Katie14
Childminder in Braintree
My Summary
Helping Children Learn, Grow And Explore In A Nurturing Environment
About Me
Hello, I’m Katherine, an OFSTED-registered childminder with over 25 years of experience providing high-quality childcare in a safe, nurturing home environment.
I am fully insured, hold an enhanced DBS certificate, and am trained in Paediatric First Aid. As a parent, I understand the importance of finding childcare that is both professional and dependable while reflecting your family’s values. My goal is to create a warm, welcoming setting where children feel secure, valued, and inspired to learn, play, and explore.
Little Explorers
Little Explorers is ideally located within walking distance of local amenities and public transport links, with easy access to the A12. The entire house is dedicated to childminding, offering a true home-from-home environment with a wide range of age-appropriate toys, resources, and learning opportunities.
Our secure, child-friendly garden provides plenty of outdoor play opportunities throughout the year. We also have an allotment at Walnut Tree Allotments, where children can grow fruit and vegetables while learning about nature, healthy eating, and caring for the environment.
Children learn best when they are happy and engaged. We enjoy a variety of indoor and outdoor activities, regularly visit local parks, groups, and community facilities, and follow each child’s interests to support their development. Parents are kept updated on their child’s day and progress through regular communication.
All meals and snacks are included in my fees and freshly prepared at home in line with healthy eating guidelines, ensuring nutritious, balanced meals for growing children.
My Experience
I have extensive experience caring for children from 6 weeks to 12 years old and have supported many families throughout my career. Combined with my experience as a parent, this gives me a strong understanding of children’s needs and family life.
My Qualifications
CACHE Level 3 Certificate in Childminding Practice
• QA Level 2 Award in Paediatric First Aid
• ESCB Level 2 Multi-Agency Safeguarding Children
I regularly attend training to keep my knowledge and skills up to date, ensuring I continue to provide high-quality care and early years education.
My Availability
Little Explorers is open Monday to Friday, 7:00am–6:00pm, for 48 weeks of the year.
I offer full-time and part-time places for children in the Early Years age group and can provide funded Early Years Education places for eligible 2, 3, and 4-year-olds.
I currently have 1 place becoming available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from September 2026 for a child within the early years age group.
My Fees
- Childminding from £7.00 per hour
I provide year-round childcare for 48 weeks of the year in a caring, home-from-home environment.
Daily Rate: £70 per day
A standard day runs from 8:00am to 6:00pm (10 hours).
Additional hours required outside of these times are charged at £5.00 per half hour.
What’s Included?
My daily fee includes all meals and snacks, which are freshly prepared at home and designed to provide children with healthy, balanced nutrition throughout the day.
A typical day’s meals include:
• Breakfast (for children arriving before 8:30am)
• Morning snack at 10:00am
• Lunch at 12:00pm
• Afternoon snack
• Dinner at approximately 4:15pm
There are no hidden extras for meals, giving parents the convenience of knowing their child is receiving nutritious home-cooked food throughout the day.
My Local Schools
This childminder has not yet informed us whether or not they provide any drop off or pick up services at local schools.
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
- Ofsted Certificate (added 28/10/2025)
- DBS Check (added 24/10/2016)
- Inspection Report (added 11/12/2022)
Reviews
5 out of 5
Latest reviews
Below are the latest reviews for katie14. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk members 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.
We have been fortunate to have known Katie as our childminder for nearly 4 years, with our younger son spending three days per week with her since he was one. It is honestly the best decision we have made as parents. Our older song attended nursery and preschool locally, but we wish we had known more about childminding (and Katie!) sooner.
Our son started with Katie in August 2020, with all of the complexities of Covid times. Despite this, our son settled in quickly to the setting, and it fast became considered a second home by him. Katie was also very supportive of us using cloth nappies and was happy to accommodate this for us. She also uses cloth wipes for all children around mealtimes.
Katie provides a clean, welcoming and well-equipped home, with an excellent range of quality toys that she varies regularly depending on the children's own interests and changing development, as well as different seasonal topics. She puts a great amount of time and effort into providing a range of activities to keep the children engaged across different age ranges, and shows a personal understanding of all the children in her care. Katie also prepares a great range of high quality and healthy meals for the children. She is very kind and caring with the children, and somehow always seems to be calm and cheerful despite the chaos of children! She clearly enjoys her job.
Katie encourages the children to spend time outdoors regularly, and takes them out on adventures most days, either visiting her allotment, the local park, using public transport to nearby towns, or going off for a walk across the fields to spot insects and wave at the trains. Our son is always happiest out and about exploring, and we think Katie's influence has played a big part in this. She also has a garden that the children spend plenty of time engaging in messy and physical play together.
Katie provides daily updates of what the children have been up to, and is always happy to provide personal updates when collecting our son at the end of the day. She has also been very supportive of us with any concerns or questions over the years, and is very knowledgeable of other local supports/ services to signpost us to. She is also aware of how her setting fits in with the wider context of child/ health care and liaises with any other settings your child may be at or moving to.
We are not looking forward to losing Katie as part of our life, but are very grateful for the love and support she has given to our child over the years, and the peace of mind for us as parents that he is happy and cared for.
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by
Hannah
on 16/06/2024
Response by
katie14
on 26/06/2024:
Thank you for the most wonderful review. It has been my absolute pleasure to have been a part of your childs early years. He will be miss greatly, not just by me but by all the other children who attend.
My two children (6 & 8 yrs old) have done a mix of school holiday full days and school pick ups / tea with Katie during the last few years. She is a brilliant with them, totally reliable and is an innovative and creative childminder. I feel able to go to work with complete peace of mind about their well being when they are with her. I fully recommend her! Francesca
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F Day
on 28/06/2020
Our son has been attending Katie’s Setting for 5 years now. We cannot recommend Katie highly enough. The early years experience that Katie offers is so vast, within her setting and out on her allotment as well as visits to local areas. Katie kept us well informed with our sons achievements and helped us with areas which he needed help in. She has a wealth of knowledge and is always happy to help us should we need any guidance. The environment is homely and calm, our son settled in with no problems and now he is as school attends before and after school and during the holidays. We could not live without Katie!!! Our son loves food and everything at Katie’s is nutritious and home cooked too. The craft and resources Katie has is exceptional she will do all the things we struggle to do at home. All the children that attend the setting are very happy and we couldn’t ask for more.
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Mummyjo
on 27/06/2020
My son has been attending Katie's setting for 12 months or so now. I am so happy with the care Katie gives and the lessons he is already learning. Katie has totally exceeded my expectations and she really goes above and beyond when caring for him and all the other children. The thing I most liked about Katie's setting is the wide range of resources she has for the children that aren't screens or gadgets! Katie makes use of natural resources and creates an interactive learning environment for the children. There is lots of books and my son is very fond of reading already at a young age. Katie uses an online forum called Tapestry to keep parents informed of what our kids have been up to. She includes photos as well as detailing what skills the children are developing. Katie is very reliable and keeps the setting very clean. The variety of home cooked food is amazing. I would definitely recommend Katie if you are looking for a caring and reliable care giver for your child.
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Hannah
on 26/06/2020
Our son has been with Katie for just over 12 months and we couldn’t be happier with our choice. We heard about her from other local parents who were very happy with her service.
Katie is friendly and caring and caters for each child’s developmental needs.
I remember when I told her my boy had started to pull himself to stand, the next day she brought down a push along walker from the loft. And like this I have many examples. She is also very attentive of food preferences of the family and child, which was a relieve when my boy first started.
Katie uses Tapestry which is a lovely way of keeping track of little one’s progress and we love to see what he’s been up to.
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Flosy
on 25/06/2020
My eldest son has been going to Katie for 3 1/2 years and my youngest for 6 months. I can honestly say choosing Katie as the boys childcare is one of the best parenting decisions we have made. Katie provides so much stimulation for the children in her care, really getting to know them and tailoring activities to their interests and developmental needs. She also recognises when they need a ‘chill out’ though and provides appropriate activities at a more sedate pace when it’s needed. The meals she provides are nutritious and the boys eat a fair greater range at hers than they would at home. I couldn’t recommend the setting enough.
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Kate
on 25/06/2020
We chose Katie's childcare as she had a great rapport with our son. She is warm and friendly and our toddler felt very relaxed in her care from day 1. James is very excited to tell me about his day, and Katie provides lots of activities to keep him entertained.
The Tapestry system provides us with lovely photos of his progress and I have added them into our photo diary.
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Kerrie
on 25/06/2020
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This profile was last updated on 11th June 2026 and 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.