Kate

Everything you could hope for and more!

We would very, very strongly recommend Kate as a Childminder! The setup with her husband and daughter is brilliant in a lovely house. We contacted her through this website, had clear communication and arranged a time to visit. They have made a lovely child friendly space with a covered back garden and a great range of toys and activities. We received a very clear set of paperwork and are confident everything is done very carefully and properly. Kate has been brilliant making sure the new childcare hours are available with what sounds like a complicated system!

There is such warmth and care in the setting, you really feel like it is an extended family. Our daughter joined at 18 months when we relocated to the area. The small size of up to 9 children has been absolutely perfect; she loves her time there. She has made some really good friends and is very close to Kate and her family. Kate kindly shares details so that the parents can get together; the parents we now know are always full of praise and talking about how much the children love their time there too.

A real highlight is the food. Kate is very knowledgeable and makes a brilliant range of foods which are exactly what the children need and also delicious (apparently!). Our daughter has definitely seen the benefits of the diet and eating as a group helps them all to try things even when at home our daughter can be picky.

Our daughter has learnt about tidying up through her time with Kate - they clearly do a great job of making sure they tidy away after an activity and taking off their shoes and putting them by the door. They ensure that the children get the sleep that they need through the day and our daughter always comes home having had a good long nap.

They celebrate everyone's birthdays with a party and lots of singing. We are always delighted with the gifts and crafts which our daughter brings home, such as Christmas and Easter decorations and a card for mothers day. We often see photos of the activities with lots of painting and exploring out to the park when the weather allows.

We have very much appreciated the flexibility on specific hours. Week to week we do have slightly different pickup times as I occasionally work away, and we are able to let Kate know on a weekly basis and she has managed to accommodate. We have also done some shorter days and our daughter leaves having been well-fed and had lots of fun.

Our daughter is very happy and chatty and this has definitely been down to Kate and all of the love, care and fun she has at the setting. We are so so grateful and would very much recommend, it makes such a difference when you find a great Childminder like this - they really feel like an extension of our little family who also want the very best for our daughter! Thank you again Kate.

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by PeterR about Kate on 28/04/2024

The happiest children

My daughter has been with Kate since she was 10 months old and has hit so many important milestones with them. Testament to that is that she can now RUN into their house every morning (which she always does) and loves saying their names out loud! Especially Bobby the dog.
As well as providing an extremely engaging environment for the children (regular park trips, a range of outdoor activities in their garden, painting, drawing etc) they also offer some flexibility. Sometimes I have required emergency extra hours and it has been an enormous help to our family to know my daughter is happy and safe.
The food offered is extremely nutritious and the whole family takes enormous pride in what they feed the children. My daughter eats a variety of healthy foods and is very full and happy at the end of the day!
The Tot LOT Club allows parents to use tax free credit and funded hours.
We feel so happy and lucky to have found them!

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by Rachel about Kate on 01/11/2023

Best childminder who truly cares

My daughter has been in care with Kate for over a year and we couldn't be more happy! My daughter's start was not easy, she was very shy and scared of grown-up due to several doctor appointments she had to go through which must have traumatised her. Kate was very patient and calm and found the best way to settle her in. I love that the facility is more like a mini-nursery, always loads of other kids to play with. Flavio and Natalia are also brilliant and the whole family is truly caring, always concerned if the kids have caught an illness or behave different than usual as if it were their own children. I absolutely love the passion of Kate to provide healthy meals to the kids, my daughter loves her soups! The activities are well thought through and we spotted more than once that my daughter came home and she done something new, from counting to nursery rhymes or knowing new word. Couldn't recommend more! If you are after someone who puts her full heart into the job you are at the right place here!

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by Andrea about Kate on 26/06/2023

Response by Kate on 26/06/2023:

Hi Andrea
Flavio has just read your review to us and it has made us very emotional …
Thank you so much for all kind words 🙏🏻❤️
It was an honour and joy to be a part of Marlowes life for a year during which time we witnessed her growing and developing , learning new things and overcoming her insecurities and getting stronger in all sense of it .
Her big smile is always the best reward 😁 which will be missed by us and by her little friends .
We wish you all a happy and smooth transition to nursery 🙏🏻🌸☀️
and thank you for all your support and help throughout this year❤️

With warmest wishes

Kate , Flávio, Natalia ( and Bobby )

A family more than a carer

A simple comment would not be adequate to pay back Kate,Flavio and Natalia ! We are ever so grateful for the excellent service they did!!!!

But I hope this small commentary would be useful for working parents like us who become very stressful when finding a child carer !!

I cannot think about someone else who could be more caring and responsible than Kate!!!!

This entire family is Extremely kind, loving and caring towards all the kids they nurse . My child still loves them so much !! And Bobby too!!!
Also it is more than just a day care -,it is a mini nursery. They conduct similar activities which are well organised and structured -so it is a mini nursery and my kid improved remarkably while being there.

When we arrived to UK from Sri Lanka , we were utterly helpless as working parents and my kid was just 1 and half years who was extremely shy and strongly attached only to us!!!! We still can remember the fears we had to leave her with a stranger . But surprisingly she was VERY HAPPY from the very first day onwards and Kate used to give her the warmth and love like a mother for nearly 2 years ! She even keep her closer to her while she is asleep as she was so timid and looked lots of attention! Honestly sometimes I think that Kate is more concerned about my kid’s development and training more than us!

Kate had a very nice way of reassuring us while we are at work and even used to send us regular updates which helped to drive our days at work!! She sometimes came out of the box and gave a helping hand very kindly to keep her there in special circumstances when myself and my husband were both sick!
Simply having her nearby was the BIGGEST relief we ever had !! And it eased out our short stay in UK!!
Kate ,Flavio and Natalia is a VERY EFFICIENT AND A RESPONSIBLE TEAM THAT YOH CAN RELY ON without any doubt!!!

They were indeed a family more than child minders!!
Best wishes
From Samudu and Tharanga
And love from Nichole

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by Samudu about Kate on 30/12/2022

A genuinely lovely childminder!

A year ago, we decided to send our 2 year old son to Kate when his nursery suddenly closed. Kate was a godsend to us as both of us wanted a caring childminder for our son at flexible hours given both of us leave for work by 7 am. Kate and her family have never failed us. Kate with her husband Flavio and daughter Natalia are doing an exceptional job caring for the little children at the Tot Lot Club. Our son grew up almost a year with them, and he loves them!
Being super busy working in the hospital, we often need to be at work by 7:15 am. We get our 2 year old son ready by 6:30 am which to a small child can be super annoying, but our son after starting at Kate’s place soon began to show how keen he is to go to Kate’s place at such an early hour of the day, which tells a whole lot about how he enjoys his time at the Tot Lot Club! Before Kate, he would despise going to nursery or the previous childminder, but this stark change when he started with Kate amazed us! Children absolutely respond well when they receive candid affection and kindness from heart instead of perfunctory superficial courtesy, and this we feel is the difference that made our son fall in love with Kate, Flavio and Natalia who are genuinely kindhearted lovely people!
We also feel our son gained a lot of social skills at Kate’s place and after being at the Tot Lot Club, he is now a very happy and friendly child who easily makes friends.
Our son loves Flavio! Almost everyday on our way home from Kate’s place, he adorably says how Flavio read to him and played with him. Kate provides great food that our son enjoys, and her daily menu is ever so healthy. The entire atmosphere at Kate’s place is super child friendly and all of them are extremely professional.

Since we are moving houses, we sadly have to leave Kate, but we hope that our (now 3 years old) son will hopefully remember the precious times he had with them! Kate had made sure that we have received a whole lot of happy memories of our son at the Tot Lot Club everyday as she never forgets to send us photos with daily updates.

If you want your little one to be looked after well with love, kindness and affection by a truly professional childminder, Kate and her loving family will always be recommended by us.

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by Malaka about Kate on 27/11/2022