Windy Nook Childminding is a Ofsted-registered before and after school childcare service, that provides a safe and stimulating environment for children aged 3-11 years (providing that they are in full time education). I provide drop offs and pick-ups to Walton Primary Academy (including some other nearby schools if necessary), and holiday care out of term time. As a fully qualified teacher, I am committed to ensuring that all of the children in my care have an extremely positive experience and are kept entertained and motivated. I prepare thoughtful and educational activities that encourage their interests, develop their skills and support their learning in school. For further details, please contact me.
Each time the season changes, I draw upon conversations I have had with the children to decide what our activities will be. I then put a plan together and purchase the resources we will need for the coming months. I include opportunities to meet EYFS targets for those children in the Early Years, after liaising with their parents and teachers. Parents are then sent a copy of the planning so that they can keep up-to-date with all of our fun. For example, one winter, we made robin bean bags, clay snow-people, snow slime, melted-snowman cookies, and did a science experiment centred around frost! You can keep up-to-date with our activities by visiting our Instagram and Facebook pages.
Windy Nook opens every school day at 7:30am to help support busy parents and carers. In order to start their day in the best way possible, children are offered a variety of breakfast options before choosing an activity. The children are encouraged to get their brains working, ready for school, by reading, working towards one of our planned projects, or choosing from the many other free activities available. At approximately 8:30am, the children are carefully accompanied to school on a short journey that takes around 10 minutes. The route is safe, quiet, and avoids busy roads and traffic.
When children first arrive at the setting, they are encouraged to relax and unwind with their friends after a busy day at school. At around 4:30pm, the children are given a hearty, homemade meal from our vegetarian menu to enjoy before finally being encouraged to continue working on one of their seasonal projects, complete their homework, play outside, do gardening, look after the animals, play with the musical instruments, do some yoga on our trapeze, and play in the log cabin, where they can find many activities. We also enjoy 'technology time' towards the end of the evening as a reward for good behaviour.
The children love suggesting and choosing activities for their holidays as it provides the perfect opportunity to dedicate time to their hobbies and interests. Parents are always provided with a full itinerary of the week/s ahead, which always includes a range of outings that keep the children active and stimulated. We always go on an outing every day, whether that be to the local park, soft play, Magna, or Manchester Airport! The children are given breakfast, lunch, and dinner on holiday days and are encouraged to enjoy themselves as much as possible!
Preparing wholesome, hearty, and healthy meals is a priority at Windy Nook Childminding. The versatile menu runs on a 2-weekly, rolling system, which enables the children to try a range of delicious dishes and flavours. The menu is vegetarian and can be adapted to suit the children's individual dietary requirements, whether those be for medical, moral, personal, religious, or cultural reasons. Children always have access to fresh water and fruit, and where appropriate (with permission from parents and carers), we also enjoy the odd treat!
Behaviour at Windy Nook is especially good as children are encouraged with a rewards system. I believe that it is important to notice all types of positive behaviour, from using good manners to helping to tidy up, as this ensures that the children continue to behave in this way. As a reward for their excellent behaviour at the setting, the children are invited to a special event, such as a party. Recently, we had a festival in the garden and camped overnight after having takeaways and a huge bouncy castle!
One of the best parts of my job is planning our special events to reward the children's excellent behaviour. We like to venture out on a special outing or take part in an activity. On these events, I work for free, to say ‘thank you’ to both the parents and children for a lovely time. Some of them so far have included glamping overnight in the garden, going to the pantomime in Leeds on the train, and tobogganing at Snozone, Xscape! We also had an entire festival in the garden complete with a bouncy castle and takeaways! They’re such great occasions and the children love coming up with ideas for our future events. It’s always my absolute pleasure to plan them!
Each September, we take part in the Walton Scarecrow Festival! This gives us a great opportunity to learn new skills and work together to create something that we’re really proud of. The children are fully involved in choosing our display’s theme. So far, we’ve done Harry Potter, Pokémon, and Crash Bandicoot! Each time, we’ve tried to incorporate a different skill to create our scarecrow, such as sewing and woodwork. The timing of the festival is perfect as we then have lots of time over the summer to get it together. We then use our scarecrow as our guy on Bonfire Night. In 2021, we actually won with our aeroplane scarecrow!
We had a log cabin built in February 2019 and filled with the toys, books, crafts, science equipment, and many other resources for the children to enjoy. The children have had a full and proper input into the resourcing of the cabin, putting requests in for the things they would like to use, such as craft resources, an office table to write at, a cosy corner, and a mirror to see what they look like when they get dressed up. The cabin opens up onto a large patio in the garden and a grassed area that the children love playing and doing messy activities on.
As well as children, we are also home to rescue rabbits at the setting. The children learn a lot from having the animals around, such as how to be gentle, what animals need to survive, how to provide a suitable home for them, and how spending time with animals can really help you relax after a hard day at school. The children love them and show them lots of respect, which is lovely to see.
Feel free to contact me at any time if you require further information.
Telephone: 07963 515 719