My daughter was 6 months old when I returned to work. I looked at a number of local nurseries but felt that none of them were the right fit for her or us as parents. I decided to search on a childcare website and found three childminders who I visited.
As soon as I walked into Rachel's home I knew that she was the person I was looking for. I really liked the 'home from home' setting and the fact that Rachel had two young daughters of her own. My daughter immediately sought out Rachel's dogs and was fascinated by them.
I felt Rachel was just what we all needed; a calm, safe and experienced professional. The fact that she also had a background in teaching appealed to me greatly as I wanted my daughter to be stimulated and engaged in age appropriate activities. Rachel delivered all of this and more. My daughter had time with older children before and after school, which I felt, really benefitted her. During the holidays Rachel and her husband took our daughter to Seaworld, with their children and during term time Rachel would go to local playgroups. Our daughter really settled into being with Rachel and her girls. She developed social and language skills very quickly and thoroughly enjoyed herself! 
As a parent it was lovely to receive regular text updates from Rachel along with pictures of our daughter enjoying herself. It made leaving her and going back to work much less stressful. My husband and I are very grateful for the care Rachel gave our daughter in the time she was in her care; as first time parents we were worried about leaving our child. We needn't have been! Had we not moved out of Surrey for work reasons our daughter would still be with Rachel now.