Little Birds Childminding Netley Abbey

Enjoying the flowers coming in the garden and the sun on my face as I wait for the first of my families to arrive

After a few weeks off we are back for the summer term ! My favourite. Our seeds we planted before the break are growing well and I got the keys for the allotment. It needs a bit of work 🤣

Petition: Do not remove the 10% wear and tear allowance for childminders from April 2026 Retain the 10% wear and tear allowance for childminders, or introduce an equivalent alternative that reflects the additional household costs of providing regulated childcare from home and helps ensure childminding remains financially sustainable.

Following the recent publication of updated guidance on school-based nursery expansion… 💭

Lately, there’s been a strong push towards school-based nursery provision as the answer to early years access. And while I understand the need for more spaces, I don’t believe moving younger and younger children into classroom-based environments is the solution. 🤔

Young children need connection. They need outdoors. They need flexibility. They need adults who can respond to them, not systems that require them to fit into a box.

Schools play an important role — but they don’t (and can’t) offer what every child needs. And that’s okay.

The beauty of the early years sector has always been its diversity: childminders and home based provision, private nurseries, forest schools, maintained nurseries, preschools and schools — each offering something different, each meeting different needs. This isn’t about pitting one type of provision against another — it’s about recognising that children, families, and communities need different things at different times. 🫶🏻

When policy and funding focus too heavily on one model, we risk narrowing choices for families and overlooking what’s truly best for children.

Early years should never be about what’s easiest to deliver, nor about fitting children into predetermined boxes.
It should always be about what children need to thrive. 🌈🫶🏻❤️

I couldn’t have said this better myself 🤩

“We aim to create a homely environment…”
It’s something we hear a lot in early years. And it’s beautiful. Because love, warmth and belonging are the foundation for all learning. But for ‘Mr Young Ones’, our children and I — and for so many childminders — our environment feels like home, because it is one. 🏡

It’s the same floor they crawled on as babies.
It’s the fridge covered in magnets and drawings.
It’s the back garden full of laughter, sandy footprints and pirate ship adventures.
It’s not a setting designed to resemble home — it IS home, a place where real life happens, and our days are full of real love. 🫶🏻

Here, play isn’t scheduled — it’s spontaneous.
Meals aren’t just prepared — they’re shared.
And the children don’t just feel safe — they feel belonging.

So today — and every day — here’s to the magic of home-based care.
To the childminders opening their doors to their homes, and their hearts.
To the bonds that feel more like family than care.
And to the power of play…
in the most natural, nurturing place of all — home. 🏡 🌈❤️

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