We are based in a rural village location about 3 miles out of Sherborne Dorset. It is advised that you have access to a car to be able to drop off and pick up your child as there is limited public transport to the area and I do not offer a pick up and drop off service.

I am open all year around (47 weeks a year) but you can choose from an All Year Round contract or a Term Time Only contract (38 weeks per academic year)

My opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 0800 to 1730       

I am closed on Bank Holidays and do not charge when closed. I do not offer Half Days or Shorter Session. Minimum booking requirements are 7.5 hours per day at a minimum of 2 days per week.

It will depend on the type of contract you are needing and how many hours/ days you require. For Early Years Children (under the age of 3 years old and not currently attending pre school) then my private basic hourly rate is £7.00 per child and there is a minimum booking requirement of 7.5 hours per day. (rates currently as of April 2025, rates are reviewed annually every April and usually increased by between 5 - 10% year on year).

please refer to our fee structure for more info.

Children must have breakfast at home before arriving at the setting.  I no longer provide any food so parents will need to supply a morning and afternoon snack as well as lunch for their child.

I provide drinks of water and or milk (or a dairy free alternative). Parents must provide healthy snacks and packed lunch of finger food that encourages self feeding and can be offered cold without needing to re heat as we may be out and about.  You will need to clearly label your child's food with their name and if they have any food allergies and what items are intended for morning and afternoon snacks.

Children will go home for their evening meal with their family

As I do not offer food there is no additional costs.

Yes I do and I can give you more information on how to apply and link my account as your childcare provider (it may also be possible to use the Government Tax Free Childcare Scheme on top of Funding if eligible) I also have some parents that get Universal Credits to help them pay for childcare. We can discuss this more in detail at your visit or when you register your child.

Yes I offer funded places to all eligible children from 9 to 36 months for their 15 or 30 hours per week entitlement (subject to availability) Currently I do not offer Funding for children aged 3 and 4 year olds as we are a 'baby focused setting' so most of my children here tend to out grow us by then and move on to pre school where they can access the 3 and 4 year old funding from the term after they turn 3 years old. If your child does wish to remain in my care beyond this age then we would discuss this on a one to one basis. Funding is delivered term time only based on 38 weeks per year and 15 hours is delivered across 2 days per week. Please refer to my funding policy for more info.

Yes, you would need to provide spare clothes and footwear, outdoor clothing suitable for all weather conditions, puddle suites and wellies are essential.

Childs' own pacifier or comfort soft toy if needed and a sleeping bag if they use one and if they still take a bottle then bottles and formula or expressed milk. Everything else is provided by the setting. I provide all consumables such as nappies, wipes, nappy sacks, soap, toilet paper, hand gel, sun cream, nappy rash cream, arts and crafts supplies etc as well as car seats, sling, pushchair, child's own blanket face cloth hand towel and drinking cup. No you do not need to pay me any extra for the consumables or days out or entrance fees to playgroups or play centres or visitor centres etc these are included in my rate. You do however need to provide all the food for your child for each day they attend.

I am a lone working childminder I don't have any assistants so we are a small setting usually with only 2 or 3 other children attending per day alongside your little one. Most of all my little ones are aged between 9 months and 36 months old plus I currently have just 1 older child after school who is 11 years old. After school service will be coming to an end by September though so thereafter all children will be little and of the Early Years Service. Ofsted Ratio rules are that we must not exceed 6 children under the age of 8 years old at any one time. I have 2 of my own children who are sometime here at the setting, my son is over 18 years old and is DBS checked, my daughter is 16 years old and is also DBS checked. I may also consider getting her trained up to be my assistant in the near future perhaps. When she is home with me she does help me out a bit with the children and they love her but is not currently an assistant so is never left alone with any of the children.

No I do not provide alternative childcare for your child if I am closed due to holiday, sickness, training or other that is the responsibility of the parent to arrange suitable childcare. If I close due to sickness or holidays or any other occasional days off then I do not charge you. I may take up to 5 weeks holiday per year but I would give you at least 4 weeks notice in writing of any planned annual leave. I do usually try my best to take my annual leave during the school holidays and not during term time but there may be the occasional times that I need to take time off during term time.

Yes, If your child does not attend their normal contracted hours due to sickness or a medical appointment or any other occasional day off, then yes the full fee is still applicable because you are paying for your child's space and not their attendance. If your child is sick then it is very important to inform me and follow my sickness policy and for certain sickness symptoms such as V&D and a high temperature for example there is a 48 hour exclusion and you will still be charged for non attendance due to sickness.

​

We have a dedicated 'sleep zone' which is also my office / second living room that we use for nap times. We have a combination of 2 travel cots, infants crib, single and double pushchairs if babies or toddlers prefer to sleep in a buggy and a sofa for older children if safe enough to use. Some younger babies may need their nap time to be initiated in arms before transfer to their cot or buggy depending on their needs I will do this where possible. I keep this room warm and cozy (or dark and cool in summer) and is lowly lit so it feels such a perfect space for sleep. I use various things to aid sleep routine such as Rockit and white noise machine, suitable lighting, night time baby music or lullabies etc. If all children do manage to nap at the same time then I will stay in the room with them on sofa so that I can monitor them closely. If I have to leave the room to attend to other children who may be awake and playing in the playroom then I use a baby monitor and check on them regularly. All children have their own blankets that I provide and depending on their preference they will also get used to the same sleep space ie either their own cot or buggy. Although I encourage nap times throughout the day,  I will never force a child to go to sleep if they don't need it, nor will I keep a child awake if they are tired and need to sleep. I will allow enough time that they need for sleep only waking them up if they have had sufficient length of time to sleep. I will follow the needs of the child over the parents wishes in this instance. I will not restrict sleep if we are out and about they will be given opportunities to sleep in car or buggy, transferring them to the sleep zone when home if sleep needs to be continued, I also will not put off going out and about if a parent only wants their child to sleep inside at the setting therefore if this is not aligned with your values on sleep then we may not be the right fit.

It depends on the type of contract that you need. If you are registering for an EYFS space (children under the age of 3 years old and not attending pre school) then I will invoice monthly in arrears of childcare provided. I will submit your invoice digitally through my app that I use, around the 24th of each month for payments to be made no later than the 1st of each month. After School Care is invoiced in the same way and it doesn't matter if you are on a Term Time Only contract or an All Year Around contract I invoice the same way. The only exception to the way I invoice is for Holiday Only contracts which are invoiced and payments made weekly in advance of any booked in sessions. There is a late payment charge should you be late in paying your invoice. This is charged at £10 per day that you are late in making payments in full and is added onto your next invoice.  A Deposit is also required to reserve your space. Please refer to the payment policy for mor info.

No sorry you will need to stick to your agreed contracted days / hours as spaces are limited and I need to work to full occupancy to be a financially viable service. 

Therefore unfortunately I can not accommodate hours on a shift rota pattern. If you do need to change your hours/ days then I would need 4 weeks notice to make an amendment to your contract. The only exception to this rule is for Holiday Only Club because that is a zero hours contract and is booked in advance on Ad Hoc Hours so is flexible but spaces are subject to availability and therefore not a guarantee. 

I do try to be as flexible as possible and understand that sometimes there are circumstances which make it challenging to pick up on time, but unless otherwise previously discussed with me and agreed then no you would need to stick to your contracted hours as you can appreciate the logistics of time management for several families is not straight forward plus we may also be out and about so not necessarily home if you just decided to arrive earlier or later than agreed. Therefore should you be late in collecting your child from my setting then yes a late collection charge of £5 per every 30 minutes that you are late will be added to your next invoice. You are welcome to pick up your child slightly earlier than your normal contracted hours provided you have informed me of this and what time it will be so that I can plan our day making sure we are home when you pick up there is no extra charges for early pick up but you will still be paying for the full contracted day regardless.

Yes, we have 3 pets whom we love very much and I refer to them as my "Fur Babies" 

We have 2 adult cats, one male, Milo and one female, Luna plus we most recently welcomed a gorgeous Border Terrier Female Puppy to our family called Ruby who is great with the children. All the pets are present at my home while the children attend so I would suggest that if your child is particularly anxious around animals or has a fear of cats or dogs or any allergies to animals then we would not be a good fit for your child as I do not restrict my animals for accessing any part of my home and or garden.

please refer to my pet policy for more info.

Yes, I am COVID vaccinated and so are all members of my family. I personally do have both COVID and Flu boosters annually every Autumn as a precautionary measure due to being asthmatic.

No we are a non smoking household we do not smoke and we do not allow any guests to smoke anywhere on our property either as myself and my son are both asthmatic.

Yes I do, I use a digital app called 'Baby's Days' and you get live notifications to your child's care whilst they are here such as; nappy changes, sleeps, meals, bottle feeds, sun cream applied etc at the end of the day I submit a daily note of the activities / experiences or outings that we did as a dairy note plus, with consent I usually set up a group whats app between myself and both parents where I share photos of their day here so you are very much involved and kept informed and up to date throughout the day. Accident / Incident reports are also logged through the app. All our paperwork including registration contracts consent policies and invoices are digital I also send emails if I need to inform you of anything important.

Yes I do, as we are rural we do need access to the car to go out and about in the community, we like to attend regular playgroups and play and stay centres, children's play parks, animal parks and farms etc and sometimes we will have a planned outings such as forest school or the beach too so it is important that you consent to your child travelling in my car if this is a concern for you then I would suggest that we are not the right setting for you. I do have a total of 4 car seats suitable for the ages of children in my care. I also have single, double and triple pushchairs and a sling to use when out too. Yes I have business use car insurance to be able to drive minded children around. 

I am First Aid trained and depending on the emergency situation would depend on my response to it. In any case, should an emergency present, be that of any child in my care or with myself or a member of my family then I will follow my policies and procedures. You may be contacted to collect your child, if you can not be reached then your emergency contacts will be phoned to collect your child. I carry my first aid kit everywhere we go and I check its contents regularly. I also ensure that all children's parents and emergency contacts are stored in my phone and that my phone is always fully charged and with me at all times. I also wear an 'In case of Emergency' lanyard around my neck when out and driving so that if an emergency should occur where I am un responsive then first responders have all the emergency contact details and a photo of each child to identify them, making them aware of our situation that I am a childminder and these children may not be my own. They will also be able to contact my own emergency person which is my partner. An incident will be correctly logged and recorded and further risk assessed in order to reduce risk of it happening again. Yes you can see any compliance documents you wish just ask at your visit, most of them you will find on my parent welcome notice board on your entrance into the house some of them you will also find on this web site.

 No sorry I do not offer sibling discounts, the rate is per child. We are a small setting and as spaces are limited to only 3 or 4 at a maximum children per day therefore the spaces are paid for each and every child that is registered regardless if they belong to the same family or not.