Jens Little Owls's Reviews

More than just childcare!

You will not find a better childminder than Jen! On hearing my daughter’s first childminder was closing its doors I panicked. She had been there since she was 4 months old and I had planned on her staying until she was of school age. I needn’t have worried at all. I was recommended Jen by a friend and we were fortunate that she had availability.
From day one Jen made my daughter, and our family, feel comfortable and supported. She opened her home and family to ours and will go above and beyond for the children in her care. A day with Jen isn’t just childcare, it’s adventure, learning, exploring, challenging, calming and fun. From the extra curricular activities to the delicious home cooked meals, my daughter loved every moment as a Little Owl and Jen will always remain such an important person our lives.

If you’re reading this and looking for a childminder, you’ve absolutely struck gold with this one. We certainly did.

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by Dee Dee on 17/09/2026

So much more than childcare

Where do I begin? My daughter first started with Jen when she had just turned one and remained in her wonderful care for three years. I genuinely cannot recommend Jen enough.

It’s incredibly daunting leaving your child with someone, but from that very first moment Jen was warm and reassuring, providing a wonderful home from home environment. My daughter absolutely loved every single minute she spent at Jen’s, so much so that she often didn’t want to come home!

Jen goes above and beyond to provide a nurturing, educational and safe space, full of love and a little bit of magic. Every detail is so thoughtfully considered. She creates the most wonderful and intriguing setups for the children, both inside and out, engaging them in play that they learn so much from without even realising it.

And the meals she cooks are nothing short of wonderful. She offers such a healthy and varied selection of home cooked food that my daughter would often lick the plate clean (I have photographic evidence!).

Her loving and caring nature is at the heart of everything she does. She really gets to know each child as an individual, understanding their little personalities, interests and needs, and it was so clear to us just how genuinely she cared for our daughter.

Jen also gave her so many wonderful experiences, outings and memories along the way. We watched our daughter grow from a tiny one year old into a confident, curious and independent four year old, and there is no doubt that Jen played a huge part in that. When the time finally came for her to leave and start her next chapter at nursery, it genuinely felt like the end of an era for all of us. We couldn’t have wished for a better person to care for our daughter during those incredibly important early years.

Any family lucky enough to find a place with Jen can feel completely confident that their child will be cared for, encouraged, nurtured and very much loved. We will always be incredibly grateful for the three wonderful years our daughter spent with her.

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by Frankie on 15/09/2026

A wonderful home away from home

I honestly cannot recommend Jen’s Little Owls highly enough. Jen looked after both of my daughters, and I feel incredibly lucky that they had the opportunity to spend their early years in her care.

Jen is just incredible. She is one of those rare people who instantly makes you feel completely at ease, and I trusted her implicitly with my girls. She created a true home away from home for them - somewhere they felt safe, loved, happy and completely themselves. It was so much more than childcare; she became such an important person in both of their little lives.

The girls absolutely adored going to Jen’s and had the best time. They were always coming home with stories about what they had been doing, and I loved knowing they were having so much fun while also being cared for so wonderfully. And the food! Jen’s cooking is amazing - the children were always treated to such lovely, home-cooked meals and snacks.

What makes Jen so special is the genuine care, kindness and love she gives to every child. You can see how much she cares about them, and how much thought she puts into making every day special. She created such a warm, nurturing environment where my girls could grow in confidence, learn, play and just enjoy being little.

Leaving them with someone else for the first time is such a huge thing as a parent, but with Jen I never once worried. I knew they were safe, happy and being loved and looked after as if they were her own.

Both of my girls have now moved on, but Jen will always hold a very special place in our family’s hearts. I genuinely couldn’t recommend her more highly. If you are lucky enough to get a place with Jen’s Little Owls, you really have found something special. ❤️

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by Louise on 10/09/2026

Fantastic - I can't recommend highly enough

My son has thrived with Jen - he looks forward to going every day, to seeing his friends, to playing in Jen's huge garden, planting flowers, picking vegetables, painting, building, reading, dancing, singing. He loves going on trips to the farm and the park, eating Jen's gorgeous lunches, and doing regular yoga sessions. She sends updates every evening on the activities they've enjoyed, the food they've eaten, the progress they've made. My son takes real pleasure in showing us what he's learned that day - counting, phonics, how to do 'calm breathing', and I feel really confident that Jen has more than prepared him for school. I'm genuinely sad to say goodbye - choosing Jen's Little Owls for my son was one of the best decisions we've made - and I'll admit, I'm a little jealous of the next family who will take our place...

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by Eva on 05/07/2023

Reliable childcare of quality standard

Our oldest son was just a 1/2 years old when we first met Jen - she was the Room Lead for the nursery which we sent him to and it was immediately clear she was a trustworthy & hardworking carer who took her responsibilities of leading the younger rooms seriously. Our child had quite a timid character and required more 1:1 reassurance at that age, and we saw that Jen was one of the few carers who understood well how to support his development at the nursery.

Fast forward a few years, we were fortunate enough to secure her childminding services again in Sept 2018, when our son (now 7 years old) moved to the school where she does after-school pickups and care in her own home. She continued to demonstrate the same professional care & work ethics we first experienced when we first met her, but we were even more impressed by the way she was doing it all on a self-employed basis. There's no doubt it is a huge amount more work for her this way, but the fact our son really enjoys going to her place after school is testament to the credibility she has built up. Even during school breaks, he would often ask if he could go to Jen's for the day compared to other camps/clubs we present to him as options.

She has a sizeable setting for the intimate number of children she has (mixed ages), both indoors and outdoors. She also embodies many values we feel are important in terms of parenting - lots of fresh air outdoors weather permitting (our son loves football in her spacious garden), a variety of activities/crafts if they have to be indoors, plus her meal menus are healthy & home-prepared (a lot less sugary and processed than the type of thing served up in private nurseries despite them having dedicated cooks/chefs). She even gets the children to make progress on some of the school projects assigned, so they can work on it over days/weeks (saves us working parents a bit of time!). When our son goes for the occasional full day at her place during school holidays, she takes them to parks/farms as well which is a great touch.

Her childminding style is very supportive yet sensible, with a calm and easy-going demeanour which works well with most children. We have complete trust & confidence in the standard of care she provides for our son and highly recommend her for anyone who is looking for a quality, intimate setting for their child(ren). In fact, when our youngest one is old enough to start Reception in the school, we will be enrolling him to Jen's assuming she has a space available!

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by Parent on 12/04/2019

Highly recommended

Although Jen was our nanny, the principles of childminding are the same. We therefore highly recommend Jen who worked for us from November 2006 to December 2013 for our two boys, who were 6 and 2 when she started.

For the first five years, Jen worked full time, five days a week. After her maternity leave, she worked part time bringing her child with her, three days a week after school.

Jen was a superb nanny over the whole period. She is very reliable and punctual and has very high standards.

Jen did much more than her basic duties of looking after our children and cooking meals for them. She actively encouraged good behaviour from them. She also helped them with homework and was very creative when it came to activities during the holidays. She is also a good cook, producing a range of healthy meals which the boys really enjoyed.

We still see Jen and her family regularly and wish her every success as a childminder.

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by Parent on 15/08/2018

The best person !!!

I found Jen through this website and after meeting her in her setting I made a decision straight away. She’s the best person, she loves children, is very attentive and caring and is always doing new activities with the kids and recording everything and reporting on the same day! I am amazed at how much effort she puts and how much attention to details she has.
My 3 y.o son flourished and became confident and outgoing , she very kindly catered for his vegan diet ( he loved every meal ) and her garden is better than ALL the nurseries I have seen( I visited four private nurseries in the area including Brig Horizons) and I can tell her place is the best. It’s very clean too.
I used multiple childminders before with my oldest child and I can tell the experience was completely different than I had now with Jen taking care of my son, with Jen you feel like he’s getting a nursery experience(with so much learning and stimulation) but in a more loving and personal setting.It’s “ best of both worlds “ . My husband was also very impressed and happy that I found Jen as he said our son “ couldn’t be in better hands “.
She’s kind and nicely spoken too.

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by Parent on 07/08/2018

Can’t recommend enough!

We’re so happy that we found Jen to look after our son. He absolutely loves going to her home, and we know that he’s amazingly well cared for.
Jen seems to have new things to play with every week, and organises new and fun activities each time he’s there. She also makes sure he goes out every day (either to the park, or playgroups or even trips to the farm).
Her feedback is great, and we get an online daily diary with photos and all the things they’ve done that day.
The menus are also incredible, everything is cooked from scratch, very healthy and exactly the sort of food I want my child to eat and enjoy.
I honestly can’t recommend Jen’s Little Owls enough, I feel like he’s treated as one of the family and it’s given us such peace of mind to have complete confidence in Jen.

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by Parent on 07/03/2018