Frances
Childminder in South Hams District
Usually responds within 30 minutes
Female Member since Aug 2015 Last Updated Apr 2025 Last Login 12 May 2025
My Summary
Oak Trees And Acorns Childcare
About Me
My name is Frances, and welcome to my childminding page.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME...
Oak Trees and Acorns childminding is situated in Ivybridge and has been graded as an Ofsted 'Outstanding', home-based childminding setting in every area three times since April 2003. I provide a calm and nurturing environment, making the perfect stepping stone between home and school. I have a reputation for providing high-quality, personalised care and education for pre-school children, and I work closely with each child and their family to make their time with me special.
I understand that finding the right childcare can be a very emotional decision, quite probably one of the most challenging decisions a parent needs to make, and I hope that I can make this process a little easier.
QUALIFICATIONS
I hold a Diploma in Home-based Childcare and am committed to ongoing training, regularly attending professional development courses and reading publications and books aimed at early years practitioners to enhance my skills, keeping abreast of current thinking and pedagogy. In addition, I maintain a valid paediatric first aid qualification.
DBS CHECK
Childminders used to be registered by their local authority. When Ofsted took over this role from the local authority in 2001, the details of childminders registered were transferred to Ofsted from the local authorities. As I registered in 1989 with Devon Local Authority, was deemed suitable to provide childcare, and have made no changes to my registration, I do not need to complete a DBS check. Ofsted is happy to confirm that this is the case for the small number of childminders registered with their original local authority before September 2001 and are still childminding in their original locality. Ofsted can be contacted via telephone or email to confirm this.
My Experience
I have always had a genuine love of children which is why I trained and became a social worker specialising in children and young people when I left school.
I started to care for other people’s children in my own home after the birth of my elder son, because I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving my baby with someone I didn’t know! As an ex-social worker, and at the time, neither CRB or DBS vetting of people who worked with children ~ indeed childminding was completely unregulated, childminders were only just needing to register with Social Services back then, my instincts just wouldn’t let me leave my baby.
As a consequence I now have over 25 years of experience as a registered childminder, and am passionate about the impact that good early years care and education can have on children and to that end I continuously strive to incorporate different ways of helping children learn and develop into my childminding practice.
I am married to Ken and we have two adult sons, and a calm and gentle dog called Lily.
My Qualifications
Qualifications and training: Level 3 Early years Childcare and Education
Pediatric First Aid.
Other training and courses available on application.
My Availability
I offer both term-time-only childcare for parents who work in the education sector and extended childcare for parents who need care throughout the year from babyhood to the start of school.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Morning | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Afternoon | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| After School | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 24/04/2025 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £6.00 per hour
My fees are extremely competitive and are set to reflect the quality of provision offered and take into account local market trends, they are frequently found to be more affordable and flexible than nursery settings, due to no retaining fees being charged during the extended school holidays, and are available on application.
I like to work closely with families to provide a warm, friendly experience and one of the ways I do this is by offering sessional childcare on a term-time only basis, (so no retaining fees during the extended holidays to find,) which is particularly popular with parents who work in local schools and educational establishments.
I accept all salary sacrifice schemes, and Tax-Free Childcare.
I am registered to accept early years funding for 2, 3 and 4 year olds.
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
- Ofsted Certificate (added 16/04/2020)
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This profile has been produced from information provided to us by the user. We have not verified or confirmed the accuracy of any of the information and members should undertake their own vigorous checks and references. Please ensure you read our Safety Advice and information on how to Check Childcare Provider Documents.
