Nicola
Childminder in Epsom And Ewell
Female Member since Aug 2019 Last Updated Aug 2020 Last Login 31 Mar 2024
My Summary
About Me
Hello, my name is Nicola and I am an Ofsted registered childminder with over 16 years experience . My current grade is "GOOD" with outstanding areas. I live in West Ewell and am married with two grown up children (26 and 23). I currently provide childcare for all ages offering full and part time day care for pre-school children as well as before and after school care for primary school children. My current nurseries/schools are Little Saints Pre-School and St. Clements Primary School. I offer full time, term time and holiday contracts.
My Experience
I work to a structured day as I've found all children love routine and structure. I open for breakfast at 7.30 am, dropping children to school by 8.45 am, a morning activity/outing for the younger ones in my care, a cooked lunch around noon followed by quiet/sleep time. We then have further play/activities at home until school pick up at 3.00 pm. We return home for a drink and snack by 3.45 pm where all children are encouraged to sit together and catch up on their day. Then it’s setting play indoors and out until a cooked dinner is served at 5.00 pm. My setting closes at 6.30 pm.
The main focus here is learning in a fun and relaxed home from home setting. We go out and about most mornings after dropping off at school - forest school, sports clubs, music clubs, visits to local parks, national trusts and libraries are all part of the fun. One morning a week we do an arts and crafts or a cooking session to give the children a wide variety of learning opportunities. During school holidays I always try to plan at least one big day out each week - a day trip to Bluebell railway, the seaside, visit to London, a theatre trip (to name but a few), all to add to the children's learning and make school holidays more varied.
Thanks for taking the time to read my profile. I look forward to hearing from you.
My Qualifications
I have all the qualifications required by Ofsted to provide childcare.
My Availability
I do currently have some availability detailed below.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Morning | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Afternoon | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| After School | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 04/08/2020 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £6.50 per hour
My fees include all activities and outings, drinks and snacks. If you require any meals during the day there is an additional charge but if you want to supply your own food no charge applies.
My Local Schools
- I provide drop offs at St Clement's Catholic Primary 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
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Reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Nicola. 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.
My 4 year old son has been with Nicola for 3 years.
He started being under her care when he was just 15 months old. From first contact he was calm, curious and already happy to be with her. Through her encouragement and warm comfortable settings he learnt to walk in a very short period of time that surprised us given his previous level of progress.
Nicola’s family is a positive boost in her environment, as whilst also giving extra pairs of hands they also show what a kind and loving home they share that is open to all the children whatever their age.
Our son particularly responded positively to this and as a result grew a lovely bond that can be seen across the other children as well.
He really adores them and this is such a good thing especially when the last year curtailed so much human warmth and emotional contact that we should have had with others beyond just our own family unit.
My boy always mentions Nicola’s family and tells me how much they love him and how much he loves them.
All the children always look after each other and Nicola really brings out the best in every one of them.
All the children have been very happy, getting on well with each other, are respectful, polite, and such great examples of young people growing up in a good way.
Our son is a naturally very shy and cautious child but his social interaction skills rocketed in such a positive way whilst with Nicola.
We worried about his potty training but it all seems to have happened in a flash, Nicola making sure that he makes positive progress – and was really encouraging for us to see.
Nicola is always incredibly calm and caring to all and yet injects such infectious positive enthusiasm in her group regardless of how they were before.
She always takes extra steps to help with kid’s development both in a 1 to 1 and in an all encompassing group environment.
I am always amazed how many lovely artworks our son willingly creates with her.
He is always happy to go to her and he is always ready to come back home with a really big smile too.
He always talks about what he has done and about how much he has enjoyed it, and it is incredible to get this from a child that was so very quiet before.
Nicola constantly comes up with new ideas and is able to draw upon so many years of previous experience with children of all types so that she seems inexhaustible and always ready to give everything a go and give that same encouragement to the children.
We love hearing about what plans she comes up with next from the daily plans to the big holiday plans - our son grew immeasurably with each outing.
My boy loved all those adventures and always shared with us the things he saw, the things he did and how much he enjoyed it all.
Nicola really opened his eyes and helped him to face the world with the confidence we never thought he had.
Nicola is so experienced and natural with kids and has a wealth of experience to draw upon which meant that I could always ask for any advice regarding my boy’s development or general health issues, and it is always so positive, such a good and healthy reflection of how things are and can be.
She has been brilliant childminder and a friend to us. We know our son will have such a hard time leaving her care now that he has to go to big school. It is incredibly sad for us too, as she has been such a big positive part of our life and not just our sons life too.
At the same time she has compiled a complete document of progress for our son, full of reports, lovely photographs, notes, considerations and aspirations for him, it really is a thorough account of his progress. She also has a daily update and it is really easy to stay up to date with everything going on.
I highly recommend her care. My opinion and reflection of my experience with her has been everything that you could want - incredibly positive and heart-warming, not to mention extremely safe and rewarding.
Thank you so much for giving my boy a better start in life and giving him, such positive memories.
You have been the absolute best!
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My 20mo daughter has been with Nicola for about 6months now, she and her fellow co-worker Coco kindly took my daughter under their wings as we urgently needed childcare after a negative experience with our previous setting.
To say the least it was a very stressful time for our family, we had to find childcare urgently, at the same time I was hesitant to leave my daughter with anyone at all after what she's been through.
Having met Nicola in person straight away the fear disappeared, she just has the calmest, most nurturing aura about her. And our daughter felt it too. Nicola is a lovely, smiley person, always interacting with little ones, paying them a lot of attention, playing hide and seek under the table, reading stories, providing plenty of cuddles, but also establishing neccessary safety boundaries. She's simply great with kids, even the shyest ones gravitate to her (that was a feedback from a fellow parent I got about Nicola), my daughter is always very very energetic and Nicola can keep up with her but also has a calming effect on her, which I am very impressed about.
From day one my daughter felt at home safe on Nicola's lap, a couple of days in she was coming out of her shelf, running around happily engaged in ton of activities, from time to time coming back to Nicola for a re-assuring hug and running off to play again. I genuinely feel Nicola is great with kids and she loves them too, she is a child-whisperer and they can sense it :)
Apart from that, she participates in loads of amazing daily activities (some on hold due to covid), sports coaching, forest school, music, soft play, loads of sensory and educational activities, daily outdoor activities no matter the weather, cooking, plenty of reading... The children in the setting are a well bonded crew, it's heart-warming to see them interact, play and look out for one another no matter of any age difference.
All in all, I'd definitely recommend Nicola, this is a person you can trust with your little treasure.
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This profile has been produced from information provided to us by the user. We have not verified or confirmed the accuracy of any of the information and members should undertake their own vigorous checks and references. Please ensure you read our Safety Advice and information on how to Check Childcare Provider Documents.
