart, kind, adventurous and (generally!) polite little boy, and I genuinely credit so
M much of that to the love, confidence and foundations they gave him at El-Elyon.
Phoebe recommends that the children transition to a larger nursery setting at around three, so they have an opportunity to adjust and socialise in a bigger environment before Reception. If I could have kept Ben at El-Elyon forever, I would have! But seeing how quickly and confidently he has settled into his new nursery has really reinforced how well they prepared him for that next stage. He walked in with such a strong foundation of independence, confidence and security.
Ironically, before I returned to work, we had originally hoped to get Ben into a more traditional nursery. When those plans didn’t come together, we started looking at childminders instead. Looking back now, I’m incredibly grateful things worked out the way they did. Having him grow up in such a warm, loving, home-like environment was exactly what he needed.
Everyone at El-Elyon has truly felt like family to us, and I will always be grateful for the love they have given Ben and for the role they have played in making him the little person he is today.
Thankfully, we’re not quite saying goodbye yet! Our second child has now started with them and is already blossoming into the person she is going to be (which, at the moment, appears to be mostly chaos!). We feel incredibly lucky that we get to continue this journey with El-Elyon for a little while longer.
If you are considering El-Elyon, particularly if you are nervous about
leaving a younger baby as I was, I really couldn’t recommend them more.
