Chimpys
Childminder in Sutton-in-ashfield
Usually responds within 12 hours
Female Member since Jun 2011 Last Updated Mar 2025 Last Login 08 May 2025
My Summary
About Me
My name is Kathryn but please call me Kate. I live with one of my two grown boys (29 and 24yrs of age) who are very independent young men brought up single handedly by myself whilst running my childcare business.
My OFSTED inspection was on 23/03/2022 and was graded GOOD!
My life now revolves around my childminding business, hence reliability and flexibility, all day, every day, learning through play with educational resources for all ages and abilities within the safe and secure playroom which is the dining room and conservatory which leads straight onto the large secure adventurous garden.
We live on a side street off the main road to Kirkby-in-Ashfield so easy parking for drop off and collection during the day.
My setting and home environment is non smoking and has lovely fragrances and safe and clean environment to welcome all potential families.
My Experience
Chimpys Daycare (Kathryn Birks) has now been up and running and OFSTED Registered since September 2004.
Environmental Health Inspection for Food And Hygiene Graded with 5* - January 2023.
Chimpys Daycare(Kathryn Birks) is fully insured with PACEY and CHILDCARE.CO.UK and also CRB/DBS checked along with family members who also live on the premises with me.
My Qualifications
Introducing Childminding Practice Levels 1-3
Birth to Five Training for Childminders
Early Years Safeguarding Children
Paediatric First Aid
Special Education Needs Training for Childminders
Managing Behaviour of Children Ages 0-8 years
Level 2 In Food Safety In Catering
EYFS training
An Introduction to Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Delivering The EYFS
Expectations of Behaviour
Raising Developmental Concerns with Parents
Safeguarding Children
Schemas
Starting Out-Supporting Childrens Emotional Wellbeing
Supporting Children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs
Getting It Right-Spring 2015...meeting the needs of the EYFS framework
Basic Food Hygiene-updated 2015
EHO 5* Grading
My Availability
Please enquire with your requirements.
Before and after school care is no longer available.
School and nursery drop off and collections are no longer available.
Mondays 07.30 - 17.30
Tuesdays 07.30 - 17.30
Wednesdays 07.30 - 17.30
Thursdays 07.30 - 17.30
Fridays 07.30 - 17.30
A £50 deposit/retainer (refunded at the end of contract) will secure a place with contracts completed.
Chimpys' Daycare setting is open daily Monday-Friday 7.30am-5.30pm.
Chimpys' Daycare is also available for full or part-time care, emergencies or even parent/carers time!
Just a phone call away and Chimpys' Daycare will help you as much as possible.
Chimpys' Daycare may have places available, please contact me for more details.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Morning | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Afternoon | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| After School | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Evening | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Overnight | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| Last Updated: 13/03/2025 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £6.00 per hour
Chimpys Daycare is very competative and value for money, just phone Chimpys Daycare for your personalised contracted fees.
e.g
Full day rate from £45 - 7.30am-5.30pm....meals/snacks included
Chimpys competative fees include breakfast (7.30am-9am), healthy and nutritious snacks, unlimited milk/shakes or just water and cooked tea (4.00pm-5.00pm).
My Local Schools
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Croft Primary School
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Priestsic Primary and Nursery School
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Healdswood Infants' and Nursery School
- I provide drop offs at Skegby Junior Academy
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Sutton Community Academy
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Leamington Primary and Nursery Academy
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Mapplewells Primary and Nursery School
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 21/04/2020)
Reviews
4.5 out of 5
Latest reviews
Below are the latest reviews for CHIMPYS. Please note that reviews represent the subjective opinions of other Childcare.co.uk members 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.
Kate is a fantastic childminder. My son has been at Chimpys daycare from 10 months old and has come on leap and bounds thanks to Kate. They are always doing a wide variety of activities and learning and it really shows. As a parent it is lovely seeing how happy my son is there, it is a lovely clean and child friendly environment. Kate is flexible in her hours, accommodates amazingly and couldn’t do enough for parents and child.
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by
Beth
on 02/05/2020
We started using Kate's services since our younger daughter went to different school than older one. Kate took her in, with very short notice without a problem and was looking after her untill end of May this year. Only reason we left, we won our school appeal, so our girls could be together at the same school, otherwise we would stay with Kate. She is very warm and friendly person. Kids love her instantly. My daughter enjoyed her time at Chimpy's daycare, always was going and coming back with smile on her face.
Will definetly recommend Kate to everyone !!!
Renata and Hristo
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by
Parent
on 13/07/2017
Response by
CHIMPYS
on 21/10/2017:
Thankyou Renata.....it was a pleasure looking after your very polite and gorgeous girls...hopefully I will see and maybe look after them again if you are stuck for childcare...
I work in children's services and have known Kate for around 6 years now as she looked after my nephew from being around 6 months old. Upon finding out I was pregnant I contacted Kate for a space, there was no way I could envisage anyone else looking after my son. Kate has been just amazing, my son has been mined by her since he was 11months old, she accommodated settling in sessions in order to get to know my son. I have never felt so confident in someone caring for children as I am in Kate she is simply fantastic I would highly recommend her. Kate is thoughtful kind and will always go the extra mile to help even at short notice due to the demands of my job. My little one has always had a smile on his face going to Kate's and he has come on leaps and bounds with his development, I love the written and verbal handover, photos and progression logs my son in particular loves Kate's cooking and messy play!!! it's a fantastic service!!! Outstanding in my opinion!!!
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by
Zillah
on 08/07/2017
Response by
CHIMPYS
on 21/10/2017:
Thankyou Zillah!!!! It's nearly a year in February 2018 that your little man has been with me! hopefully many more to come too!
Kate has been looking after my two children for the past 18 months whilst I have been doing my midwifery training, and I can honestly say that without her support, I would have really struggled! My youngest has been going since she was 7 months old, and thanks to Kate is growing up to be a beautiful, intelligent and confident little girl. She has also worked extremely hard dealing with my son who has gone from being a complete mummy's boy who would not leave me side, to an outgoing (noisy!), funny little man, who is very settled and relaxed despite being in full time childcare. I would have no problems recommending Kate to anybody else. She has always been reliable and flexible (including helping out on the weekends at last minute!), and I can go to work knowing that my children are happy, safe and most importantly having fun. Kate has always gone the extra mile to ensure my children thrive under her care, whether its baking cakes or going for walks round the forest, and my children are always excited to tell me about their day. Thankyou for being a fab childminder :) xxxxx
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by
Stevilin
on 17/02/2015
Response by
CHIMPYS
on 21/10/2017:
Thankyou Stevie! i'm soooo glad you still choose me to look after your beautiful and respectful kiddies when you need emergency care as I get to see the many changes in them both from when they were toddlers when I looked after them couple of years ago!
Reading a previous review from a discontented parent I could not recognise the lady our family knows as "my Kate" from the description! All I can say is, that from the earliest times Kate has been a wonderful support for my daughter - a single working Mum, who is working hard as a nurse to give her little boy the stability, love and security that is every child's right. Kate has been a constant source of help, advice and love to us all. She has been there for us through some dark times, always cheerful and encouraging. I am a primary school teacher and feel that my standards are set somewhat high when looking at childcare !. Kate has never failed to rise to every expectation. She has given my grandson wonderful opportunities for socialisation, learning and has provided an extended family along with her lovely sons. To all those who are simply considering handing over their child to Kate's care I would simply say "Don't hesitate - just do it!" The woman is a treasure, and my grandson has thrived under her care.
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by
Parent
on 15/02/2015
Response by
CHIMPYS
on 21/10/2017:
Thankyou Jan!!! and yes I can't believe that awful response as many of my parents know me toooo well that I'm not unprofessional in my job at all and i'm always very organised!! anyway at least I get to see my big and not so little little man and now his baby brother who both visit me when they can!
I have recently been discussing Kate taking care of my daughter, I must admit she has honestly been the least helpful childminder I have spoken too. Due to mine and my fiances work schedules, us planning a wedding and a house move time is very limited as to when I can sign the paperwork. Kate has been disappointingly un-helpful with regards to times and dates that I can visit and has this afternoon said that as I cannot do the only time she is offering me she will not provide care for my daughter knowing full well she was supposed to start tomorrow. So now I have to sort childcare out for my daughter with less than 24hours notice so that I can go to work!
When looking for a childminder for my daughter the main things I am searching for is someone that's caring, understand and trustworthy lets just say it's a good job your true colours shone sooner rather than later!
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by
Sasha lo
on 05/02/2015
Response by
CHIMPYS
on 08/02/2015:
Thursday 15th January@10.30am interview took place...all went well...everything explained regarding contracts etc.....as i say to all prospective parents have a think and talk to other half and any questions to phone and will answer to best of my ability...
Heard nothing from this lady until Friday 30th January @ 8.30am as i was leaving for school runs she was on my doorstep with her child ready for me to take her child for daycare.......i looked bewildered as not heard from her and she said oh have i not been chatting with you? Apparently she had been in conversation with another childminder by the name of Shelley....thinking it was me.....i explained i couldn't take her child as no paperwork had been filled in.....i jokingly said as she was putting her child in the car "you didn't choose my services then" and she replied "yes i wanted her to come to you and thought i was messaging you"......i replied by saying thankyou but we need to fill paperwork in and she would contact me.....
in a previous message i did give this lady my mobile number which she never used and just relied on this messaging service....
Later that day another message saying can we start again and have i still got a place available......yes i have and paperwork needs to be done......2 dates were arranged.....Tuesday 3rd February @ 9.30am and Thursday 5th February @ 9.30 am .......7.27pm Monday 2nd February...messaged received to say time was inconvenient so i replied with the Thursday appointment and yet again Thursday was inconvenient......so this lady had plenty of time to check her diary of these dates.......another appointment was made for Tuesday 10th February......her reply was it was no good as she needed childcare for friday.......my point is she had two dates and failed both of them knowing too well she needed childcare for Friday......her reply was very upsetting after i had changed and re-arranged my days with the little ones.........worded a little bit as in the review above.....i cannot do word for word as i have deleted this lady but a fellow childminder who was with me at the time was absolutely flabbergasted at this ladies reply.....wasn't called for at all after i had put myself out for her......
at this point i'm beginning to think am i being messed about and that i had re-arranged my plans and daily preparations for the little ones i look after to accommodate these dates and times for this lady........
i messaged this lady ...on here....as no other contact for her but she had my mobile number....to say that i wouldn't be able to provide childcare tomorrow as no paperwork been filled in...hence this review and my response.....
Thank you soooo much Kate you took my son in at short notice and he settled in straight away, he was much more calmer at Kates compared to his previous childminder, Kate also assisted with disipline when my so was naughty at school I appreciated this very much, Kates sons are a credit to her if my son grows up to be as considerate as her boys I will be a happy person. Kate is a lovely happy person to be around and this definately rubs off on the kids, thank you Kate for your help and assistance with my boy hope to come back soon..
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by
Parent
on 15/06/2013
Response by
CHIMPYS
on 21/10/2017:
Thankyou Jane....it was a pleasure to help with your son and I know he definitely enjoyed his time with me and my little ones who he had so much loving and care for each one of them! Hopefully we will see each other soon
I have been using Kate for the nearly 4 years now and I don't know where I would be without her! She has been looking after my boys whilst I have been studying to be a nurse and I know without her help and support it would not have been possible!! Both my boys love her to bits, they have so much fun in her care and with her help they are both turning into very happy, well educated and polite young boys! Watching Kate with my boys and the other children she looks after amazes me, where she gets her energy and patience from is crazy! Kate works extremely hard and has always been there to help in any way should I need it!
Thank you for being you Kate we all love you and could not ask for a better childminder!! Xxxx
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by
Parent
on 27/05/2012
Response by
CHIMPYS
on 03/06/2012:
thankyou soooo much!!!! its been absolute pleasure looking after your boys and i am not looking forward to you lot emigrating!!!!! you have been my family! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kate is not my first childminder so i have knowledge of whats on offer elsewhere, i can honestly say shes amazing with my son, shes very professional
i rang her at the last minute to arrange after school care for my son, she managed to squeeze us in for a visit at only a few hours notice showed me all her certificates and ran through all her activities, my son is relaxed and much happier in her care than he has been for a long time, her 2 sons are lovely and the house is a happy place to be
Shes a very chilled ouy lady with an abundance of patients for the kids, ive never seen a grumpy kid yet
My son hasnt made one compalint about her yet which completely amazes me cause he likes to moan about most things, shes tackling his stubborness, fussy eating and my scatter brain with no problems at all
Neadless to say i can highly recommend her shes brilliant
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by
Parent
on 24/05/2012
Response by
CHIMPYS
on 26/05/2012:
thankyou sooooo much for a fantastic review.......i had goose bumps whilst reading this......i'm sure you will have many more days of your "little dude" being happy!
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