Mais Munchkins's Reviews

Recommendation

Mai has been great with my child. Interesting outings and playtime in the garden as well as educational discussions about types of food.

My child has really enjoyed being with Mai and hasn’t wanted to leave at times.

The environment is clean, large and has plenty of toys and activities for the children.

I would recommend Mai to friends/family and people I care about.

Photos are sent of the children’s activities and daily updates of food are also provided.

Monique

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by Monique about Mais Munchkins on 18/08/2023

Wonderful childminder!

Mai and Joe have been looking after my daughter for 2 months now, and they have been absolutely fantastic. She has settled in quickly, and loves going there. The setting is super clean, full of toys, the children are always entertained, and learing through play and many wonderful activities. The app that Mai uses is fantastic, we know what our daughter's had to eat (and how much) each day, and how well she slept; and the photos are gorgeous. Couldn't be happier.

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by Mila about Mais Munchkins on 31/10/2022

Recommended

Mai, Joe and their assistant provide a structured and fun day for the kids - our little one thrives on this. We are 2 months in, and are glad that we chose this welcoming and supportive team. The initial weeks were tough, and we eventually sought outside help to improve our sleep situation (co-sleeping/nursing to sleep), patience and time have allowed our little one to understand that he's in a safe, sociable, creative and exciting environment.

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by Andrew about Mais Munchkins on 06/08/2022

Inadequate Childminder - Reported to Ofsted

I’m not usually one to air my laundry, however I think when it comes to
reviews on childcare it is important to provide feedback on our
experience. We have had to remove our daughter from this setting and
report Mai to Ofsted due to inadequate care and putting our daughter’s
welfare at risk. Our daughter is currently going through assessments of
Autism and speak and language support. The last 3-4 weeks at the setting my
daughter had been really upset, refusing food and generally very emotional.
This is a far cry to how she is at home where she is happy, full of energy
and loves her food. Two weeks ago we went to the setting for what I thought
was a discussion on how we can all support my daughter, however instead we
were shown numerous videos of my daughter sat at the setting in floods of
tears with nobody comforting or supporting her. Instead of trying to look
after her Mai and her husband were too busy taking videos of her crying.
There was also no context to the videos to show if anything had happened
prior to cause my daughter to cry. We saw a number of videos of this
nature. Subsequently, we were then sent a 22 second video of our daughter
standing crying in hysterics, struggling to catch her breath and all the
while Mai and her husband were standing with a camera videoing her. Can you
image how a 23-month-old must feel standing crying hysterically and the
people who are supposed to be looking after her, comforting and supporting
her are next to her with an iPhone videoing her instead.*


*Mai told us she was acting within the guidelines of what is expected of
her as a childcare professional!!! We have shown the video to a number of
other healthcare professionals, child support workers and a social worker
we know and the response from everyone has been the same. The feedback we
received was that the actions of Mai and her husband are shocking,
disgusting, heart-breaking and not in line with the behaviour of a
reputable childcare professional and need to be reported. We were asked by
professionals if we would be willing to report this setting as no child
should be treated that way. None of childcare professional we spoke to said
they would ever video a child emotional/distraught in order to send to a
parent and it is so far from the guidelines and expected behaviour of a
childcare professional. *

*This is now with Ofsted and it is for them to decide on any consequences
but I will also stand-up and fight for my daughter’s welfare and against
people who simply want to take parents money and provide unacceptable
childcare services.*

*I would recommend reading the Ofsted reports for this setting. While they
have recently passed a re-inspection the first inspection at the end of
last year was marked as inadequate for all areas. My biggest regret is not
removing my child from this setting 6 months ago when we saw the inadequate
Ofsted report. It was such a red flag for us and after a meeting with Mai
to discuss we wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and support her
as a new childminder who wanted to work to improve the setting and Ofsted
report. Instead, she provided inadequate care and trauma to my daughter and
the mum guilt of leaving her in that situation will never go away.

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by Laura about Mais Munchkins on 22/06/2022

Response by Mais Munchkins on 23/06/2022:

We take the wellbeing and safety of all the children in our care extremely seriously and it is disappointing to see a review which misrepresents the care we provided to your child, inaccurately presents information, and mischaracterises our actions. As a responsible and professional business, we reported your comments directly to Ofsted and they have confirmed that they are content with our approach and will not be taking this matter any further. Additionally, we had an Ofsted inspection in May 2022 which rated our setting “GOOD” in all areas.

Specifically, the report notes:

“The childminder and her assistant work very well together, providing valuable support for each other and the children they care for. They consistently and positively promote children's sense of belonging and emotional well-being. Children benefit from these positive and ongoing interactions"

Whilst it would be inappropriate for us to go into details, we did work with you extensively to establish the cause of your child’s anxiety and work on an action plan in conjunction with professional agencies and made extra effort to accommodate their needs. We have always sought to resolve your concerns privately and it is unfortunate that you have chosen to respond on a public platform. We take our responsibilities seriously and have no wish to conduct this dispute in public but feel that we must respond to address the false narrative that has been presented.

It's astonishing that you have allowed your child to stay at a care provider for almost a year if you had such a low opinion of the food , cleanliness, communication, the setting and the lack of respect and trust you have for myself or Joe.

It's a shame you've decided to take this course of action however we still wish your child the best for the future.

Highly Recommend!!

We started sending our daughter to Mai's Munchkins after she really struggled to settle at a larger nursery. Within just a couple of weeks she had settled in brilliantly and rather than the tears that we had been used to whenever we dropped her at nursery, she now gives Mai and her team cuddles upon arrival and waves them goodbye when we collect her.

Such peace of mind knowing that she is happy and safe during the day.

On top of that, Mai and her team are lovely to deal with and always have time for a chat at the end of each day. I can't recommend them highly enough :-)

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by Jamie B about Mais Munchkins on 12/10/2021

Highly recommended

We had to switch childminders after moving areas recently. Mai’s setup was actually the first option we viewed in our new location and we immediately felt happy for our daughter to join :) They have an impressive nursery at the back of the garden and always organise fun activities for the kids to get busy. She provides updates on our kid’s progress along with daily photos of what she’s up to, plus how well she’s been eating. As with many kids and new faces, our daughter took a few weeks to settle in but now thoroughly enjoys her time at Mai’s Munchkins :)

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by Monica about Mais Munchkins on 05/04/2021

Wonderful childminder!

Our little one has been so well looked after since he started at Mai's Munchkins when he was 11 months old, and now when we drop him off he bounds in through the door with a big smile on his face.
Mai and Joe have a beautiful home with lots of toys and activities, and a spacious and very child friendly garden. They are kept engaged with seasonal crafts, educational activities, playtime and dancing, and we love seeing the updates on the app, they really reassured me as a first time mum going back to work. The food is home cooked and our little one always eats and sleeps so well there.
Mai is organsied, professional and great with all the communications.
The setting feels very warm and welcoming, and we couldn't be happier that our little one is cared for so well, we recommend Mai's Munchkins wholeheartedly!

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by Sarah about Mais Munchkins on 23/01/2021

Brilliant childminder and warm from the onset

Mai's setting is perfect. plenty of play space and a separate area - a summer house for the kids. Mai is a warm and welcoming lady and the kids (twins) absolutely loved their time with her.

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by MsDymock about Mais Munchkins on 04/01/2021

Lovely and professional Childminder!

My daughter started at Mai’s Munchkins last February, she was her first little Munchkin, and she actually settled very quickly. Mai and her family have welcomed her like one of their own, always friendly and very caring.

Mai has a lovely approach with kids, she cooks homemade foods and she makes nice snacks! They do lots of fun activities on a daily basis, they do singing, dancing and educational crafts.

From the beginning we have had good communication between us, they have always been professional, flexible and friendly, what else do you need? A lot more munchkins to make it really fun! I would definitely recommend Mai and Joe to look after your children.

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by Carolina about Mais Munchkins on 16/12/2020

First time away from

We hadn’t left our 21 month old with anyone outside of family before outside of the house so when we met with Mai and her assistant Liz and immediately felt comfortable with them, we knew it was a great fit! Our little girl quickly became relaxed and happy to be with her new friends and carers. She eats well at Mai’s which actually helped us through a mealtime eating dip she was in after being away on holiday. Mai offered flexibility with our schedule and is very personable. We are very pleased to have made this connection for our family!

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by Nicole about Mais Munchkins on 22/08/2020