Reviews for Childminder in Runnymede - Sarah A

A+++ Couldn't ask for a better childminder

We would thoroughly recommend Sarah. Our youngest son has been in Sarah’s care a couple of days per week for the last two years. Every day he has come home having enjoyed himself and having experienced things he wouldn't have at home. Sarah’s planning, creativity and spontaneity have allowed him to flourish. Sarah focuses on the needs and likes of the child. She has taken him to Fairoaks to watch the planes, to various countryside and woodland walks to ‘jump in muddy puddles’ and they have done lots of arts and crafts. When he has been interested in something, Sarah has gone out of her way to provide resources for him - like magnatiles and extra jigsaw puzzles. Sarah makes sure they get outside as much as possible and exposes them to nature at every opportunity. Sarah has a robust set of policies and procedures in place, and keeps up to date with national guidance around childminding. Sarah plans lots of activities that stimulate and stretch the children. You can be assured that your little one is in the best hands. Having regular WhatsApp picture messages seeing the fun he is having is always reassuring. We honestly couldn't have asked for a better childminder - Sarah has exceeded our expectations by far!

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by Nicola about Sarah A on 15/03/2021

Outstanding in all ways

My daughter Lara started with Sarah at 10 months until recently and she is now 3.
I couldn't recommend Sarah enough. Lara wouldn't be the bright and intelligent girl she is, without the support she has had from Sarah. Also as a parent when it is hard to go back to work you need a childminder who is supportive to you as a parent and understanding. Well that's Sarah, I am happy to say she has become a good friend who we will stay in touch with.

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by Kattykat about Sarah A on 04/06/2019

Outstanding in all ways

I am writing this reference as I really want to express how fantastic Sarah is. We came to Sarah just over two years ago when we already had two very bad experiences in childcare. Izzy was finding it difficult to settle due to these recent changes but she instantly took to Sarah and her family and ever since then has been so happy. Even after we go away on holiday for two weeks when you would expect her to find it difficult to go back, she runs to Sarah. It’s a great feeling to know that Izzy is so cared for when we are working.
Sarah provides a great range of activities and tailors them to each child, she quickly saw Izzy’s love of arts and crafts and allowed extra time, resources and flexibility to do this, which we really appreciate.
Throughout the year there is a new theme each month which means that nothing is ever the same and Izzy learns so much from all the different approaches to learning that Sarah implements such as the themed crafts, stories or toys.
Throughout the day through Sarah’s updates I really feel involved and part of it, through the pictures and videos sent. This is something I again I really appreciate as Izzy and I like to look through the pictures together and talk about her day.
At every key milestone Sarah has been so supportive both to Izzy and us, an example is the effort Sarah puts in to supporting Izzy learning German by purchasing special books, providing us with example resources and counting together. Another example is with potty training, Sarah saw how well Izzy was getting on and gave me the confidence to continue and extend to trying it at night. Without her insight and encouragement I believe we wouldn’t have made the move as quickly as we did and it worked out perfectly.
Sarah records all the milestones in very detailed learning journals and puts so much effort into these that are really a testament to how dedicated she is.
Sarah is thoughtful, caring, insightful, supportive and dedicated and we all love her and feel so lucky to have her looking after Izzy.
I honestly cannot rate Sarah highly enough.

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by Parent about Sarah A on 15/03/2016

Sarah goes above & beyond :)

We feel very lucky to have Sarah caring for Finn and are constantly impressed with his learning and development under her guidance. He can’t wait for Sarah’s red door to open in the morning and we really enjoy seeing their strong bond.
We are extremely happy with the nurturing, educational and fun environment Sarah provides on a daily basis. He gets to explore and experience a great range of activities in and out of her home. Sarah continues to go above and beyond our expectations providing a range of resources and is always receptive to his latest interests.
Sarah is very organised and keeps us updated throughout the day with pictures and videos as well as a detailed daily journal. She also produces an extensive learning journal and book of key observations, achievements and impressive artwork. We appreciate the detail Sarah puts into the documentation and enjoy looking through the books which really demonstrate how he is excelling under her care.

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by Parent about Sarah A on 14/03/2016

Better than we could ever hope for

Jacquelien went to Sarah from a very young age (6 months) and has been with her for slightly over a year now. She's never found it hard to settle as she always easily settles where she's being loved. That's probably the most admirable element of being cared for by Sarah: she just loves your child and that translates into anything she does.

Whether it is going for a walk, to playing groups, going for a picknick or adventures on playgrounds, or playing at home. It seems there is no time for boredom, not even a second. Which reminds me: just contact her, make an appointment and visit her at home and you will appreciate the level of dedication she has to what she does.

Her approach combines all elements a parent looks for: having fun, learning good manners, a strong focus on development, ... Jacquelien (and ourselves) just love it.

Finally, she never forgets about the parents and provides a detailed diary to let us know how things have been, while on top of that she shares pictures and updates during the day via WhatsApp. Often just what's needed to brighten up a working day!

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by Parent about Sarah A on 31/08/2014

Sarah’s Reference

We struck gold when we found Sarah and my son who was 2 and a half at the time warmed to her immediately. He had been to nursery before and I only wish we had found Sarah earlier because the quality of care she gave him was in a different league.

The daily diary was extremely detailed and the learning journals that Sarah put together were exemplary, far surpassing anything we had been given in the past.

Sarah cares deeply for the children in her care; she knows them inside out and tailors the activities and learning around their specific needs. She regularly took my son on a variety of outings providing him with one on one attention as well as the opportunity to interact with other children. My son’s development was noticeable almost immediately and he continued to learn and excel in all areas of the curriculum, as well as gaining social skills and confidence.

I have never met anyone so suited to their profession and I am very grateful that my son had the benefit of Sarah’s care for the time that he did. His happiness and safety were never in question and I would wholeheartedly recommend Sarah to any family.

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by Parent about Sarah A on 17/03/2014

Home from home

I started looking for childcare when Izzy was just 5 weeks old. After numerous nursery visits, we went to visit Sarah's and I knew the search was over immediately. Sarah is someone who creates a home from home environment, giving individual attention to each child in her care. She also has the knowledge of a child's potential which has been a great help in Izzy's development. She is creative and thinks outside the box finding fun ways capture a child's attention and imagination. I was quite new to motherhood and Sarah gave me some great advice on how to cope with some of the more challenging aspects of parenting. She is full of advice and tips - as a result we now have a child who sleeps through the night and has a daily routine! :-) I found the prospect of returning to work quite daunting after maternity leave but it was such a relief to know Izzy was in Sarah's care and I would often receive picture messages to show me just how much fun they have together. Every day I receive a full diary of their activities and every month I get photos emailed showing me their adventures.

Sarah loves to get out and about - to the woods, play groups, in the garden, shopping and Izzy's confidence has grown massively as a result. Izzy found groups of children overwhelming when she was little and so having more 1 on 1 care, Izzy has gradually been introduced to larger numbers and now she is thriving in groups of children. Likewise they have lots of fun indoors - learning to paint, draw, messy play, collecting shells on the man-made beach, an endless supply of toys for every age, building all sorts of things - head bands, binoculars! The list is endless!

Izzy loves going to Sarah's, her little face lights up when the door opens every morning. She has been welcomed by all the family and it's like her 2nd home. We only wish we could take Sarah with us. Thank you for all your help, you will be missed.

Lots of love

Liz and Izzy

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by Parent about Sarah A on 17/03/2014

Perfect Childminder

Sarah was child-minder for our 2 sons, Isaac (2) and James (8) from October 2012 to July 2013. She has looked after Isaac for 3 full days a week and picked James up from school twice a week.
Both boys settled in to being cared for by Sarah immediately, she provides a safe, caring and stimulating environment for all the children she looks after.
Isaac has really thrived in Sarah’s care. She has a large array of toys and activities, indoors and outdoors and also takes the children on lovely trips out to playgroups, parks or even to fab places like Wisley for the day. She provides thorough and informative daily feedback on what they have been up to each day with a diary and also completes a developmental progress record in line with EYFS guidelines. Sarah also takes some great pictures of what Isaac gets up to and regularly emails them.
Sarah is a very approachable and knowledgeable child-minder and it’s easy to see why she is rated by Ofsted as outstanding.
Both our boys are very sad to be leaving Sarah’s care and we are only moving on having managed to secure a nursery place for Isaac that perfectly matches my complicated shift working pattern.
It is a big wrench returning to work and leaving young children in someone else’s care but we have learnt that a child-minder is the perfect first step and Sarah is the perfect child-minder!
Thanks so much from all of us x

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by Parent about Sarah A on 18/07/2013

Response by Sarah A on 18/07/2013:

:') Thank you so much, I will miss both the boys terribly, but I look forward to hearing about Isaac's new adventures :) x

She'll always be there for you

Our son Francis was in the care of Mrs. Sarah Arnold from 16 months of age until his 3rd birthday, just before the start of preschool. Francis was at Sarah's three days a week, for a total of 21 hours a week.

Sarah's setting is a lovely family environment. Sarah is passionate about her job, she has a very energetic yet sweet personality which suited our son's vigorous approach to life. Sarah is a trustworthy and reliable provider.

Because Francis started at Sarah's at a fairly early age, it was important for us that he should follow a consistent routine during the day, in addition to enjoying lots of different activities. Sarah always scrupulously followed our instructions on how to deal with Francis with regard to naps and meals, and recorded this information in a daily diary, along with the fun activities the children had done during the day. The diary was a really useful tool which would ensure continuous communication between us and Sarah.

Fun activities included arts and crafts, gardening, nature walks, visits to science museums and local parks. There was never a dull moment! Sarah also made sure to include activities which would expose Francis to both languages he speaks at home, English and Italian. As a result, Francis is making good progress at becoming a bilingual little boy.

Because Sarah closely follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guidelines, she also reported Francis' progress on a separate book with lots of descriptions and pictures to document Francis' educational journey. Francis' preschool teacher will use these books (we now have two) as a tool to ensure continuity in Francis' development.

We always felt Sarah had a genuine interest in Francis' physical and intellectual development, and we knew we could trust her in doing the best possible job in raising Francis and making him the happy, confident child he is today.
We will miss Sarah lots, though luckily she lives just down the road so we'll make sure we visit her often enough!