OUR SETTING
With working together as a husband & wife team, and thus our increased ratio's allowed, we believe we are a nice happy medium between a single childminder and a day nursery setting. The benefits are that we are allowed double the numbers thus creating a better social setting for your child, along with the knowledge that whenever meals are being prepared, a child needs to be seen to on the toilet or needs a nappy changing, there is always the other one of us on hand to see to the other children. Similarly, when it comes to nursery runs to pick up or drop off other children, we don't always both need to go out when the weather is bad, so the other children can stay at home, warm & dry. It is also very easy for us to split into two groups, if needs be, for age appropriate activities (especially during school holidays when older children are with us all day). We have a room dedicated to childminding, we also use the dining room and conservatory and this is where we can set up and separate older age appropriate toys & games where little ones can't pick up the smaller toys, causing harm
Benefits of our home from home environment means that we get to go on regular outings (see below) with the children and are regularly out and about. For pre-schoolers, during the term-time school week, we mix the mornings up with visits to various groups and activities, that enable your child to meet and socialise with others outside our setting, as well as those within, creating a broader understanding of the world around us. An example of a typical term-time week is as follows (we do often change things from week to week) :-
Monday am - A park, weather permitting (Wynyard Woodland, Ropner, Preston, Hardwick Hall, Romano, Ward Jackson, Seaton Carew, Cowpen Bewley etc) or home based if weather not great
Tuesday am - outing to Saltholme / Wagon Woods / Teesaurus Park / Farm / Beach or similar (weather depending)
Wednesday am - soft play centre
Thursday am - park or home based
Friday am - Lets Pretend in Hartlepool
Have a look on our facebook page for photo's of what we have done recently !!!
On afternoon's, after lunch, we have quiet nap time for those who need it and for those pre-schoolers who don't need a nap, we do other activities such as play games, do puzzles, arts & crafts and baking (see photo's) before we go and collect the school children at around 3pm/3.15pm (depending on numbers, we sometimes don't both need to go, meaning in bad weather pre-school children do not often need to go on school runs)
As childminders working from home, without the overheads of a facility or staff, we aim to offer best value for money without compromising on the care we provide, and despite many people thinking only schools and day nurseries accept the funded (free 15/30 hours) places, we do actually accept these as well, along with many other payment options (see prices & funding for more options) and some of these can even be combined, meaning the cost to you is reduced even more (i.e. government tax-free scheme can be used with free 15/30 hours to pay for anything over and above the 15/30 free hours)
The 15 hours for 2 year olds is starting from April 2024, and for 9 month olds and upwards from September 2024. These hours increase to 30 hours from September 2025, all of which we are eligible to accept
We provide contracts on a school term-time basis, with the option of booking and paying for school holiday care in advance (subject to us not being on holiday and we only work Monday to Thursday during school holidays). This means that you don't need to use or pay for care in the school holidays if you don't need us. Ideal for those working in schools or other term-time jobs, or for those who have Grandparents who can look after children in the school holidays
During school holidays, with there being the two of us and having two cars, we often go out for trips for the day. As well as the parks listed above, in the past we have visited the likes of :-
Kirkleatham Hall, Redcar,
Seaton Carew,
Sheepwash,
Whitby,
Scarborough,
Alnwick Castle (when we did a Harry "Spotter" day out),
Life Centre, Newcastle (on the train too !!!)
Gibside,
Newby Hall,
Fountains Abbey,
Railway museums at York & Shildon,
farm visits to Newham Grange Farm, Tweddles, Hall Hill & Monk Park too,
Plus the likes of Go Climb, Clip'n'climb, Airtrail, Footgolf (Stokesley),
See our photo gallery for some of the fun days out we've had !
When the weather isn't the greatest, we sometimes go bowling or goto the cinema (again, we have the ability to split between older children who can do these activities, and the toddlers & babies who can't). Please note that any entrance fees or activities are to be paid for by yourself
Just to make you aware, we do have a dog (a beagle), who absolutely adores the children !!
We hope this gives you an insight into our childcare setting, that has been established on Wolviston Court, Billingham since 2005. Our facebook page, rdchildminding, is updated frequently with photo's of what we get upto and the "f" link is below
We can easily cater for those just wanting term-time only, but the option is there for some school holiday care should you need it, so to arrange a visit and to discuss your needs, please feel free to contact Rachael on 07986 711842 by calling, texting or WhatsApp, whichever you feel more comfortable with, or by email in the "contact us" section
