Kate Gilheaney

The best childminder there is!

Just had a very emotional goodbye to the Kate, due to moving away from the area. 🥺❤️ I wanted to just do a post to anyone looking for a childminder in the Bickley, Bromley or Chislehurst area. I moved to Chislehurst 3 years ago not knowing anyone or having any family here, so natural was very nervous about looking at childminders/ nursery’s and not being able to get any recommendations. I found Kate through Child Care.com and oh my goodness. She has been an absolute dream. A home from home setting and my daughter had grown into such a funny, chatty and lovely character. I honestly believe that’s due to Kate and her wonderful team. I cannot recommend her enough. The only sad thing about moving is not being able to bring Kate with us 💔
I can’t thank you enough Kate! We will stay in touch!

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by Brogan on 23/01/2025

Response by Kate Gilheaney on 24/01/2025:

Awwww, Brogan, thank you so much for such a lovely review/tribute. Working with beautiful families, like yours, makes my job an absolute pleasure. Thank you for all your support always and for being such a joy to open the door to every day. We will really miss you all. We will definitely stay in touch 🥰 xxx

Great, child focussed, and dedicated!

Kate has been looking after my older child at her pre school setting for a year and a half now, and he loves it!
As a result She has just started looking after my youngest at her home too. He loves spending time with Kate and her team, he gets stuck in to a real variety of activities and seems to eat like a king! Despite having a food intolerance, he still gets super varied and healthy meals. I always get regular updates on what he gets up to throughout the day and he has settled really quickly! Thank you Kate x

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by HC1 on 03/07/2023

Response by Kate Gilheaney on 03/07/2023:

Thank you so much! What lovely feedback. I've loved having both of your boys and super excited for the littlest to be starting with me and moving onto The Wonder Years Bromley, our other Pre School setting, when he's ready. A pleasure to have them. Thank you. x

I couldn’t ask for more

I don’t know where to start… I love Kate, Amy and the team at Wonder years. My little girl loves it there and I genuinely feel that they care so much for her too.
The creativity, the space, the food and the family feel is more than I could’ve asked for.

My little one is 20 months old and has been coming to Wonder years for the last 4 months and I notice weekly that she’s learning new things that we haven’t done at home, so all credit to Kate and Co.! Thank you!! It must be exhausting looking after so many kids and always keeping that energy up!

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by Char on 05/07/2021

Response by Kate Gilheaney on 06/07/2021:

Awwww thank you so much for the lovely feedback. It's a pleasure and a privilege to work with such wonderdul children and families, I never forget how much I love this job and the fact that parents are happy with what we are doing just boosts us to be more creative and think of more exciting things to do. Working with families, such as yours, is my favourite part of this job. Thank you so much :)

Kate is just great

My boys spend a lot of time with Kate at her lovely pre-school. She is outgoing, bubbly, creative, enthusiastic, professional and enriches my children’s lives no end. I just cannot recommend her highly enough.

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by Maeve on 29/06/2021

Outstanding childcare setting. We love Kate!

Kate and her team have looked after my daughter since she was a very young toddler. I was, of course, very nervous about returning to work after maternity leave and wanted to ensure my daughter (who'd only just turned 1) was spending her days in a nurturing, friendly and safe environment. I knew from the moment I met Kate that her set-up was exactly the right environment I wanted for my daughter and that she would be very happy there. What makes Kate stand out from the crowd is her willingness to provide a range of developmental activities and experiences for the children in her care. Our daughter has also benefitted from positive interaction with a variety of children of a variety of pre-school ages. She was always excited about going to Kate's, which goes to show what a top notch set-up this is. Thank you, Kate.

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by juno27 on 15/07/2020

Response by Kate Gilheaney on 20/07/2020:

Thank you so much, what a lovely review. It's been a pleasure to be on this journey with you all. Thank you for the opportunity. I've really enjoyed watching her grow in confidence and seeing her personality bloom. :)

You won't find a better childminder!

We can’t recommend Kate and all her team at The Wonder Years enough. There are only a handful of people we’d trust our children with, and Kate is one of them. It’s like leaving your children with family. There’s always something fun and stimulating going on - from museum trips to charity fundraising. From baking to sports days. We’ve recommended Kate and The Wonder Years to lots of people and will continue to do so. Your child will be in kind, supportive and nurturing hands.

My children always told me the food was better at Kate's than at home and my son is very sad he's now too old to go. Kate works closely with you as a family to deal with your child's individual needs - whether they are physical, food related, toilet training related, emotional/social etc. Just can't recommend enough.

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by boymum on 01/07/2020

Response by Kate Gilheaney on 01/07/2020:

Thank you so much, that's such a lovely review. I'm so delighted you have been so happy with my care. I've really enjoyed working with you and your lovely family. Thank you for taking the time to post this feedback. Kate x

One Of My Best Decisions

My 20 month old has been going to Kate’s for almost a year now and choosing to send him there has been one of my best decisions. It’s a fantastic environment and Kate, along with her assistants are very warm and welcoming. He’s had some great trips out and about, including visits to the zoo, a farm, a nature trail and attended his first ever party at Halloween and been in a nativity play. He’s always doing interesting things indoors too and brings home lots of pictures and arts and craft things he’s made (with a bit of help!) In the warmer weather last year he was outdoors a lot and enjoyed splashing about in the paddling pool in the summer.
The communication home is great, and as well as the daily record book, I get text updates of what he’s been up to most days.
Kate has made it very easy for me to feel confident dropping my son off there from the very start, which is no mean feat as a new mum leaving your baby for the first time to go back to work.
Overall I’m very impressed with the level of care my son is receiving and can’t recommend Kate enough.

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by Marple on 24/03/2019

Response by Kate Gilheaney on 25/03/2019:

Ahh thank you so much, what lovely feedback. I'm delighted you're happy and caring for your son and working with your family is an absolute pleasure! xx

Saint Kate! My boy loves her :)

My son has always had trouble settling in new environments and meeting new people, so I was quite apprehensive about leaving him with a childminder when returning to work. Kate was very reassuring from day one, updating me on his progress with texts and photos which really put my mind at rest. Her communication skills are fantastic; the daily progress book logged his naps and what he was eating (everything, as it’s so good!) and the children also have an online journal so you never feel out of touch with their routine.

Kate has a lovely welcoming home and it didn't take long for my son to feel very much part of the family. He quickly gained confidence and I saw huge progress in his speech and social skills, as there are usually other children in Kate’s care allowing for interaction with children of various ages. He’s made lots of little buddies there and now wants to marry both of Kate’s daughters - and one of the boys too!

Kate and her assistants provide a safe, stimulating environment for the children and she plans lots of visits to parks, farms and zoo’s, as well as regular visits to local toddler groups. My son particularly loved his trips to the fire station and still talks about when a visiting police officer let him sit in a real police car! (I’m hoping it’s his only time!)

He’s now a cheeky, confident 4-year-old with good manners and a healthy appetite – all thanks to Kate and her team – and he will miss them all dearly when he starts school. I can’t thank, praise or recommend Kate highly enough!

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by Parent on 13/02/2018

Couldn't ask for anything more...

Our son has been with Kate since he was 1. Since that time, we have been regularly impressed with the service she provides. She offers so many interesting activities for them and has a group of regular assistants who the children all clearly adore. She provides excellent food, so much so that our son always eats better there than he does with us at the weekend! She is always willing to be flexible with hours, if one of us has to stay at work for a bit longer. I believe that our son's sociable and well-adjusted nature at age 3 is in the most part due to the excellent environment he experiences every day at Kate's; he has formed a series of close-bonds with the other children who go there. I really can't rate her highly enough. Excellent.

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by Shearer5 on 22/01/2018

Fantastic Childminder

Kate has looked after our daughter since she was 11 months old. Leaving my daughter to return to work after maternity leave was incredibly hard but finding Kate to look after her made the whole process a million times easier. It was clear from the very beginning how much Kate cared for all of the children in her care and I knew immediately that I would be happy to leave my daughter with her.
Kate has always treated our daughter like an extension of her family and has done everything possible to be flexible and meet our needs. She is always highly communicative and we always know what the current themes, plans etc are. Kate takes the children on exciting outings all year round, cooks homemade meals, regularly creates new and exciting activity opportunities - she is literally a superwoman and we have no idea how she manages it all! She also uses an online learning journal which is a fantastic way to record your child's progress and see what they're up to day to day with detailed and informative termly reports. Kate is also great at identifying developmental areas for your child, which is great when it's your first child and you're not really sure what they should be doing when!
We feel so bittersweet about our daughter leaving to go to preschool and if it weren't for us feeling she is ready for the next step before school we would absolutely keep her with Kate. I don't think we could have found better childcare. It is also worth mentioning Kate's wonderful assistants who are exceptionally committed and work so well with Kate and all the children. Barely a day goes by that our daughter doesn't pretend to be someone from Kate's house - and what brilliant role models they all are, including Kate's own children who our daughter has formed lovely friendships with and really looks up to. We will always be eternally grateful to her and her family and assistants for their support over the last 2 and a bit years. We will genuinely really miss Kate and her happy boat and we wouldn't hesitate to recommend her in a heartbeat.

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by Parent on 22/01/2018