Westdene Tots Childminding

Westdene Tots is a friendly and flexible childminding service in Westdene. My aim is to provide a home from home experience for the children in my care.

Being a mother of two boys myself and having had experience of relying on a Childminder to look after the most precious people in my life, I feel I understand the importance of finding the right environment for your little one.
My aim is to provide a home from home experience for the children in my care, whilst actively encouraging and promoting their learning and development. I feel I provide a nurturing, fun and caring environment which enables children’s individual personalities and interests to flourish.

About me:
I come from a large family and am one of five children. My mother was a childminder for many years and therefore I grew up in a fun and busy house.
When I finished school, I knew I wanted to choose a career in childcare, so I went to college and achieved my BTEC Diploma in Childhood studies. I then went on to work at the Brighton hospital caring for poorly babies and their families. After a year travelling the world, I got a job as a Family and Health support worker. This job entailed many things, such as running healthy eating and safety workshops, breastfeeding groups and assisting the Health Visitors with their clinics. From there, I went on to train as a Midwife and in 2010, I gained a first class degree with honours in Midwifery. In 2012, I married my husband Paul and we were blessed with our first little boy, Isaac in 2013. I returned to work in 2014 and soon found out we were expecting our second little boy, Harry, who arrived in March 2015. I have worked as a community midwife since I qualified, supporting women and their families during the antenatal and postnatal period and attending homebirths. Although I very much love my role as a Midwife, I feel that now is the time to go back to my roots in Nursery Nursing and set up my own business where I feel I can provide a nurturing environment for young children.

We moved to Westdene in August 2015 and absolutely love it here. We have a large playroom dedicated to the children and an open plan living space downstairs. This enables me to be with the children at all times, even when I am in the kitchen preparing food. The children are free to use all of the space downstairs as they choose. They can either make use of the many toys and resources in the playroom, including a large table for arts and crafts, or they can use the living room if they need a little quiet time to rest. We have three bedrooms upstairs. Two of which will be used for children to sleep if they need to. Both provide a peaceful retreat away from the hustle and bustle of downstairs and have black out blinds to make them nice and snug for daytime naps.
Westdene itself is a little suburban area, nestled between Withdean and Patcham. It is very family orientated with a small Primary school at the centre (about a 5 minute walk). There is a park only a few minutes’ walk away and a small row of shops at the bottom of our road. Although a very quiet area, there is plenty to do, with lots of toddler groups nearby.


Patcham village is also a short walk with lots more shops and cafes. Preston Park station is only 1. 2 miles away, with direct routes to London and the main bypass roads (A27 and A23), just a minutes’ drive away.
We have a cat called Gizzi. She is 4 years old and is a very small, short-haired cat. She has grown up with our children and therefore has a lovely laid back attitude towards little ones. She has a very sweet nature and tends to just sleep on our bed upstairs for most of the day. She is well looked after and loved and we make sure that all of her flea and worming prevention treatments are kept up to date.
My husband Paul is DBS checked, as he may sometimes be in the house during working hours, before and after his own job. He is a lovely father to our two boys and very supportive of my new career path.
I hope this gives you an idea about me, my family and my home, but please feel free to ask any questions.