Alison has been our childminder for the last 6 years - firstly for our daughter from the age of 8 months until she went to school and latterly for our son from the age of 1 until now as he will be starting school in September - and we couldn’t have asked for a better childminder!

Both of our children have flourished under the care which Alison has provided for them; her ‘home from home’ setting and her experience as a childminder ensured that they settled in smoothly, enjoyed their days with her and have many fond memories of their time with her.

Their days spent with Alison involved many varied activities both within her home and out and about. Alison has a designated playroom which opens out into a large garden which both Esme and Oliver loved to play in and explore; from helping Alison to feed the chickens, pick fruit from the trees or just zoom around on a scooter! Alison would also often bake with them which they loved - as would we when they came home with their baked goods; cookies and banana loaf were a firm favourite with us! Over the 6 years our children have enjoyed going out and about with Alison and have many fun memories of visiting Willows Farm, Whipsnade Zoo and Shenley Park as well as Messy Play, Sing and Sign (just yesterday as we walked past the church where Alison took them for this, Oliver piped up with ‘this is where we did Signing Sam; I wish I could do Signing Sam again!’) and the allotment.

Alison’s attention to detail and high standards has ensured that the particular needs of both of our children have been met; from supporting and guiding us when it seemed as if our daughter was never going to walk (she was just lazy and who needs to walk when you can get everywhere you need to by bum-shuffling?!), building their confidence and preparing them for school, through to buying their favourite toy to play with ensuring a smooth return to her childcare after the recent closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is testament to the care that Alison has provided to both our children that Esme (who has just finished her second year at school) still wants to see Alison and tell her about what she has been doing and Oliver is very keen to visit her ‘after school one day’. Alison has been a huge part of all of our lives over the past 6 years and it will be very strange not to be going via her house on the way to work come September.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication