"The childminder is both inspirational and aspirational" - Ofsted inspection January 2014
About us
Mike Williams
Hi I'm Mike. I live in Greenbank with my partner, Charissa, and our 2 children and I have been childminding since July 2013. Something that started as a way of helping me be a stay at home dad has now grown into full-time work that I love and am very keen to continue.
I am very pleased that at my Ofsted inspection I was rated as ‘OUTSTANDING’ on all three inspection categories (The quality of the provision; Outcomes for children; and Effectiveness of leadership and management). If you want to read the full report, you can find it here.
In 2014/15, Charissa and I trainined to become qualified Forest School Leaders (level 3). We have been developing and increasing the Forest School element of our childminding practice as our training progressed. We take the children to our local pockets of woodland (and further afield when appropriate) for Forest School activities where we splash in the mud, build dens, search for minibeasts and do lots of other fun child-centred and child-led activities.
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Relevant qualifications
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Registered childminder (rated OUTSTANDING) (Since 2013)
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Level 3 Diploma Children and Young People's Workforce (2017)
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Forest School Leader qualification (level 3) (2016)
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Paediatric First Aid
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Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering (outdoor emphasis) (2018)
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Memberships
Forest School Association
Continuing development courses:
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How Can We Help Children to Develop an Understanding of Relationships And Social Interactions? (March 2018)
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Self Evaluation - Using the reflective approach to develop practice (2016)
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Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP) (2016)
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Challenging behaviour (2016)
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Child Protection & Safeguarding (2015)
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Food Safety (2015)
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Ecouraging Children's creativity (2015)
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Learning Language and Loving It (The Hanen Programme) (2014)
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ERIC Childhood Incontinence (2014)
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Behaviour management without tears (2013)
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Observation, Assessment and Planning (2013)
Charissa de Zeeuw
Hi I'm Charissa. After an 18 year career in social policy research, I decided to change careers and joined Mike full-time childminding.
I am loving working with the children, continuously developing our Forest School approach and spending my time building dens, making mud pies and roasting marshmellows over a fire.
I have recently completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Early years), which includes Early Years Teacher Status. I am passionate about play based, child led learning so we make sure we support the children in their own learning as and when they are ready.
Relevant qualifications
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Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) (2016)
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Postgraduate Certificate in Early Years Education (2016)
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Forest School Leader qualification (level 3) (2015)
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Paediatric First Aid (2017)
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Forest School Outdoor First Aid (2016)
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Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering (2016)
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Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering (outdoor emphasis) (2018)
Memberships
Forest School Association
Continuing development courses:
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Making tasty snacks and updates on healthy eating and teeth cleaning! (March 2018)
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Identifying And Supporting Child Speech Language And Communication Needs (Feb 2018)
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Attachment in Practice (Jan 2018)
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What is Autism? (Nov 2017)
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Learning Language and Loving It (The Hanen Programme) (May 2017)
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Identifying and Supporting Children with Speech Language and Communication Needs (2017)
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A graduated approach to children's needs (2017)
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Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP) (2016)
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Planning made simple (2016)
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The Characteristics of Effective Learning (2016)
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Using scrap outside (2016)
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Introduction to Schemas & Loose Parts Play (2016)
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Safeguarding children (2015)
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Language Development Through Interaction & Play (2015)
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Outcomes for Children - The Common Inspection Framwork (2015)
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Food Allergy Training (2015)
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Observation, Planning and Assessment (2014)
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Stuck on You - Attachement Theory in Action (2014)
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An Introduction to Montessori Materials (2014)
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Makaton Taster (2014)
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Marvellous Messy Play (2014)
* All pictures are published with parents' permission