Our son was with Dawn for nearly a year, and during that time he always seemed happy, settled, and content in her care. Dawn also helped us with pick-ups and drop-offs, which was really useful, and something we checked with her multiple times to ensure she was happy to continue doing.

We really thought a lot of Dawn. Dawn then took three weeks off for personal reasons.. no issues there at all but on the weekend before she was due to return, she very suddenly terminated our contract, citing a breakdown in the relationship. This came as a complete shock to us, especially as our communication had always been friendly and positive—she would message about non-work-related things, and was even invited to our son’s christening.

The sudden termination left us without childcare at very short notice, which was extremely stressful and upsetting for our family. Dawn asked for £600 to cover the 4 weeks notice or we send Ezra to her for the 4 weeks & she will claim funding (we didn’t send him, see the next paragraph.) There was also a dispute over payment following this, as we did not agree with being asked to pay after the contract had been ended so abruptly. This has now been settled, but added further stress at an already difficult time.

Since leaving, I was approached by another parent who occasionally saw Dawn with the children at playgroups. She shared concerns, from one parent to another, that Dawn had previously terminated other contracts suddenly and mentioned instances where a child in her care was not comforted when upset and spoken to in a way that raised concern. While I cannot personally verify this, hearing this has been very upsetting and has made me question things further.

Overall, while our son appeared happy during his time there, the way the contract was suddenly terminated, the lack of prior communication, and the stress caused afterwards has left us feeling that the situation was handled unfairly. I would advise other parents to ensure they have clear agreements in place and to be aware that arrangements may change very quickly.

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• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication