When our daughter, Anya, was 11 months, we could see she was ready for more social interaction and activity. We looked at a range of nurseries, and we met a number of childminders to see if we could find the right fit. It was only after quite a long search that we met Sally, and before we had left her building, we knew she was 'the one' for us. Anya is now three, and is ready for nursery. For those looking for more information about Sally, we hope this review helps. We'll give more detail about specific features of Sally's care because we remember reading these reviews, and how much they helped us. But in a nutshell, we believe that choosing Sally has been the best decision we could have made for our child's care in the first three years of her life.

Responsive care: We knew she was right for us, because we could visibly see the care and kindness with which she treated the other children in her setting when we went to visit her. Sally clearly loves the children she cares for, and she takes the time to get to know them as individuals. We wanted someone who would give our daughter a lot of hugs and physical reassurance, and be an adult with whom she could form a healthy attachment. We have seen how, in Sally's care, our daughter has unfolded into a secure, communicative, confident and playful three-year old, and we know that this is very much down to Sally's responsive and loving care giving. One example that stands out is a morning when Anya raced out to see Sally to tell her a story. She was midway through the story when we interrupted Anya, to check something about picking her up. Sally indicated very politely to us that we'd chat in a minute, and turned back to give Anya her full attention again (Anya had already climbed into Sally's arms at this point). This indicated an innate respect for our child, and an interest in her world, which we really valued. Sally is boundaried, kind and gentle.

The setting: Sally's home is immaculate, light and well-organised for indoor and outdoor play, with rabbits (and a rabbit hutch) that the children love and a beautiful big garden that has sweeping views across Brighton. The children have a consistent routine everyday and it is a routine that we still maintain as a family, even with our daughter now in nursery.

Sleep: This was another reason we chose Sally: each child has their own cot and a quiet room to sleep in. Anya had a special rocket night light that she loved, and Sally managed to get Anya to go to sleep on her own from the start (something we then were able to set up at home).

Activities: Sally combines indoor and outdoor activities, offering the children a wide range of spaces to play in and different art materials to play with. Sally has a strong belief, as we do, that it's good for kids to get fresh air and be outside; she also provides time each day for children to go 'slow', sometimes doing yoga with them along with lots of reading and playing. Anya misses the frequent outdoor activities, now that she's in nursery. Come rain or shine, the kids would often go out in the morning to stomp around the woods collecting pinecones and autumn leaves.

Covid: Sally is an excellent communicator, and she is also well-networked and aware of all of the latest (and ever-changing) Covid rules for childcare. She has not taken any risks with her childcare, and with the activities that she organises for the children at home and outdoors. We have felt entirely confident about having Anya with Sally, during the pandemic.

Communication/Administration: Sally has communicated consistently and clearly with us from the moment we set up our first meeting. We liked how boundaried she was, when working out our days/times; this is echoed in her consistency with the kids in her care. The contract is clear, and we received daily information about our children through Babysdays - an app that Sally uses to share information about the day's activities, photographs of the activities, sleep time and duration, developmental milestones etc. Now that Anya is in nursery, we really appreciate the level of daily information that we received. We also can see how rare it was to have had Sally's level flexibility and willingness to accommodate us, as our work shifted over time.

I don't really like or write reviews, but this is a long one because my wife and I are so grateful to Sally for all the love and fun she's given Anya in the first years of her life. We whole-heartedly recommend Sally!

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• Setting
• Cleanliness
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• Communication