Karena
Childminder in Caol
5.0
My Summary
Karena's Little Troops Childcare
About Me
I am a very active & young minded women with a loving caring attitude who likes to keep fit & my hobbies are swimming, walking, canoeing, coasteering, abseiling, yoga, basically love the outdoors life, i love music especially live music, theatre & dressing up & face make-up for Halloween.
I live in fort William, my business is in Caol, newly renovated bungalow that is a lovely spacious safe environment with all required measurements. I have a Golden Retriever who is 6 yrs old she will be kept separate from the area where I have my service, she is loved by everyone, amazing loving dog and my best friend and the only partner I need.
My Experience
My experince firstly is having my children, I did a excellent job of bringing them up so I decided To go into childcare since I love children. I have been a registered childminder for over 26 years looked after many many children from birth-16 yrs.
I am a very loving caring childminder, lots of fun & laughter, I am well known as outdoors childminder.
We do alot of outdoor activities, as I believe exercise & fresh air is what kids love more, being a outdoors women I do alot walking, hills, going parks, outdoor sports, swimming, bit yoga, lots of trips on trains, picnics playtimes, learning, teaching, reading, dancing, arts, crafts, nomatter what you do with children, everyday is about learning, development, progress, interaction, respect & behavior to others.
Biggest part is to make them feel safe & loved, interaction, communication and praise is the key to a happy child.
Ofcourse I grew wonderful bonds with the parents, to give them the feeling of trust, respect, confidentiality, honesty, reliability & let them see they are leaving their children inthe best care, being a mum I understand how important that is.
I am registered with Care Inspectorate, I have level 2 childminding, child protection, liability insurance certificates, with SCMA, Women's Aid certificate, volunteer as assistant Midwife, worked in at Chad Hospice. Now waiting to redo my pediatric first aid to have that booked and in place ASAP, untill then I will do a basic First Aid online & alot more courses coming up. I have a drivers licence & VW transporter, will be insured also for my business.
I have a nursery room and playroom set up in my dinning/living area where the children can go if weather is horrendous, then can play, dress up, toys, slide, trampoline, lots arts, crafts, puzzles, dancing, singing and games, fun messy room!! Also have a large cupboard I made into very safe colourful sensory ballpit room, with padded walls, padded steps, form cubes, fantastic addition to my service, the children love it in there, there are separate cots for sleeps, kitchen is for eating, cooking, baking and lots interaction for learning together.
Also a lovely safe completely private garden, newly done with composite decking, for chill out times, yoga, reading, learning or the big paddling pool on lovely day as it becomes a lovely shaded area, this beautiful wee haven space the children absolutely love.
I also have lodge sitting on the waters of Locheil, private garden, big glass balcony, lovely extra place to take the children to do some yoga, very tranquil plus a stone throw from the shore, there’s two great safe swing parks, lots of nature around my lodge the kids will love as extra safe place to visit.
I have plenty written references, phone numbers, emails to contact as many parents as need be to give you peace of mind.
My Qualifications
PVG. childminding registered certificate, liability insurance, childminding level 2 certificate, child protection certificate, basic online first aid certificate, women's Aid certificate.
My Availability
Monday to Thursday 8am-6pm
My Fees
- Childminding from £7.00 per hour
£7ph per child 8-6pm
£14ph After 6pm
My Local Schools
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Christie Park Primary School
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Levenvale Primary School
My Documents
- Childminding Agency Certificate (added 10/04/2021)
- PVG Check (added 10/04/2021)
- First Aid Certificate: First Aid Essentials (added 10/04/2021)
- Training Certificate: Women's Aid (added 10/04/2021)
- Training Certificate: Child protection (added 10/04/2021)
- Training Certificate (added 21/07/2020)
Reviews
5 out of 5
Latest reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Karena. 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.
We feel incredibly lucky to have found Karena.
When we moved back to Fort William, finding childcare was one of our biggest worries. Nursery waiting lists were years long and childminders are like hen's teeth, so finding Karena was a huge relief.
She is kind, caring, fun, patient and creates such a warm, active environment where children can really thrive. As an outdoor family, we loved that our daughter spent so much time exploring, playing and learning every day.
The progress our daughter has made has been amazing. Before she was even two and a half years old, she could count from 1 to 20, confidently recognised her colours and had developed an incredible vocabulary. She comes home happy, well-fed, happily exhausted after busy days, and has absolutely loved being with Karena.
It's clear how much Karena genuinely cares about every child she looks after, and she has created a wonderful environment where children feel safe, valued and excited to learn.
We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Karena to any family. She has played such an important part in our daughter's early years, and we will always be grateful for everything she's done.
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by
Jane H
on 09/07/2026
Response by
Karena
on 10/07/2026:
Awww thankyou so much for a lovely review, Rhea was amazing wee girl to look after, complete joy, the progress was unbelievable, outgoing, funniness child ever, most cleverest, she was certainly ready for next step, i absolutely loved having her, i will miss her soooo much, she was such a delight, so was her mummy & daddy , what incredible parents, the bond we had was lovely, parents & childminder, was a wonderful connection, aaaahhhh I will miss my wee lovely Rhea ♥️
Our 3 year old son was with Karena for 10 months and he had a great time with her. Karena is a very easy going and experienced childminder. She loves to get outdoors with the kids and keep them active in all weathers, which we loved. Karena was very flexible and communicated well at all times. Her home is spotless and very welcoming for children of a range of ages. Karena was always up-to-date with all of her qualifications, registrations, PVG etc. She was very understanding of the needs of different children and adapted her arrangements where possible to best suit the children she had with her each day and to work with each of the parents on this. You could always tell that she genuinely loved and cared for the children she looked after.
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by
BeanyMum
on 24/07/2021
I highly recommend Karena as a childminder. She looked after my son from the age of 1 until he went to school, she also looked after my daughter for the same period of time a few years later. I always found Karena's home to be clean and tidy with all safety measures in place. Karena is a happy bubbly person who interacts brilliantly with the children in her care. Karena always had the children entertained whether it was doing puzzles, playing games, painting, walking, swimming or going for picnics. Karena is an outdoors person and likes to have the children out in the fresh air as much as possible (weather permitting). Both my children enjoyed their time in Karena's care. 100% recommend
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by
Eileen
on 10/09/2020
Response by
Karena
on 10/12/2020:
Thankyou for a lovely review Eileen
It was absolute pleasure to have both your children, amazing they were.
Great wonders of this job is loving and caring for other people's children from a young age till school and longer is to see their progress & development, turning into amazing children and little part of that is down to the right childminder and you picked me.
When I make a difference to their life's and parents are so happy & grateful, well that is what makes this job sooo satisfying and pleasurable and why I have done it for so long.
Best part is, years later, they never forget you, I love that part.
Miss you all but so good seeing Gracie & Josh growing up into a fine young man & lady.
Karena xx
Karena looked after my baby girl for 2 years. She was fantastic. I went to visit her at her home while she was working and let her meet my little one.
I loved the way she was with the other children she looked after. She was full of life, very fun and caring. You could tell she had a lovely bond with the children and they loved her. That was enough for me.
She was always helpful and flexible.
She is very missed since she moved away.
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by
Clare
on 26/08/2020
Response by
Karena
on 10/12/2020:
Thankyou Clare
Appreciate your review, as you know, my house was full of love and your wee sweetie slotted in as if she'd always been there, I miss you both x karena
I knew Karena for over 7 years. I got her to look after my twin girls for 4 years until they went to school.
She was amazing. She helped my little girls improve their learning skills. She was always busy outdoors with them. Very kind, happy, caring and loving. I couldn’t have wished for a better person to look after my wee girls. Going back to work is extremely hard, but It was made a little easier because I knew they were happy with Karena.
She would send me photos/videos of what she would be doing each day. Painting, walks, parks, swimming the list goes on.
I would highly recommend Karena, as would many other Mums from Fort William. She Became a very good friend to me and my partner over the years.
If you need the best look no further.
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Danielle
on 26/08/2020
Response by
Karena
on 10/12/2020:
Awww thankyou Danielle for your lovely review.
Miss my little twinies & you both and so glad you were so happy leaving them with me.
They were both such a delight & joy to look after.
Its no wonder I love my job 😁 x
Karena was a childminder for my little girl for almost 2 years. She was amazing, so caring and kind. She would take Bella out walking pretty much everyday and take her swimming when she could. She helped a lot with potty training and learning to eat herself since karena had her since she was 10 months old. She helped when she was learning to walk. Bella has grown up to be very caring and active and karena is a huge part of why she is like that. Couldn’t recommend her enough.
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by
Smccoll
on 26/08/2020
Response by
Karena
on 10/12/2020:
Thankyou for your lovely review, aaahhh wee Bella she was a wee cracker, loads of funny memories with her, I am so glad I kept a big scrapbook with all my children over 20 years, I have it out all the time to look back on, let new parents see all the amazing adventures and things we did together, Bella is in quite a few those pictures.
She was a bundle of joy with a wee devilish side to her which I loved.
Miss you all x
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This profile was last updated on 10th July 2026 and has been produced from information provided to us by the user. We have not verified or confirmed the accuracy of any of the information and members should undertake their own vigorous checks and references. Please ensure you read our Safety Advice and information on how to Check Childcare Provider Documents.