Highbury
Childminder in London (also available for babysitting)
Usually responds within 15 minutes
Female Member since Mar 2011 Last Updated Jun 2024 Last Login 22 Nov 2024
My Summary
About Me
I live in a lovely, tree-lined street in Highbury, Islington where I am within a two minute walk of Canonbury overground station, walking distance of Highbury and Islington and Arsenal Underground stations, and the 236, 393, 14, 30, 314, 38, 263, 19 and 4 bus routes.
Children are amazing and I teach the little ones in my care through positive reinforcement and fun. My home environment is warm, safe, and caring and I believe that children need to be loved, encouraged, nurtured and kept mentally stimulated. I teach children the rudiments of numbers, letters, connective words and basic reading, but also allow them the time to play and run and just be children too
I am an OFSTED registered childminder and advocate a healthy lifestyle via a nutritionally balanced, organic and free range diet. All meals and snacks for children in my care are freshly prepared daily. I carry all meals in vacuum flasks with us wherever we go and everything your child will eat with me will be freshly prepared, I don’t use sachets or fast food of any kind.
Vegan, vegetarian, gluten and lactose free meals available by arrangement.
Our world is very structured today, and soon enough children are tied down to a rigid routine, but at least one day every week I think that the under fives should be allowed them to kick back and just be totally without constraint. On days such as this, we head towards Highgate and Queen's Woods and just run! We take a mini beasts kit with us and collect bugs and beasties and look at them through a microscope, and a kite, bats and balls and a picnic, weather permitting!
The last two years have been challenging for everyone but I maintained a routine for my children all the way through, keeping things as normal as possible for them. This was and still is vital for both their physical and emotional development. I encourage my children to be adventurous and face life with joy and zealous pleasure! Life is for living and should be exciting and dynamic mixed in with calm and quiet days. When we were really restricted, it become increasingly obvious to me that an outdoor space was vital all year round, whatever the weather. and so this year, I have turned one side of my garden into an outdoor okay space/class room with a covered roof and sides with open ventilation panels to allow air flow.
Our daily outings are many and varied and include Freightliners farm, all local and large London parks, 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock clubs, soft play, drop in centres, children’s groups in the area, farms, libraries, London Zoo, Highgate Woods, the Tate Modern, Science Museum, Museum of London, Docklands Museum of London, Natural History Museum, various galleries, the Little Angel Theatre, bus rides, long leisurely picnics in beautiful parks, wetland centres, river boat trips, concerts in churches - small children adore classical and choral music - visits to mosques, temples etc and add new activities regularly.
The environment your child is cared for in, is very important to me. I have turned an area at the rear of my house into a wildflower meadow in a bid to encourage and nurture nature. The children love planting, weeding and watering, and are thrilled when their pumpkins, sunflowers and other seedlings grow for them. We were delighted to be awarded a gold and silver medal for our endeavors in 2016! (see below)
I offer an evening and occasional weekend babysitting service for the parents I am contacted to.
If you would like your child to be cared for in a loving, nurturing, environmentally aware home, where the arts and exploring the city are vital, please give me a call.
My Experience
MY EXPERIENCE
I have worked with children aged between four weeks and eleven years for over two decades. I love what I do, seeing life through fresh eyes daily is an absolute delight. Children are the most amazing, honest, truthful beings in the world. What you see is absolutely what you get and to me, childminding isn't a "job", it is a vocation and a chosen career and one which I take very seriously. I worked for many years first as a nanny and then as a childminder. I am OFSTED EYFS registered. All training and policies are up to date and are available for prospective employers to read both in paper and online.
Before working with children I worked for a trades union in industrial relations, but when I had my own son, I decided to become home-based and provide the level and kind of child-care that i wish had been available when I was looking for someone to care for my own baby.
I trained as an aromatherapist and reflexologist and have three years of anatomy and physiology training.
I ensure that all my qualifications and training are maintained to the very highest level and attend courses every year.
DBS forms for both myself and my son, and my OFSTED certificate and insurance documents are shown at interview.
My Qualifications
MY QUALIFICATIONS
OFSTED EYFS registered childminder
St Johns ambulance first aid certificate
LBI First Aid certificate
Food hygiene certificate
Environmental health certificate
Child Safeguarding
Food and nutrition training
Self-evaluation training
Risk Assessment training
all policies are up to date and fully detailed in my information pack which is shown to parents on meeting
10 O levels
4 A levels
RSA stage I, II and III
ITEC Aromatherapy
ITEC Reflexology
ITEC Anatomy and Physiology
My Availability
MY AVAILABILITY
Monday - Friday
7:00 am-7:30 pm
Weekends and later evenings by arrangement only
| 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 | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 19/06/2024 | |||||||
My Fees
- Babysitting from £12.00 per hour
- Childminding from £7.50 per hour
£7.50 per hour
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
- UK Passport (added 13/07/2023)
Reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Highbury. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk users 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.
Victoria is very openminded and my son Andrea is always very happy when he finally sees her at the corner of the road in the monring. I wouldn't recommend somebody more than her.
She has 2 cats who are lovely and my son loves them as well. He has learned to respect animals of all kinds thanks to her, and many more & diverse things such as eat as many different ingredients as possible, the use of the potty, the walks in the forest, the puddles... :)
we are very lucky to have her in our live !
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Our eldest son Felix was with Vicky since he was 9 months old until he was 3 years old. Vicky definitely provides a home away from home, Felix always ran in every morning without a goodbye and always came out with a smile on his face. She’s very much like extended family to us now.
Vicky nourishes the children’s own personal interests and development, with Felix she really nurtured his early interest in numbers and letters, and now is able to do basic maths and read simple words/phonics. And I know with other children, nutures their own and different interests.
Important for us was that the children get out and about, and no matter what the weather, rain or shine she takes them out and about to parks, woods, the zoo etc. And always well equipped, and has overalls, wellies, buggies the lot.
Felix was always fed healthy balanced meals for breakfast lunch and dinner, and she always has a plentiful stock of fruit. Vicky encourages different flavours and Felix is a great eater as a result!
At times we have needed some flexibility and Vicky has been very accommodating, and occasionally babysat into the evenings for us too!
We think of Vicky like an auntie, she’s been fantastic with Felix proving a welcoming, loving, stimulating and social home for him during the weekdays. So much so we have now sent our youngest son to her!
We highly recommend Vicky.
She’s also great for tips on all sorts!
Xx
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Vicky looked after her daughter, Farah, from 6 months to 16 months. Leaving Farah at such a young age for 3 days a week was daunting but Vicky's experience and caring nature meant we felt much more comfortable. Her wealth of knowledge was endlessly useful for us as new parents too
We always felt our daughter was very well cared for, whether it was a delicate tummy or snuffed nose, Vicky would always have a remedy or a treatment to help her feel better. Farah developed really well during her time there and we know Vicky was a big part of this. Farah is a really good eater and we're sure Vicky's food complimented how we fed Farah at home with lots of new tastes introduced. We also loved the fact that Vicky brought the kids out every day.
We're really glad we chose Vicky over a nursery as our daughter got more personalised love and attention. If we had not moved house and neighbourhood there is no doubt that we would've kept Farah with Vicky for as long as possible. The best thing that we can possibly say was that our daughter was happy to see Vicky every morning without fail, she clearly loved her very much and that is priceless. We would recommend Victoria without hesitation.
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My husband and I first met Vicky when we were looking for a temporary childcare solution while waiting for a nursery place. She told us that she thought that young children - our son was just under a year at the time - thrived best with more singular, adult care and she made it very clear that she wasn't in it for the short-term. We found her honest, open and refreshing and loved her off the bat.
Our son has now been with her for a year and a half - how time flies! - and has loved every minute with Vicky and his little gang (they all get on so well.) He loves going there in the morning, he is always happy when I pick him up and he was even super excited to get back to her after a two week holiday. We love that they're always doing interesting and stimulating things - the woods, the Tate, the Natural History Museum, painting, drawing, baking, dancing, singing...we're a bit jealous! We also know that he's eating healthy, wholesome food, he's in a loving environment and he has a childminder whose priority is always the children in her care.
Vicky is a wonderful, caring childminder and a fantastic partner. If you are looking for someone who will take excellent, loving care of your child and leave you feeling confident and reassured, we cannot recommend her highly enough.
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by
StellaV
about
Highbury
on 19/07/2017
Response by
Highbury
on 20/07/2017:
you have been a joy to work with and for. your little one is a funny, lively, engaging sweetheart and a blessing to look after x
I interviewed several childminders before choosing to send my then 10 month old baby to Vicky. As a first time parent I was nervous about leaving my daughter in childcare, but she has thrived in Vicky's care and always smiles when she is dropped off and is still smiling when I pick her up. Vicky is kind and caring and her extensive knowledge and experience means I feel entirely confident leaving my daughter with her.
I love the fact that they get out and about every day and visit all sorts of stimulating places (History museum, zoo, farm, etc) and make the most of the outdoors. Another great advantage of using Vicky as opposed to a nursery, is the flexibility she is able to offer. We often rely on her for extra days and extended hours and it's never been an issue.
I couldn't recommend Vicky highly enough.
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by
EDesmier
about
Highbury
on 19/07/2017
Response by
Highbury
on 19/07/2017:
Thank you so much. You are an amazing family to work for with the loveliest little girl who is a joy to care for x
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