Our Service
- Our normal opening hours are from 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, although earlier starts can be arranged from 6am for a small extra fee. Please note: we do not work weekends or Bank Holidays.
- We all hold DBS certificates.
- We are registered with the Environmental Health as a food business.
- We have up-to-date food hygiene training.
- We have up-to-date Paediatric First Aid Training.
- The Designated Safeguarding Leader for the setting is Toni Hope.
- We are registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).
- We have insurance through PACEY (Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years).
- Our cars are insured for Childminding business use.
- We are part of the NCS Childminder Network.
- We always take 4 weeks holiday during the year plus 1 week at Christmas. We don’t charge for these weeks.
Our Fees
We charge a daily fee for the normal working hours of 7.30am to 5.30pm with extra charges if early starts are arranged.
Before and After School Fees are session rates.
We do not work on an hourly fee base.
We accept Cash, Bank Transfer, Standing Order, a range of Childcare Vouchers and are registered to receive Tax Free Childcare payments.
We are registered with the Childcare Grant Payment Service (CGPS) to claim payments for Parents using Student Finance.
We also accept the Government Funding for 2,3 and 4 year olds and offer places on this basis.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN OUR FEES?
Food and drinks and resources including all toys, games, books, arts and crafts materials, food for cooking, ingredients for example, making playdough, baby wipes and visits to indoor play places and play groups.
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED IN OUR FEES?
Cost of any bigger special outings such as visits to the farm, zoo etc, nappies and food for weaning babies.
FUNDED CHILDREN FEES
We do not currently ask for any contributions towards food and outings that you may have heard others charging. The funding we receive covers exactly the same as for all children.
Our food and drink provision
We provide meals and snacks through the day including breakfast, snack, lunch and substantial afternoon snack (some would call it tea).
All food is cooked from fresh ingredients where possible to support the children’s current likes, dislikes, allergies and family wishes.
We have a 3 week rolling menu and this is adapted each week to account for things that ‘went well’ or ‘weren’t liked by many’ or availability of ingredients.
When babies are weaning, we ask parents to provide food. As soon as they are able to eat normal food, we provide food.
We support breast and bottle feeding.
We are happy to provide food for special dietary requirements. Toni herself is Coeliac and Dairy Intolerant so we understand the importance of separate food preparation, checking ingredients etc.
If Parents prefer to supply their child’s food, we will provide you with the latest DfE guidance on healthy eating which we are required to follow in the setting.
Fresh drinking water is always available. Milk is also offered daily.
Our meal and snack times
- Breakfast – from arrival to around 9am. (For school children the latest breakfast time is 8.15am)
- Morning snack – around 10.15am (ish)
- Lunch – around 11.45/12pm (ish)
- Afternoon snack (Tea) – around 3.45/4pm
More information about our setting
There are several child-friendly spaces which are used for childminding:
Running across the entire back of the house is a large child friendly space consisting of a dedicated play room and a dining room. The dining room doubles as a play area and has lots of resources and often has something for older children set up on the dining table, out of reach of younger children. The play room has sofas for the children to sit, relax, read books etc, space for lots of fun and games, often a themed activity on child sized tables too.
The front room is sometimes used for quiet play, story times etc but mostly is used for the children to sleep. A mixture of prams and travel cots are used, depending on Parents wishes, child response and age of any baby. A monitor is used to ensure we can hear children from the next room. We also regularly enter the room to physically check on sleeping babies and children.
A large child friendly garden with safety surface flooring topped with artificial grass, ensuring a soft landing for all those little knees! A mud kitchen is adjoined too. We have 2 large awnings that can be rolled out from the house which can cover much of the garden to protect from sun or rain, meaning there is year round access to the outdoor area.
Children’s days here are relaxed and fun. We support children’s learning through child initiated activities and adult-guided teaching, as required by the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) which is our statutory framework.
We often take children on outings to the local parks, to feed the ducks, walk in the woods or to explore the local area.
Baby’s Days
We use a specialised childcare software system called Baby’s Days. In brief, this means that any information recorded about your child each day, shows in a daily diary or a live feed that you can access with your login and password from a computer or via the Baby’s Days app. Just imagine being busy with work and having a minute to yourself (perhaps just to go to the loo!) and being able to take your phone out of your pocket and within a minute see a couple of photos taken of your child painting or feeding the ducks. Our Parents love this facility and we love it too. For more information on Baby’s Days, please click here.
More information about Toni Hope Childminding can be found on our profile on Childcare.co.uk