Vikki
Childminder in Hoylake
Female Member since Aug 2016 Last Updated Apr 2024 Last Login 24 Apr 2024
My Summary
About Me
**Vikki's little Vikings**
West Kirby, Wirral
Hi, I'm Vikki Ruddick, I'm 44 years old and live in the Newton area of West Kirby with my husband and our two son's (aged 15 & 13), they both attend Hilbre High School. We also live with our friendly dog, a 11 year old Miniature Schnauzer called Toby and our very daring Tortoise, Rocco.
I left my job at St Peters C of E Preschool in Lower Heswall at Christmas 2016, where I had worked for over 3 years, to start Vikki's little Vikings on a full time basis from January 2017. Previous to working at St Peters, I had worked at Great Meols Primary School.
In February 2017, Gemma joined me as my assistant, she had also worked at St Peters C of E Preschool for over 3 years and in various Nursery settings for the previous 10 years.
In October 2017, Claire joined us, so this means that there are always at least two qualified members of staff looking after your little VIP!
We all hold a NVQ level 3 in Childcare, are all DBS checked, and are all up to date with our Paediatric First Aid, Safeguarding and Food Hygiene courses.
We try to incorporate Makaton as much as we can into our daily routine, for example, during our Nursery Rhyme session and at mealtimes. Gemma has completed her Makaton Level 1 & Level 2 courses, and myself and Claire have both completed Level 1 so far.
We have all done a little Montessori training, so again we incorporate some elements of Montessori into our daily activities.
We enjoy being outdoors, so have enjoyed trips to New Brighton and Liverpool, and we regularly take the children for local walks along West Kirby marine lake, to the local parks, to the beach, etc. We have artificial grass in our private garden, which means our outdoor space is accessible all year round now no matter the weather!
We schedule specific time into our day for music time, funky feet physical development, yoga, jolly phonics, crafts, story time, etc, alongside child initiated free play.
Each child has their own Learning Journal set up from day one, so we can document observations and photos, this will be readily available for their parents to see. This is a tool to chart the child's development and also going forward, to ensure a preschool aged child is "school ready".
In June 2019, we had our first Ofsted inspection and we achieved a "Good" rating, we are extremely proud of all of the positive comments that are contained in our report.
My Experience
The Vikki’s little Vikings team comprises of Vikki, Gemma & Claire. We are a group of very busy mums, who all thoroughly enjoy working together as a team and having fun with the children we are very privileged to look after! In Summer 2023, we welcomed Megan into our team, she is our new Apprentice.
My Qualifications
We all hold a NVQ level 3 in Childcare Learning and Development, and are up to date with our Paediatric first aid, Safeguarding Children and Food Hygiene certificates.
*As of 1st July 2021, we have our very own Defibrillator for our setting after our families generously helped us raise funds through sponsoring their children to complete an obstacle course.*
My Availability
We are open 46 weeks per year, and our opening hours are:
730am - 545pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
(We are closed on Friday's)
*We plan our staff holidays over a year in advance to ensure we give our families enough notice for them to book their own annual leave.
*We do not charge you for dates that we are closed or for Bank holidays.
If you can give us at least 12 weeks notice for dates you want to book off, we do not charge you either.
*We can accept all Government childcare funding.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Morning | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Afternoon | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| After School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 13/04/2024 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £5.00 per hour
£46 - Full day care
*All meals and snacks are included in the above prices*
**We are currently full but will have spaces from Summer 2025 so contact us if you are pregnant/recently had a baby to arrange a visit**
My Local Schools
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Black Horse Hill Infant School
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Black Horse Hill Junior School
My Ofsted Inspections
The inspection grades below have been obtained from the Ofsted website based upon the registration number the childminder has provided to us. You should verify this information yourself prior to using the childminder.
My Documents
- Ofsted Certificate (added 16/09/2017)
Reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Vikki. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk users 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.
Our little girl Cora started with Vikki's Little Vikings in May '23 and we couldn't recommend her enough to anyone looking for a caring, dependable and affordable childminder. She was made to feel at home from the first day and can't get enough of the fun and educational activities provided by the brilliant team. Baby yoga is one of her favourites!
Vikki provides us with excellent communication; there is never a request that goes unnoticed. We love the photos they share with us of our daughter during the day and enjoy reading the daily journal of all her activities, meals and sleep routines too!
Our daughter has developed so rapidly thanks to the focused attention provided by Vikki and her team. She loves to come home and show us things she's learned or the craft and artwork she's loved creating there. Socially, she has come on leaps and bounds with the Little Vikings
Vikki has always been highly flexible and organised, even offering to cater for our childminding needs at short notice. She and her team make our daughter feel so special — she adores spending time with then!
If you're looking for a flexible and dedicated childminder who will make your child feel like one of their own, then we simply can't recommend Vikki's Little Vikings enough!
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Our son, Toby started with Vikki in September, as I went back to work after Maternity leave. He was only around 8 months, so I was of course a bit anxious with him being so little. Vikki was amazing. She was super reassuring and regularly got in touch to check in and ask about Toby. The settling in sessions were fab and helped put my mind at ease. We were sent photos of how Toby got on which were so lovely to see!
With the travel time to and from work, we need the full day, so Vikki’s hours of 730-545 are perfect. Despite the long day, Toby always comes out with a smile and is happy to go to Vikki or the team in the mornings. We love reading his daily journal that documents what he’s been upto and how he’s got on at meal times.
Vikki is also very accommodating with arranging extra sessions, which we really appreciate. And the little things like advice with teething / rashes / tummy upset are also amazing, as being first time parents we are always a bit unsure!
Mainly, we know Toby is thriving and he definitely has way more fun at Vikki’s than at home!
Vikki, Gemma, Claire and Megan are all fantastic and work really hard to make sure all the children are happy and cared for, and really get to know each and every one of the children they care for. I am so thankful I found out about VLV and was able to get Toby a space - I cannot recommend them enough!
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Our 2.5 year old started at Vikki's in September. It took a while for him to settle but Vikki was really flexible changing to half days during this period and the girls worked hard to help him feel at home. Now he has a big smile on his face at drop off and talks about his day and his Little Viking friends at home.
Vikki has been so flexible with my shift work and has been great at helping us recently persevere through toilet training. Our son absolutely loves singing during "circle time", playing in the garden and the crafts that Vikki works hard to plan.
Our son has come on leaps and bounds since starting at Vikki's. His language developed quickly as soon as he started and he has come out of his shell a lot in social situations.
Vikki and the girls have a lot of patience and we are very thankful for everything they do.
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Our daughter, Betsy, started with Vikki and her little Vikings in January 2022 having just turned one and we couldn’t be happier with our decision to send her there. From day one it has felt like a home from home for Betsy and she settled in so quickly which is a real testament to how friendly and welcoming Vikki and her team are. Even before Betsy started we felt very welcomed and Vikki was brilliant at arranging settling in days to make sure both us and Betsy were comfortable with the new environment.
Betsy is very content going to Vikki’s house and loves all the activities and fun they get up to. She also loves learning Makaton with the team and often surprises us with the signs she has learnt! Betsy is one of the youngest Vikings at the moment but there is a good mix of ages and we personally feel this is a big plus compared to a nursery setting as Betsy enjoys playing around the older children and it has really helped her development. Betsy is also a big fan of Vikki’s cooking!
Vikki is incredibly organised and accommodating which makes it easy for us to plan our childcare. Communication is faultless and the daily summaries of Betsy’s day are always fun to read. Vikki and her team have made a real effort to get to know Betsy and what she likes/dislikes and the bond they have already is great. The team all have so much passion and enthusiasm for what they do and it shows everyday.
It can be a difficult choice to decide where to send your child in these important early years but we’re so pleased that we found Vikki’s Vikings and would not hesitate to recommend to others.
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I can't rate Vikki's Little Vikings highly enough! My daughter has been going for 4 months now and has settled so well and so quickly. The settling in sessions really helped both of us!
Vikki and the team are so friendly and professional. Each day is filled with fun activities which are shared with us through her daily diary and I really enjoy reading about what she has been up to during the day. There is a great range of food offered which is all home cooked and has really helped with eating at home.
VLV feels like a home from home and each member of the team knows the children so well. I can't fault the communication home both through the diary and chats at drop off and pick up.
My daughter is thriving there and we're really happy we found Vikki and became part of the Viking gang!
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