Chanice

Neglectful and Unprofessional Behaviour

I entrusted Helga with the care of my two children, aged 8 and 5. Unfortunately, that trust was severely broken. My concerns escalated after I was approached in the street by a parent I had never met before, who expressed serious concerns about the way Helga had treated my children—especially my youngest.

One particularly disturbing incident occurred during an unexpected spell of hot weather. My youngest child became visibly unwell and eventually passed out due to being overdressed. This was witnessed by a passerby, who kindly offered her seat and suggested removing some layers of clothing. Helga confirmed the incident and replied to the passerby, “If these were my children, they wouldn’t be dressed like this.”

When I raised this issue with Helga directly, she showed no concern or accountability. Instead of apologizing or reflecting on the seriousness of the situation, she responded with sarcasm—suggesting that she could call me every day while I’m at work to ask whether it’s okay to remove my child’s jacket, hat, jumper, etc., based on the weather. This complete lack of basic judgment and empathy was deeply troubling.

As a result, I terminated our contract abruptly due to what I believe to be neglect and inappropriate treatment of my children. Since then, Helga has refused to return my house keys, despite repeated requests—seven months have passed. When I informed her I would need to involve the police if the keys weren’t returned, she responded by threatening to report me to social services, claiming it was “irresponsible” to contact her in an emergency when I had lost my keys—even though she held a spare as part of our agreement and was listed as an emergency contact.

After further research, I also discovered that Helga had previously been banned from school pickups at Canonbury School due to concerns about her behavior—something I wish I had been aware of earlier.

I am sharing this experience to warn other parents. In my opinion, Helga’s conduct reflects a lack of professionalism, responsibility, and basic care standards. Please be cautious when considering her for childcare

• Overall
• Communication

by Chanice about Experienced (Childminder) on 11/05/2025

If perfect was a person!

I have been with Leigh for over a year now. My little boy started at Leigh's setting when he was only 10months old. She made him feel comfortable straight away and quickly learnt what his gestures meant. She was also very reassuring for the parents and never made me feel uncomfortable if I bombarded her with messages to see what they were up to or if he was okay. Whilst being at Leigh's setting he has recieved intensive care and it shows! He has learnt an incredible amount at 20months old he can sing the alphabet count to ten and that's only the beginning. As I have been so impressed I enrolled my oldest son (4years old) to her setting throughout the summer and now just for holidays, when he is not at school. Leigh quickly picked up on his speech and language problems and tailored special time to him to strengthen his mouth muscles whilst having fun! And discussed with me things I could do at home to help. I found this extremely helpful. Leigh and my children are always out for an adventure coming home with something theyve made. Choosing Leigh has honestly been the best decision I could have made for childcare. She treats all the children at her setting as if they are her own.

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• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication

by Chanice about Leigh (Childminder) on 01/12/2020