My daughter attended Maries 4 days between the age of 1 and 3.5 years. Marie’s became a second home for her where she absolutely loved going because it was a loving, homely, stimulating, fun, safe and supportive environment where the children flourished. Marie is a wonderful childminder who genuinely loves her work and it shows in everything she does.

Marie puts a lot of time into planning the week, from trips to activities at home to snacks and food (my daughter (now 5) still talks about Marie’s food and how she wishes I could cook more like her!) Marie also has an educational focus to her activities and encourages the children from an early age to think about letters and numbers, writing their names etc. (things I would never have thought to do at home!).This set my daughter in very good stead when she started school. There is lots of reading and LOTS of creative work - drawing, painting, stencils, collages, glueing etc. and lots of physical and messy play in the garden with water, play doh, clay, sand, dried pasta, you name it!

We loves that Marie expects respectful and kind behaviour from the children (towards the other children and adults) and she is fair, clear and compassionate in how she ‘works’ with them. She has a well-thought out routine that the children love and thrive off - there is always something going on and the children have busy, stimulating days (but it’s a calm and organised used kind of busyness).

As a parent, choosing who to leave your child with when you go to work is one of the biggest decisions you have to make…I lost count of the number of times I thought how lucky we were to have found Marie.

• Overall
• Setting
• Cleanliness
• Food
• Communication