Ellie

Very unprofessional.

I entrusted Elle with the care of my six-week-old daughter, who started attending in September 2025. Unfortunately, my experience became increasingly concerning, and I ultimately decided to withdraw my daughter from the setting.

Initially, everything appeared fine, but over time I noticed several issues. My daughter’s belongings were frequently not returned with her, and on occasions, items belonging to other children were sent home instead. I repeatedly had to request that my daughter’s belongings be returned.

I also became concerned about Elle working alongside her mother. I later understood that, to my knowledge, her mother was not Ofsted registered or DBS checked to provide childcare. On one occasion, I left my daughter in her mother’s care believing that she was permitted to look after her, which I later discovered was not the case. Given that my daughter was only six weeks old when she started, this was particularly concerning to me.

Communication was another issue. Despite paying for full-day care, I was frequently asked at drop-off when I would be collecting my daughter, which made me feel pressured to collect her earlier than the hours I had paid for. I also experienced occasions where communication felt rude or unprofessional.

There were times when I arrived to drop off or collect my daughter and found Elle and her mother in disputes with each other. I found this uncomfortable and felt it was not an appropriate environment to be exposed to when entrusting someone with my child.

Finally, I was informed that childcare would no longer be available from July because Elle and her family were on holiday. I accepted this and made alternative arrangements. However, I later encountered Elle and her mother at Tesco caring for a group of children, which left me questioning the explanation I had been given and further damaged my trust.

Following these experiences, I raised my concerns in the WhatsApp group but did not receive a response. I subsequently decided to withdraw my daughter from the setting.

Overall, my experience was disappointing and left me with serious concerns regarding communication, professionalism, organisation and safeguarding. As a parent, I believe it is essential to have complete trust and confidence in anyone caring for your child, and unfortunately, I no longer felt that confidence was present.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication

by Parrice on 16/08/2026

Response by Ellie on 23/08/2026:

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We are sorry to hear that you felt your experience did not meet your expectations. We take all feedback seriously and welcome the opportunity to reflect on our practice and consider whether there are areas where we can improve.

We would, however, like to clarify some points so that the review provides a balanced reflection of the circumstances.

From the outset, we understood that the childcare arrangement was intended to be temporary while you looked for childcare that better suited your family’s religious, cultural and working preferences. We were happy to accommodate this arrangement and understood that you would move on when you found the childcare that was right for your family.

With regard to our holiday arrangements, parents were informed through our WhatsApp group in advance and were reminded again nearer the time. We therefore regret that the arrangements were understood differently.

We are sorry that you felt communication around collection times was unsatisfactory. We always aim to communicate respectfully and professionally with parents, and we will reflect on this feedback and consider whether there are ways in which our communication could be made clearer.

We take the comments regarding safeguarding particularly seriously. The safety and wellbeing of every child in our care is our highest priority. Our setting was inspected by Ofsted on 13 May 2026. The inspection specifically found that safeguarding standards were met, with Ofsted stating that the setting had an open and positive culture of safeguarding and that concerns were actively identified, acted upon and managed.

The inspection also identified areas where we could further develop our practice, particularly around curriculum and teaching and reflective practice. We welcome this feedback and are committed to continuing to develop these areas, including strengthening how we identify, plan for and reflect on children’s individual learning and development. We see ongoing professional development and reflection as an important part of providing the best possible care and learning experiences for the children in our setting.

We would also like to clarify the reference to seeing us at Tesco. This occurred after our holiday period had ended and therefore did not contradict the holiday arrangements previously communicated to parents. We were surprised that this later encounter was interpreted as evidence that the information provided about our holiday was misleading.

We are sorry that, ultimately, you no longer felt that our setting was the right environment for your daughter. We respect every parent’s right to choose childcare that best meets the needs and preferences of their family.

We genuinely value constructive feedback and will take the points raised into consideration as part of our ongoing reflection and development. At the same time, we feel it is important that prospective parents have the full context when considering the concerns raised in a public review.

We remain committed to providing a safe, caring, professional and nurturing environment for every child entrusted to us, and we wish you and your daughter all the very best for the future.