Jay

Placement offered to another family without notice

I was very disappointed with my experience. I had been in contact with this childminder about a placement for my daughter and had requested the childcare agreement a couple of times to review and sign. We had also visited the setting a couple of times and made clear our intentions. Less than a week after the agreement was finally sent, I found out - only after I followed up - that the placement had already been given to someone else without any notice.
I completely understand that places can fill up quickly, but I would have appreciated clear communication or at least being informed before the placement was offered to another family. The lack of transparency was unprofessional.

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by Ana R on 05/11/2025

Response by Jay on 05/11/2025:

Dear Ana,

You visited my setting twice to discuss a possible childcare place. During your visits, I shared full details about my daily routine, meals, planning and assessments, and policies, and later emailed you my own permissions paperwork and the Redbridge funding forms as you wanted to claim free childcare hours. I also explained that I use the standard PACEY contract for all families, which is provided once a placement and funding is confirmed.

All relevant information was communicated clearly and transparently throughout our correspondence. However, I did not receive any confirmation or completed forms from you to secure the place. As you will know from working in early years yourself, a space cannot be held indefinitely without written confirmation or deposit. When another family confirmed and returned their details, the vacancy was offered to them.

I understand you are disappointed and hope you find the childcare that suits your family’s needs. My aim is always to communicate openly and fairly with all parents who visit my setting. I feel that it is extremely unfair for you to leave a review on my childcare services when you were never a parent I worked with.

Kind regards,
Jay

Absolutely Outstanding

Jay looked after our son for two years and we cannot speak highly enough of her. We found Jay to be a kind and loving carer who our son could not wait to see every morning. We saw our son develop in leaps and bounds and we have no doubt that Jay played an important role in this, from teaching him words, to painting, to letting him cook with her. Jay knew his moods and interests and catered to these most impressively. She spent untold hours walking him to see trains, to feed ducks and to run around at play group. Jay has a supportive family and our son slotted in to their mornings, and he loved to be part of their after school/work catchups where he was always welcomed. We are incredibly sad to leave Jay and are only doing so as we are moving out of the area. She has been so wonderful for our son, and we can only offer our highest recommendations of her to anyone considering child care in the area.

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by Melissa on 23/07/2022

A Heart of Gold

Jay is an outstanding childminder. We are very fortunate to be in our fourth year with Jay. Our DD has absolutely flourished under her care. Jay is very knowledgeable about child development and has a wealth of experience. I have so valued her advice along the way. Whilst our daughter was with Jay full time, Jay kept a detailed folder which she built up over the three years. This contained wonderful records of our DD’s development, art, photos and celebrations. It is marvellous and just one example of how Jay goes above and beyond. Jay’s home is incredibly safe, warm and welcoming, our DD loves the whole family. Another thing we have loved about Jay is her emphasis on home cooking and encouraging our daughter to enjoy being a part of food preparation. Additionally, Jay has been excellent at getting our DD outdoors, for a picnic in the park or to feed the ducks, to name a few. Jay establishes an excellent routine for children and this has been very important for our DD. There are so many great things to say about Jay, but to sum up, Jay is incredibly trustworthy, kind, safe and importantly she is someone who loves children. She takes their growth seriously, whilst still having a lovely sense of humour. I thoroughly recommend her.

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by debbiz on 29/10/2020