Jak

Outstanding childminder

We are so grateful to Jak for looking after our two boys for close to 7 years - she is wonderful. From the beginning when they came to her as babies I felt like she really knew, understood and cared about them like they were family. My youngest in particular was very anxious about being away from home as he started with her soon after lockdown and could not settle in other settings. Jak was patient and flexible with him and he soon settled and thrived in her home.
She works so hard, but is always smiling and goes above and beyond to create a 'home from home', in her welcoming house with gorgeous, gentle Simba her dog.
Our boys have been out on multiple trips with her, including local walks, trips to Powderham and the zoo, and also done some wonderful activities in her home, including growing vegetables and releasing butterflies that grew from caterpillars in her home. My eldest also loves playing Minecraft and Lego with the other children there, whilst my youngest enjoys drawing and colouring and making things. Jak is good at looking after multiple needs and celebrating each child's skills.
Jak is also so kind and understanding to parents' needs too! She has always been very kind and supportive, kept us updated on how our boys have been doing, championed them when e.g. their new teacher visited, and been as flexible as possible to accommodate us.
We feel very lucky to have had such a wonderful childminder for so long.Thank you Jak!

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by Jo A on 22/07/2024

Amazing childminder

Jak has looked after my granddaughter since she was 18 months old and is now 4 and half. Daisy will be starting school in September with an abundance of knowledge, confidence and social skills due to the incredible Jak !! Jak takes the children to a variety of great places including the zoo, Powderham castle, playgroups, libraries, beaches, forests and many more. Jak encourages imagination and fun whilst teaching them how to share and interact with each other. I'm truly so sad that Daisy's journey is now at end with jak and is moving upto " big school " but we are so grateful for the love, kindness and knowledge she has given to Daisy.

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by Maggie on 18/06/2024

Incredible Childminder

Jak is an outstanding childminder, I originally found her when I was searching for childcare with my oldest son - through local recommendations. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any space available at the time.

However, when we had our second child I was lucky enough to reserve a space. However, due to issues around a feeding aversion, allergy and reflux we postponed our little boys start date slightly, this was not ideal but Jak was understanding. As parents we were naturally apprehensive about him starting childcare and wondered how he would respond to another care giver feeding him/ helping with his milk - we even wondered if this care arrangement would work out longer term due to the issues faced as a baby. However, this did not phase Jak at all, she bonded with him and he did with her, they have a lovely relationship and he feels safe and secure in her care. Our oldest son also knows Jak and has known Jak since he was very small too (through other childminders) he always seeks a cuddle from her when seeing her and since having our youngest who is in her care she is able to help, where possible with school holiday cover.

We get regular updates (whether she just has one or both of our children), we get sent photos of our children who are very happy in the environment/ her home and enjoy the activities she does and we never have any issues with not wanting to go or any problems at drop off - which proves to us how happy they are in Jak’s care. The children do a variety of activities which are local or require travelling - such as playgroups, farms, aquariums, woodland walks, dog walks and even just home days in the garden playing doing various activities, crafting, messy play or stories. We have seen masses of development in our youngest boy since he has started with Jak and she encourages his development, she updates us on which developmental areas they are working on together and we then encourage this at home too. She also works on areas of development with her mindees such as road safety or first aid (for the slightly older children to name a few), which are great educational themes to start giving them a basic understanding of. Jak also works with us and facilitates the needs of our child/children, she respects his sleeps times and makes sure he has the opportunity to nap in a safe environment, so that he returns home well rested and happy.

We are so happy with the level of care, support and love that (both) children get from Jak and we are so incredibly lucky to have managed to get spaces. I will be forever grateful for the incredible start to life that my little boy has had. Thank you Jak.

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by Vicky on 12/06/2024

Fabulous

We’ve not long moved to Starcross and found Jak through recommendation. How pleased we were! She’s kind and welcoming, helpful & thoughtful. Our daughter has thoroughly enjoyed her time with Jak and comes home ‘buzzing’ from her after school sessions. Her family are lovely and Simba is melt your heart gorgeous. Jak has always been super flexible which is great for us as we have changing needs. We can’t recommend Jak highly enough.

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by Parent on 09/10/2018

Exceptional Childminder.

Jak has looked after our daughter since she was 10 months old, she is now approaching 2 and absolutely loves her time with Jak. Jak is caring and fun but also consistent and safe in her approach to looking after the children in her care. I especially love that the children often get outside and have a day packed with learning and play. She takes time to cater for the individual needs of each child and is amazing at keeping a dialogue between herself and us the parents to keep us updated and informed about what our daughter is up to. I trust Jak completely with looking after my daughter and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for childcare in the area.

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by Rosie on 06/10/2018

Warm, caring, fun lady; lovely welcoming home

What really stands out about Jak is how much you can tell she really cares about the children she looks after - this is something that a number of mums in the area who use Jak's services have agreed on. She is a very warm, caring, friendly, fun person who is fantastic with children of all ages. She has a lovely warm, welcoming home with a wealth of wonderful toys that my little boy loves! She also has a gorgeous, gentle golden retriever who is so good with all the children - my little boy is so confident and gentle with dogs now as a result and loves giving Simba big cuddles. Jak is always creative in coming up with different ideas to fill the day, which often involve getting outside and exploring nature and sends me fantastic photos of what he's doing every day. She always provides a range of tasty home-cooked and healthy food and my little boy always has a big appetite when he stays with her. She's also brilliant at being calm and soothing him and the other children to sleep with stories. She encourages children of different ages to socialise together with different activities which can be made relevant to a variety of ages, and always encourages the children to be kind and helpful to each other. Her own children are also very caring and good with her mindees. She often meets up with other childminders and local groups in her area too, providing the opportunity to play with different children and toys in another environment. My little boy learns so much from his time with her and has made so many friends of all ages - it is always so lovely wandering round the village with him and hearing different local children call out 'hello!' to him. I always completely trust Jak to look after my little boy as well as she can and, from the first day he went to stay with her, he has always seemed so at home. She will give her time to answer any questions you have and is very reassuring. I cannot recommend her highly enough.

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by Jo A on 05/10/2018