Little Sweethearts
Childminder in Camberley (also available for babysitting)
Female Member since Jan 2010 Last Updated Apr 2022 Last Login 28 Oct 2024
My Summary
About Me
Hello, I'm Nicola and I own The Little Sweethearts Montessori, which I set up in 2007 to provide quality childcare from my home.
I work with my daughter, Tania, and three part time assistants, in a beautiful detached house on a quiet road near to Camberley Town Centre.
When Tania was younger I was a childminder for 9 years, also working as a foster carer for the latter 6 years. I then undertook further study and spent 6 years working as a social worker in Hampshire before I returned to childminding in September 2007.
We aim to meet the individual needs of each child within our spacious and attractive home environment. Small numbers of children enable us to provide individual attention for children of different ages. There is plenty of space to play and free access is provided at all times to the beautiful, large and secure garden.
We are members of the Montessori Schools Association, PACEY and I was the Secretary of the local Surrey County Childminding Association. I remain on the committee as a member. I am currently the childminding representative on the Surrey Early Years Phase Council. This Council is comprised of an elected membership of representatives designed to capture the views across the maintained, private, voluntary and independent sectors of Early Years providers in the county.
We are regulated and inspected by OFSTED to ensure quality in all areas of your child’s development, following the Early Years Foundation Stage Guidance within a Montessori home-based environment. Our specially prepared home is equipped with activities and materials to help develop your child's skills, in a multi-sensory approach including practical life, sensorial, language, numeracy and cultural activities. Other activities include cooking, shopping, gardening, music and movement, yoga, art & craft, and exploring the natural environment including Forest School sessions. At my first inspection by Ofsted in July 2008 I was awarded "OUTSTANDING" in three outcomes and "GOOD" in two. At my inspections in November 2011 and August 2015 I was proud to be awarded "OUTSTANDING" in all areas. My daughter had her first inspection in September 2012 and was graded "OUTSTANDING".
We all have an enhanced CRB check and are Paediatric First Aid Trained.
My Experience
My daugher... and my grandson and baby granddaughter!
I am an Ofsted Registered Accredited Network Childminder and am able to offer the free fifteen hours per week of Early Years Free Entitlement for children aged over 2. My setting is Quality Assured. We also offer the Early Years Funding for 3 and 4 years olds for 15 and 30 hours per week.
By using a quality assured childminder you will know that your child is being looked after by someone who:
provides a standard of care that is in line with the Surrey County Council Early Years Quality Improvement Award and is committed to raising the quality of their service;
is regularly assessed by a home-based childcare advisor employed by Surrey County Council's Early Years and Childcare Service, to make sure their standards stay high.
I have the NNEB and have achieved the Certificate in Early Years Practice with the Open University. I am a qualified Montessori Teacher having achieved my Montessori Diploma in 2015. In 2018 we undertook accreditation with the Montessori Education Board and are now an accredited school.
I hold a Level 3 Forest School Leader Certificate and we run weekly Forest School sessions with the children in the local woodland.
Our weekly yoga session offers some time for quiet reflection and relaxation. We finish our week with a session with Mad Academy which provides fun, funky and physical music and movement classes for babies to preschool children, packed with singing, dancing, props and games and is the perfect crazy end to our week!
We were inspired by our horticultural sessions with Little Green Thumb, and we continue these gardening sessions with the children. We have planted seeds in the greenhouse which we hope we can nurture to grow and harvest them for use in our meals for the children.
My Qualifications
NNEB
DipSW
DipHE
First Aid
Safeguarding
Level 2 Food Hygiene and Catering Certificate
Certificate in Early Years Practice
Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice
Montessori Early Years Diploma
Level 3 Forest School Leader
Makaton
I regularly undertake training offered via Surrey Early Years and by the Surrey Childminding Network and the London Montessori Centre. My training portfolio is available to all parents.
Tania's qualifications:
Registered Veterinary Nurse
Level 3 Children and Young People's Workforce
First Aid
Safeguarding
Level 2 Food Hygiene and Catering Certificate
Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice
Makaton
My Availability
I offer outstanding continuity of care as I am able to care from children from birth to 11+.
I aim to be flexible to meet the needs of working parents and am available Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm with additional hours as necessary.
Children aged 2, 3 and 4 can claim 15 hours of FREE childcare each week. From September 2017 we have been offering the extended funding for an additional 15 hours per week for eligible families.
We have before and after school availability from September 2019 and drop off and collect from Heather Ridge School and Crawley Ridge Infant and Junior Schools.
***Parent and Toddler Montessori Sessions***
We run Parent and Toddler Montessori Sessions on a Wednesday morning.
The overall objective of the Montessori Parent and Toddler Session, is to increase parent's awareness of your child's capabilities and need for independence, with a view to transferring the understanding of the child's stage of development from the Parent/Toddler Group onto many applications in the home environment, both the physical and psychological aspects of the environment (i.e. the actual materials in the environment as well as our attitude to the child.) It is also hoped that by having this special time each week with your child in a specially prepared environment, without the interruptions experienced at home, the relationship between parent and child also stands to benefit.
Evening babysitter required? We might be able to help...
Please get in touch to find out more.
| 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: 24/04/2022 | |||||||
My Fees
- Childminding from £6.50 per hour
- Babysitting from £10.00 per hour
To be discussed
Fully inclusive of meals and snacks, MAD Academy Music and Movement, Karma Kidz Yoga, Forest School and outings.
My Local Schools
- I provide pick ups at St Augustine's Catholic Primary School
- I provide drop offs and pick ups at Heather Ridge Infant School
My Documents
- UK Passport (added 10/07/2023)
Reviews
Below are the latest reviews for Little Sweethearts. 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.
My 3 year old daughter has been attending The Little Sweethearts for 6 months. At first she cried when I left her and this made me feel so guilty, but Nicola and Tanya are so reassuring and assured me this would just be temporary. And true enough, my daughter soon settled right in. She now wants to go every day! She has improved her speech and learned so much since she has been attending. Nicola has been so accommodating with my difficult shift patterns, which is so helpful and really cuts down the stress levels! My daughter is always doing different little craft projects and has lovely trips out to the farm etc. I honestly feel so lucky to have them look after my little girl.
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by
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about
Little Sweethearts
on 23/02/2016
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