What can I say about Anna and her family that will do just what we think of them justice. The truth is words probably won’t do justice our experience with these guys but these are all we have so we will try to use them as best as we can.

The 12 months our son spent with Anna, Rodrigo and their daughter was some of the most pleasant time a family can have allowing their child to be looked after by another family. They showed him nothing short of full love and the teachings they've given him have been nothing short of amazing. This was one of the most amazing things you could hope for, having your child looked after by a strong, loving family with a strong work ethic.

We really couldn’t be more pleased with the care Zacha received in his 12 months with them and he developed abundantly whilst in Anna’s care. From the get go, they were very welcoming, clean and playful with my son. There were lots of age appropriate toys for him to play with but also Anna would also engage with him appropriately, getting down to his eye level to speak with him and this little sign was encouraging from us from the very beginning. Throughout the year that Zacha was in Anna’s care, she was always warm and friendly, and always made us feel like we were all family.

Whenever we left Zacha there in the mornings, we left in the safe knowledge that he was being challenged by Anna with a dynamic range of activities including playgroups, library and parks. She would sing songs with him also in espanol and english. A special touch was a painting for mother’s day and father’s day which she helped my boy make for my wife and I respectively. These little touches made it such a joy to have them look after our boy. What’s more, she also spoke to my boy in spanish and this encouraged me to learn the language, my boy just turned two and we are becoming a multilingual family because he understands basic English and Spanish and this is due to her efforts in speaking to my boy in espanol.

Anna is kind, thoughtful, resourceful, and is great with my son. She rewards good behaviour and compassionately disciplines him if he is being naughty in a way that he can understand. We never felt even the slightest worry when he was in her care because she was just so great and made my son and us feel safe whenever he was in her care. If he fell and hurt himself, he would seek warmth and comfort with her. She has all the qualifications and blah blah blah in childcare/childminding but what can’t be taught is the human touch and the experience to be such a great carer and person to a child who is learning their place in the world.

She provided him with great healthy, tasty and nutritious meals everyday and my boy can eat and she satisfied his heavy appetite without worrying how much extra just feeding him alone must be costing her. She would do sweet things like giving him extra dessert to take home for us to give to him when we get home, sometimes multiple ones to keep in the fridge and give him over the weekend. She encouraged good hand hygiene and encouraged independence at meal times, teaching him to wash his hands before and after meals and also to feed himself. He is now an expert. She was very organised and kept a diary of food, activities and siestas for each day so we could always look back and see.

What I also found very excellent about Anna and Rodrigo was that they also reviewed his development at various stages so that we could see how he was developing and could see what he was able to do for his age and areas where he was yet to develop.

We had such a fantastic service from them and we only terminated our beautiful arrangement because we had to move to Glasgow and of all the friends and family that we have in London, losing the lovely care provided by Anna and her family was our only regret. We regret that we had to leave this beautiful family behind and the benefit that they were having on our beautiful, well adjusted son. We are in no doubt that their 1 year old influence on our son was extremely positive and would have ripple effects into his adulthood. We are extremely grateful to have met you and hope to see you in Scotland sometime soon. You are our friends and are welcome anytime in our home up here in Scotland. We and especially Zachariah miss you very much.

If you are reading this and are trying to look or decide on childminders in the Croydon area, look no further, you have found the best.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication