I initially looked around Muddy Puddles as it was at the end of our road, it was convenient. I brought my then 2 year old son with me leaving my younger girls at home with my partner. Mandy was very welcoming and definitely put any concerns I had about someone else looking after my child to the back of my mind. I wasn't disappointed! I really liked their ethos of learning through play, and being outside in nature, letting children be children splashing around in muddy puddles. A few months after my son started we moved house further away but I didn't want to move pre-school. The transition period my son had from Muddy Puddles to school was great, made him and me feel more relaxed about this next stage for him. Just before my son left my middle child started and I was a little worried about how they would behave with each other as they could be a little challenging at home, but they were great, my son seemed really proud of Muddy Puddles and the friends that he'd made that he willingly shared them with his sister. I then enrolled my youngest, she was the youngest of them when she started and we had some separation anxiety at drop off time, but I felt very reassured that as soon as I left she would be absolutely fine; I always got a message (usually before I even got home) to confirm she had settled. When I picked her up she couldn't wait to tell me about her day! Ruth was really helped my youngest as she seemed to be struggling with her speech, we had a referral at the beginning of the year, the speech therapy service assessed and gave suggestions on how we could improve, which as also communicated to Muddy Puddles and by August she had managed to catch up to where she "should" be and was discharged. I was genuinely sad to say goodbye to all the ladies there and miss them now that all mine have moved on to primary school. We used to joke about having another just so I could keep going, it was tempting... All 3 of them have come away as confident little people ready to take on their next challenge. It was definitely worth all the extra washing for 3 years.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Communication