Hilltop House Childcare - Whitstable Childminders
Hi, we are Emma and Gary Everson, we're husband and wife and together we have five children and are Whitstable based Childminders.
We have recently completed the new DHC1 course for Registered Childminders and have experience of looking after many children of various ages from babies right up to age 14.
I (Emma) have been previously registered as a childminder 2003 - 2005 but thought I wanted to return to work, this wasn't successful for me as my heart is in caring for children so I have returned to Childminding.
We have a large house and garden and plan regular outings for the children, our aim is to provide fun and educational activities in a safe and loving environment. We are members of the Whitstable Childminding group, we meet twice a week in 2 venues allowing the children to socialise out of our home setting with other children, the group organizes outings and parties at different times throughout the year.
In addition to our family we have 3 cats and a rabbit who are all very loving and like children, our rabbit particularly likes to be petted and we encourage children to have contact with him.
We have put this Website together to help you narrow down your search for the right Childminder for your child. We know how difficult it is to choose the right person for the job, we have been there, when we were looking for a Whitstable Childminder for our youngest son we had a huge problem, he was our perfect Angel, so who would be good enough to care for him? Thankfully we found an excellent childminder and we have remained good friends to this day. We have provided a copy of our policies, hours of business, fees and any rules that apply to our home. If we sound like someone you would like to care for your child then please call us and come along to meet us, have a look around our home, meet our children and get to know us better. We both love children and are looking forward to meeting you and your family.
Whitstable Childminders - Frequently Asked Questions
Having read all of our information I am sure there are many questions you need answers to, the best way for us to do this is for you to come and meet us. We are available most of the time for visits and will welcome any questions you have. I have listed the most frequently asked questions below:
Can you share a typical daily routine with me?
At Hilltop House Childcare we try to keep to the children’s routines as much as possible, keeping their feeding times and nap times as close to their home routines as we can. We do take the children out, this may be straight after the school drop off or after the morning snacks, again it depends a lot on the children’s own routine.
We have activity times and of course lunch time, after lunch we have story time or quiet time where we play with the quieter toys, allowing lunch to go down and children to nap if they wish. It is then school pick up time, we will drive closer to the schools and then walk to collect the other children. Upon return we will have afternoon snacks, an activity that the older children can join in with such as, model making, bead art etc, obviously the beads would not be given to the smaller children the activities will be to suit the child’s needs and development.
TV is allowed after school as a lot of older children would prefer just to relax once school has ended, but the programs will be of a suitable nature for all the children. This point in the afternoon is generally when children are leaving our care so it is easier to not have an activity going on at this time, as supervision is not constant. If children are staying after 6pm and eating with us, they will be expected to join in with the laying of the table and the clearing away afterwards.
Homework is encouraged at this point in the evening so that we can help our own children with theirs. Please note that we can only supervise your children but cannot really help in anyway as we are not trained in teaching.
This is a typical daily routine for us, of course it may vary depending on the activities we have planned or any outings we may be going on.
Do you have other children to pick up or drop off at school?
We currently collect our son from Swalecliffe Primary School, but other schools can be collected from as there are two of us.
How do you travel?
We generally travel by car, but sometimes we may go out for a walk, or possibly use public transport depending upon where we are going. Permission for this will be arranged with yourself prior to the trip.
What snacks do you provide for the children?
We only provide healthy snacks, cheese, vegetables, fruit and crackers etc. we may as a treat give the children sweets or crisps but this doesn’t happen often. If you would prefer us not to do this you must put it in writing so that we can keep it in your child’s file, at Hilltop House Childcare we are required by Ofsted to treat all children equally and if we excluded them without your written instructions we would not be.
What approach do you have to discipline?
All children that we care for are expected to abide by the few house rules that we have, these are for their safety and comfort whilst in our care and home. We never smack children!!! We use positive reinforcement and explanation.
How would you discipline a child?
If the child breaks the rules, we will talk to the child and try to get them to understand the importance of safety and consideration for others, if their behaviour continues they will be given a short time out away from the other children in a quiet area. If this doesn’t solve the problem we would then talk to you about the kind of action you would want us to take.
Would the age of my child make any difference?
The age of your child wouldn't make any difference; we cater for all ages and would fit our routine around theirs as much as possible.
What do you think of as bad behavior?
Any action that puts your child or any other child in danger is unacceptable behavior. We do not accept bullying in any form, verbal or physical. We also discourage the use of bad language. All children are encouraged to set a good example to the others.
What sort of activities do you do with the children?
The activities that we do depend on your child’s development. Some activities we do for the older children will not be acceptable for the younger ones and vice versa. We try to plan activities where all the children can be involved in to a certain degree, changing things slightly for their age or stage of development, but this is not always possible.
We offer cooking, painting, model making, bead work, play dough, water and sand play etc, we also take the children on outings from time to time to place such as Wildwood, Snappys, bowling and the beach. We listen to the children about the places they would like to visit in the local area and do our best to fulfill their request. Any outings will be by prior arrangement with yourself and your permission given for your child to attend.
Obviously you will have questions of your own, please feel free to contact us by any means listed on our Contact page and we will be very happy to help.
