Our son Idris has been going to Shirley’s for one year and together with her husband Gladstone and their assistant Milene, they’ve been absolutely fantastic. I feel we had got very lucky as they are always going above and beyond and are genuinely caring, loving and friendly.

The downstairs of their home is for the children and kitted out with lots of toys, books and art work done by the kids and is very clean. They have a lovely garden which is much more than a playground, most of it created by Gladstone. It has swings, slide, wooden climbing ship etc and also a vegetable patch where the children learn about gardening. In the summer the kids can also enjoy the paddling pool outside. Our son was scared of the pool and bath times were a nightmare, but Shirley and Gladstone helped him to gain confidence and now he loves to be in water. The children are always doing different activities, messy play, art, baking, celebrating cultural events, reading, singing and prior to the Covid pandemic they were taken on outings to the park, Kew gardens and local libraries and children centres. Idris often comes home with cakes and biscuits the children had baked. Organic food is made fresh for the children daily with dietary requirements taken into account with lots of healthy snacks. They are very flexible and have a lot of facilities catered for the children which we felt made our life easier incase we forgot to pack something for Idris in the mornings...they have a huge car with children seats, double buggies, kids outer clothing and swimsuits, hand sanitisers etc, you name it, they have it or they will try their best to provide.

We look forward to the daily pictures and detailed updates Shirley provides on Whatsapp. Shirley and Gladstone are very knowledgeable about children development and we fully trust them and are certain our son is taken good care of. The children are very caring towards one another which reflects the kindness taught under Shirley’s care. He always looks happy to be there and often doesn’t want to come home. As working parents, the pick ups/drop off provided has been brilliant and has helped us a lot.

They have become like family and sadly as we are moving areas our son will soon stop attending. We would like to say a huge thank you to them for all their hard work and for truly loving Idris and all the kids as if they were their own. We wish we could take them with us and no-doubt we will miss them tremendously!

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