Shambles

Childminders

We are two, home based childminders that offer an Ofsted Registered home from home setting; gaining our second Outstanding in May 2022.

We are Ofsted Registered, Pediatric First Aid Trained, with an enhanced DBS and each hold a CACHE Level 3 as an Early Years Educator and several more qualifications alongside.

Our opening hours are Mon - Thurs, 7:30am - 5:00pm.
Please bear in mind we are CLOSED Fridays.

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am-5:00pm Tuesday 7:30am-5:00pm Wednesday 7:30am-5:00pm Thursday 7:30am-5:00pm Friday, Saturday & Sunday - Closed

Contact Us

We do try to reply to all messages within 3-5 working days. If at all possible the preferred method of communication is Facebook. While caring for children during the day, detailed phone calls can be near impossible to take and emails can get easily filtered to spam or lost. www.facebook.com/shambleschildcare

Socials

www.facebook.com/shambleschildcare

Sam

Childminder

Sam has 23 years experience working in childcare! She started with extended work experience, then moved into a nursery and gained her Level 2. She created and built up Shambles Childcare from an early age and runs it from within her own family home. She has an Early Years Educator Level 3, various qualifications and continues to improve her education. Most recent undertakings include courses on Autism Awareness and Supporting Children in their Mental Health. She is currently enrolled in a SENCO Level 3 Course. With a real passion for helping to shape little minds and support the next generation in their journey.

Kirsty

Childminder

Kirsty started childminding 10 years ago, after beginning in an assistant position. She very quickly gained a full Childminder qualification and continued to improve herself. She now holds an Early Years Educator Level 3, various qualifications and including Autism Awareness and most recently SALT for Early Years. She has found a passionate enjoyment in creative play; expanding on children's own innate knowledge and following their direction for a more engaged learning approach.

Annie

Childminding Assistant

Annie was a fully qualified childminder for 16 years, until September 2021. She has taken a step back into semi-retirement but still holds an assistant title and relevant Ofsted registrations and safety checks, including a DBS (clear) and a Paediatric First Aid Certification. She sometimes comes in to help us by supporting rare emergency cover so that the setting can remain open for our families as reliably as possible. She has a very caring nature, raising her own three children and doting on her five grandchildren. The Shambles children love her visits and fondly refer to her as Granny Annie.

A home from home. Like a second family for J***. So warm and friendly, these ladies adore what they do, and it shows.
Becky

My 2 eldest children went here and had a great time, a true home from home. Free play and home cooked meals, trips out and family values Highly recommended.
Lorraine

Thank you guys for making every day so special - for all the thought and time you put into planning the days out - and treats - our guys have absolutely loved it! Such happy memories made 🥰🥰🥰xxx
Katie

My child receives a high level of care and attention in the setting. As parents we feel confident in raising any issues with the Shambles Team or asking for any guidance.
Kylie

We are so grateful to you for supporting our daughter for the last 2 years. She's so ready for school, didn’t even look back! Thank you for everything you’ve done xxxx
Jen

Shambles are amazing childcare, I couldn't ask for better care for my son!
Donna

Opening Hours, Annual Leave and Training Days?

Opening hours 7:30am-5:00pm Monday-Thursday.
We are open all year round, aside from 6 weeks a year and these dates are given far in advance.

We often do our training in our own time, unfortunately this sometimes isn't possible. In these cases we may need to rarely take an additional 1-2 days a year. This will be given with as much advanced notice as possible.

Personal improvement is constantly happening in our field as things improve and adapt, as such we undertake course as much as we possibly can. Often in our own time.

Before you Contact Us?

Age of child(ren)?

Days of care that you require?

Hours of care that you require? (please provide hours if possible, the idea of a 'full day' differs for each person)

A rough date of when you would need care to start?

This information is always super helpful to give you an answer as quickly as possible.

Funded Hours and Wrap Round Care?

We can offer 9-24 months, 2- 3 & 3-4 year old funding, term time or stretched, we accept GOV tax vouchers and various employment voucher schemes.

We do NOT currently provide wrap around care for the local Pre-Schools, as this takes a full time Early Years space for our setting and isn't something financially viable for us to offer.

We may be able to offer a place for before and after school for 'Rising Fives' and older.

Your Holidays, Contracts, If your child is sick?

We do require for you to pay full fee if your child is on holiday. This is in case anything happens and you need the care, your child's place. This is also your guarantee that the space remains theirs place upon your return.

You will be required to pay for their space if you child is off sick, whether you decided to keep them home or if we need to send them home. You will be required to follow our agreed policies and procedures, these will all be given in advance.

We do have contracts in place with our families, this is to protect us and you. It helps to make sure that your child has the care that they need and how to end their care should either side need to.

Any alterations of the contract will need to be agreed by both parties in advance of any changes, in writing.

Whats included in their care?

We provide for the children:
Activities, sensory play, local trips, lunch, snacks, drinks (including cow's milk), wipes, children's bedding, pushchairs, car seats, wet suits for outdoor play, wellington boots, sun hats and winter hats (for use within the setting) and more!

We ask for you to provide to keep at the setting:
Nappies, formula, breast milk, baby bottles, dummies, comforts, sun-cream and spare clothing. This will be kept within their own named draw for their personal use.

On the occasion where we attend out of setting activities we may ask for a small financial contribution to make this viable. We try to keep this cost to you at a minimum and you are fully inclined to say no if you do not wish for your child to take part.

All activities and resources come from our own incomes, we do not receive any type of Government or Local Authority Funding.

Food Throughout the Day?

We do currently provide nutritionally balanced foods through the day this includes:

Morning snack

Full, hot, home made lunch

Afternoon snack

Water, sugar free squash and milk is also available.

We do NOT provide:

Breakfast or dinners. This is due to several reasons, e.g. with children arriving and leaving at different times etc We feel that it is beneficial for the children to spend meal times at home within a social, family setting to further manners, customs and bonds.

How can I check on my child?

We have a fully secure, online system called Baby's Day's that we use to keep you regularly updated on your child within the setting.

Despite its name this is for children of all ages within our setting!

We add lots of photos of their day, daily notes of what they've done, monitoring of nappy changes, naps, sun cream applications and more.

It includes their entire EYFS learning journey of their progress; how we monitor that your child is developing as 'expected' for their age.

We complete and supply a two year check for your child to take with you for their health check.

Within the system is also the nitty gritty bits such as policies, procedures, registers, invoices and contracts.

It has an app that runs alongside it which is available on both Iphones and Androids, so you can keep up to date on the go!

Before and After school? Holiday Cover?

We do have older children within the setting, not just little ones!

Currently we provide before and after school care for those at Swallowfield Lower School Foundation-Year 6.

We are also open all year round, this means that we provide half term cover for these age groups too.

Our half terms tend to be jam packed with lots of fun activities but we also have restful, free play days. We feel its vital for the children to have some down time after a busy, often tiring, school term, allowing them to just be children.

We do NOT provide care for those attending other schools within the area, logistically we are not able to drop or collect for them.

As mentioned in previous FAQ's we do not provide breakfast or dinners for the children, they do have a healthy snack of their choice from several options at 4pm.