Hello! I’m Rhianne and I run Bluebells & Blossoms childminding from my home close to the centre of Sittingbourne. My husband, Jordan, kindly let me take over the entire ground floor of our home to create an in-home nursery. Everything is child level and designed to meet development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. I am a qualified Level 3 Early Years Educator and I’ve also obtained a few other qualifications including a Level 3 in SEND. Having worked in nurseries for a few years in a variety of roles I felt a lack of opportunity to truly get to know the children and be able to provide activities based on their unique interests and stage of development. Ratios in nurseries are higher and staff turnover is constant – I desired to create a more stable childcare setting with that personal touch whilst keeping the same benefits that nurseries can offer. I’ve tried my best to create that image in Bluebells and Blossoms which started in February 2022. I am constantly self-evaluating and adapting my setting environment to improve – which also means the children have little chance to become uninspired! You can view all these changes in our ‘Setting Development’ scrap book which is situated in the front porch. I love the Reggio Emilia approach as well as Montessori inspired resources and have created my setting with these theories of teaching in mind.

At Bluebells & Blossoms I have designed my curriculum around my belief that every child is unique and should feel encouraged to be confident, independent, motivated, inspired, supported and above all happy. My setting and curriculum has been designed with the Early Years Foundation stage at the centre but adapted to suit and tailor to each child dependent of their interests and skills. We regularly visit our local soft play, country parks, library, bakery, Wildwood Trust, our little family farm in Headcorn and like to visit Tankerton Beach in the summer months.