Shell3
Childminder in Northampton
Usually responds within 24 hours
Female Member since Oct 2013 Last Updated Feb 2025 Last Login 02 May 2025
My Summary
About Me
My name is Michelle. I am an Ofsted registered childminder (rated Good) and I live in Abington vale with my Husband David and our triplet Daughters who are now 14.. Our girls are very sociable and love meeting other children. They are now in Year 10 at school and they love it! I am also an owner to a small dog who is wonderful with children, we also own a few chickens!
My role as a childminder means that as a childminder I will provide high quality care by:
• Providing a variety of play based activities/experiences that stimulate and support children’s learning and development at an appropriate level to meet their individual needs.
• Listening to, encouraging, enabling, engaging and motivating children to learn.
• Abide by the EYFS
• Providing healthy, nutritious refreshments and promoting healthy lifestyles for child and family.
• Implementing policies and procedures in line with Ofsted and good practice guidance.
• Working with parents and Carers to learn about their child.
• Providing a safe environment that is risk assessed and good hygiene standards are met.
As a mother and childminder my children and mindees enjoy getting out and about. I tend to vary the activities we do and I aim to socialise my mindees with other children. Whatever the weather, we are busy doing something, such as visiting playgroups, going to the library, visiting forests and going to Abington park which is only a few minutes’ walk away from us. We also enjoy arts and crafts, cooking, sensory play, reading books and lots more. We also enjoy singing and dancing, imaginative games and plenty of talking!!! My setting is one of fun and learning, enthusiasm and giggles!
In my setting we have a large garden where we enjoy growing vegetables and learning about the process of their growth. We have lots of play equipment such as a sand and water table, a play house, slide and a swing set.
I also regularly meet up with other childminders so that the children in my care can socialise more widely with other children of their own age.
I mainly care for age birth-4 years old.
I offer term time only placements where no charge will be applied in the school holidays where children will not be in my care.
Please feel free to get in touch to discuss your child’s care in more detail. Many thanks
My Experience
I have been an ofsted registered childminder for ten years now,
My experience as a mother to triplets starting with their premature birth. They were born 11 weeks early so I have experience with the complictions that come along with that including preparing and administering medicines.
Prior to having children I have completed one third of an early years PGCE. ( I left due to complications in my pregnancy) Within this course I had experiece of working with early years aged school children.
I have also complete regular paediatric first aid courses.
My Qualifications
BA (Hons) Fine art
GNVQ Art and Design
GCSEs/A-Levels
I have completed my designated person training for child protection
I have completed the Introduction to Early years practice
I have completed a first aid for childcarers course.
I have completed a refresher course for safegaurding children,
Other courses to reflect that I am constantly updating my knowledge of caring and education for the early years setting.
My Availability
no school drop offs or pick ups at present
Pre school nursery pick ups could be taken into consideration
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no |
| Morning | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no |
| Afternoon | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no |
| After School | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 09/02/2025 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £6.00 per hour
please contact me for more details
I offer term time only contracts with no charge for the school holidays.
My Local Schools
This childminder has not yet informed us whether or not they provide any drop off or pick up services at local schools.
My Ofsted Inspections
The inspection grades below have been obtained from the Ofsted website based upon the registration number the childminder has provided to us. You should verify this information yourself prior to using the childminder.
My Documents
- DBS Check (added 13/02/2020)
- Ofsted Certificate (added 13/02/2020)
- First Aid Certificate: First aid (added 13/02/2020)
Reviews
5 out of 5
Latest reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Shell3. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk members and not of Childcare.co.uk. Parents must carry out their own checks and references on childcare providers to ensure that they are completely happy before enaging in the use of their services.
When it was time to start thinking about returning to work I looked at a variety of different settings for my daughter. Michelle was recommend to me by a colleague and as soon as we went to meet her I knew we had found the perfect childminder for our daughter.
Michelle is warm, genuine, caring and creative. She is super organised, knowledgeable and for 2 years I have always known that she provides the highest level of care possible to my daughter. Communication is excellent - we love the daily photos and the catch ups during pick up and drop offs.
Every day my daughter is excited to go to Shelly’s house and talks about all the fun things she has been up to. From arts and crafts, baking, trips out, playing with chickens, walks and adventures - every day is a happy day filled with fun. We have also loved it that Michelle pairs up with another local childminder - which our daughter loves and provides additional fun and learning opportunities.
Educationally my not even 3 year old can count to 20, sing the alphabet song, knows her colours, can draw circles, squares and triangles, has a love of books and learning and has excelled with her language development. She sings us knew songs and tells us stories about her day. I know without such a stimulating day to day environment that this wouldn’t be possible. Toilet training was also a success because of the consistency and support provided by Michelle.
Most importantly to us, when we are at work we wanted someone who would care for our daughter and the strong attachment that has been built is a testament to the level of care provided. Our daughter loves and trusts Michelle and when she is there we know she is part of the family.
Michelle’s home is a wonderful setting and her 3 girls are also an absolute credit to her. Our daughter loves them and they are fantastic role models.
I can’t recommend Michelle enough, she is one in a million and we are forever thankful that we found her.
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Cara
on 19/07/2022
Michelle is an outstanding childminder and there aren’t enough superlatives in the dictionary to use. We were really apprehensive at first when finding childcare for our first born Evie, but upon meeting Michelle for a informal chat, it was clear from the start that Michelle goes above and beyond for the children in her care. Upon meeting, she was interacting with Evie (who was only 4 months old at the time) straight away and started playing activities with her and another child in her care whilst informing us about everything we needed to know. Talk about multitasking! There was no such thing as a silly question and we came away feeling excited for Evie to be in Michelle’s care. We also got to meet her lovely 3 girls on a follow up visit. Evie then had settling in sessions, adapted to her as an individual at around 9 months old and had no wobbles at all, which we believe is hugely thanks to Michelle and her thoroughness through the whole process.
Now Evie is in Michelle’s care, we get WhatsApp messages and pictures daily explaining what fun activities they get up to! We also have a notebook to explain her routine throughout the day, which is great to know when she naps and when she was having formula when she was younger. Michelle provides healthy snacks and meals now Evie is eating solids and let’s us know any new foods she tries and likes, which is really helpful. Communication is a huge stand out factor with us for Michelle as it feels like she is very much part of the family. Michelle picks up on little comments such as when it’s one of our birthdays and then we will find a card in Evie’s belongings to surprise us.
We are really happy with the variety of activities Michelle offers and it is amazing that she buddies up with Amy (another local childminder) which allows the children to meet others of a similar age. Michelle offers a lot of activities, to name a few- outdoor play, crafts, messy play, sing songs and many more, which Evie loves.
We would not hesitate to recommend Michelle, in our eyes, she is a perfect match for us and believe she would be for anyone else too. We are very lucky to have found her through the childcare website and we count our blessings every day. Thank you so much for being such a lovely role model in our Evie’s life.
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Charley
on 28/06/2022
Our little boy Jack has been going to Michelle since November 2021 when he’d just turned one. I was really nervous as he’s my first and I had no idea what to expect. Michelle was really understanding and helped to ease my nerves about getting him settled into her setting.
He’s now 20 months and has a wonderful time at Michelle’s each week. I love that it’s a home from home environment and Michelle is always making the effort to do something different and fun with them. She get outdoors with the kids loads which I think is great and is always up to some arts and crafts too which Jack loves.
We have updates throughout the day on WhatsApp and Michelle also completes a little notebook to tell us what he’s been doing throughout the day.
I honestly couldn’t be happier that we found Michelle to look after Jack - you’re a fabulous childminder!
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Holly
on 07/06/2022
My daughter Hattie is currently being looked after by michelle and I could not be more pleased. I was so nervous about Hattie going to a child minder as she was so young but Hattie has settled in so well and this is definitely thanks to michelle and the family welcoming her with open arms. Michelle takes the time to get to know your child’s routine and you can really tell that she enjoys what she does. Hattie loves going to see her. Thank you so much michelle!
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Lucy
on 26/04/2021
Michelle has looked after both of my children over the last 4 years. Both children were just under 6 months old when I went back to work but I was 100% reassured that Michelle was doing a wonderful job of caring for them. Both children instantly warmed to Michelle and the whole family- it really does feel like a home from home for the children that attend! Michelle always endeavours to provide engaging and creative activities for the children to do and is brilliant at communicating with us through pictures and tapestry. I love the amount of outdoor learning that Michelle does with the children as well as baking, painting, arts and crafts and playgroups (when Covid allows)! I am in awe of how calm and organised Michelle is and am truly grateful for everything that she has done for our children. As an Early years teacher myself, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Michelle - professionally as well as personally. I am so glad that a friend recommended and introduced us to Michelle - she is amazing!
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Beth
on 09/10/2020
Michelle has been looking after our daughter for almost two years. We were obviously anxious about leaving her with a 'stranger' when I had to return to work, but Michelle put us at ease immediately. She was happy to do as many introductory visits as we needed and managed our daughter's worries with confidence and a really calm approach. Michelle has always provided our daughter with a great range of activities, often encouraging her to develop her skills and gently pushing her to experiment with things she has previously found difficult or wanted to avoid. In the time that our daughter has been with Michelle there has never been a day that she hasn't been excited about "going to Shell's", or a day that she's come home without having had a much more exciting day than she would have had at home! I would recommend Michelle's childminding to any parent without reservation.
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by
Parent
on 27/07/2018
I have no hesitation in recommending Michelle to anyone looking for a childminder. She has been looking after my 20 month old daughter for the past month. Amber is very shy around new people but immediately connected & interacted with Michelle. It is something I have never seen before. Michelle provides a very safe & stimulating environment for children & photos/updates during the day. Amber has been on many outings to parks, soft play & rhyme time to name but a few. She also provide other activites such as arts & crafts & playtime in her garden where there is a sandpit, playhouse & trampoline. When I say to Amber we are off to see Michelle today she gives a big smile. There have been a few occasions where she has had so much fun she doesn't want to leave. Amber has been welcomed into Michelle's home & family & loves spending time with her daughters. Amber settled in to her new routine immediately so I don't feel like I am leaving her with a childminder more a family member.
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snoopy77
on 30/04/2015
Michelle has been looking after my four year old daughter during school holidays and my daughter and I are delighted with the care she provides. Her home environment is very welcoming, with a garden play set and trampoline which proves very popular when the weather is nice. The activities that Michelle provides are fun and varied, from cake baking and mask making to visits to nearby Abington park or local soft play centres. Her three girls are welcoming and caring which reflects Michelle's style of childcare. Michelle is keen to keep me informed of my daughters progress so I am reassured that her needs are met and that she is enjoying her day. This is the first childcare provider that my daughter has been disappointed to leave at the end of the day! I would and have recommended her wholeheartedly.
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Parent
on 21/01/2015
Michelle provides a fantastic childminding service. My 2 preschoolers can be very demanding but they both loved going to Michelle's which made my life much easier! Michelle provides a very clean and homely environment which my children were instantly relaxed in and is brilliant at doing a variety of activities from arts and crafts to soft play and music. I was very nervous about moving my children from a nursery to a childminder as my 4 year old had always complained about nursery ( despite having attended the same OFSTED outstanding nursery for 3 years!) but she took instantly to Michelle and the wide variety of outings/ activities which Michelle provided for her. Michelle is also very diligent at ensuring all Developmental milestones are being met and highlighting any issues. Michelle has also been very patient and accommodating with my changing requirements which I have been grateful for! Outstanding childminder- I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Michelle to other parents.
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by
Parent
on 14/01/2015
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