Mbennett

Outstanding provider

Marianne has been our eldest daughter’s childminder since February 2022, when she was 15 months old. When looking for a childminder we were keen to find someone who could support our daughter’s social, physical and mental development as she was a ‘lockdown baby’ she had not had as many opportunities. Since the first time meeting Marianne she has done nothing but exceed our expectations with supporting our daughter to achieve in all areas.
Marianne has always been excellent in terms of communicating which enables us to work together to ensure she receives the best support especially for her learning skills. Marianne has been so supportive providing us resources to help with her development of skills in preparation for school in September.

Our daughter is always so happy to go to Mariannes and is always really excited to tell me about her day when I pick her up. It is clear that Marianne is always offering her different activities and opportunities,  she is always kept busy by going out to different places and having the opportunity to socialise with others of mixed ages, exploring nature and incorporating learning into their trips out for example number and letter walks.

In the last year our daughter has progressed so much, which is down to the work and initiatives Marianne has implemented with her, I.e book bag, lunch tray, she is so ready for school.

Fast forward to 2024 Marianne began looking after our twin daughters for taster sessions, both girls found the transition and separation from myself hard crying when I left them and during the course of the day. 
Despite this Marianne always remained positive about looking after them and reassured me as an anxious parent that they would be fine. After a few weeks they finally settled and are now really happy to go, they go straight to Marianne without crying and run straight in to play. They always appear really content and happy when I pick them up at the end of the day.
One of our daughters has unilateral hearing loss and Marianne has been very supportive and keen to help support her with her communication skills. Marianne was kind enough to enquire seeking support from her teacher of deaf with my permission to help support her, the teacher of the deaf was able to provide us a clear deafness passport  which we as a family hadn’t previously received. Marianne is always looking into ways to ensure that our daughter is included in everything and to support her communication for example including makaton signing whilst working with her at her home and also at play group. 
All three of our children sign more including along to songs- and we appreciate how Marianne includes inclusivity surrounding our daughters hearing loss into play by having soft toy dolls with hearing aids and providing stories such as Freddie and the fairy. We never want her to feel any different and having positive hearing loss awareness from such a young age we feel is important. 

We cannot thank Marianne enough for all the effort and care she puts into looking after our children.

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by Rachel on 26/05/2025

A wonderful childminder, highly recommend

We have known Marianne since moving to the area in 2020. She has looked after both our boys, now aged 6 and 3 years old. Marianne has looked after our boys with such a lot of love and care. They really felt like part of her extended family! Both boys have really enjoyed being with Marianne and building good friendships, which I think is helped by this being a setting in which there were generally two or three other children. They really loved their trips to the country park and Hamerton Zoo as well as all the crafting, baking, singing songs at Marianne's house. It has always felt really easy to talk to Marianne about any issues or concerns and we loved receiving all the photos at the end of each day! We would highly recommend Marianne, she has really given our boys a wonderfully secure start in life.

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by Jules on 30/09/2024

Wonderful and reassuring - highly recommended.

Choosing who to leave our 3 month old with for ad hoc care on my first evening back at work was, understandably, a nerve-racking process. From the minute we met Marianne (who even came to our house at a very random time to facilitate our crazy schedules) we knew she was perfect. She's warm and friendly and our little one liked her immediately. It was a huge weight off our minds to know that our baby daughter was being well looked after, in her own home, and to the schedule that we'd set up. Marianne kept notes throughout the evening and even texted updates so that we weren't anxious, and then stayed later to allow for the rubbish London traffic! Brilliant service, wonderful woman and I wouldn't hesitate to use her again.

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by Jimanem on 28/02/2020

Amazing!!

From the instant I met Marianne I was struck by how welcoming and friendly she is. I was nervous about putting my son in childcare but Marianne put me at ease and made the transition seamless. I can honestly say I don't know what we would do without her.

When I am at work I do not worry about my son as I know he is being looked after to the highest standard. Every time I go to pick him up I find out he has done another fun activity or been on an adventure. The activities are fun, interesting and educational. Although my son is only 8 months old Marianne always makes sure any activities the older children do are modified so he can participate and be included.

Marianne's house is very clean and she provide good wholesome home cooked meals which my son loves. Marianne is respectful of my wishes as a parent and always likes to check to see if Matthew has done or had certain things before so she doesn't take any 'firsts' away from my husband and I, little things like that can be overlooked but they mean the world to us and show how thoughtful Marianne is

I cannot give enough praise and or say enough glowing things about Marianne. Most importantly my son absolutely adores her and has loved being with her from day one. I just hope she has a space available when I have baby number two as I wouldn't want to send my child anywhere else.

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by JHudson on 15/04/2017

Wonderful, Reliable, Trustworthy

Marianne has been an absolute blessing to our family. She is wonderful with all three of my children and they literally cheer when they know that she is coming! I trust her judgement completely and have even relied on her to pick up my kids from school when I was stuck at a doctor's appointment. She skillfully cares for my children, handling meals, bedtime routines and the diversity of their ages perfectly. She is wonderfully professional and I can always count on thorough, polite communication. She has a loving and gentle demeanor and can be trusted to be appropriately firm when necessary. I can't say enough wonderful things about her and feel so thankful to have found her!

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by Parent on 14/03/2016

Highly recommended

Marianne started doing some babysitting for us a few weeks ago. She has had sole charge of our 5 month old and 20 month old during the daytime. We are so impressed with her that she is now always our first port of call.

We have found her to be 100% reliable and punctual, knowledgeable and easygoing, and most of all, extremely competent.

Our toddler can be quite demanding and attached to her primary caregivers but Marianne is always able to engage her and our little girl loves doing activities with her.

Equally I feel confident that the needs of our youngest baby are being met to the highest standards and in accordance with our wishes and daily routines.

I can recommend Marianne without any hesitation whatsoever and am happy to be contacted for further info.

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by Parent on 07/11/2015

Very pleasant and punctual

I found this sitter to be a lovely person, friendly and above all punctual which was great. My boys all had very positive things to say about her and I would definitely use her services again. To top it all off she is quite local which means I can't imagine needing to find any one else.

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by Parent on 30/10/2015