A SAUCHIE childminding service has received a glowing report from the Care Inspectorate.

Lynn Black, who operated a childminding service from her family home in the town, was visited by inspectors on Monday, January 22.

Throughout their inspection, the officers spoke with two children using the service, received feedback from two families, spoke with the childminder, observed the practice and daily life and reviewed documents.

Grading the childminder across four areas, the Care Inspectorate looked at how good their setting, leadership, staff team and care, play and learning was.

On a six-point scale, where 1 is unsatisfactory and 6 is excellent, Lynn Black childminding scored 5 – very good on setting, leadership and staff team, while also scoring 4 on care, play and learning.

Inspectors praised Lynn Black for her promotion of children’s rights within her service, encouraging healthy interactions between her and the children, which helped her support them with what they need.

Speaking to the Advertiser, Lynn said she was delighted with the inspection report, citing the help from fellow childminders as pivotal to her success.

She said: “I work tirelessly to ensure the wellbeing of the children in my setting is met. I offer high quality childcare and have great communication with the children using my setting.

“The children are happy, the parents are happy, therefore I’m happy and it’s an added bonus that it reflects in my inspection report.

“Having the support of my fellow childminders is an absolute godsend,” Lynn continued. “We are lucky enough to be able to bounce ideas off another and take the edge off what can be a potentially isolating job.

“We work together on training courses and generally support each other’s wellbeing. We meet on a daily basis and do lots of activities and groups with our mindees, who have built great friendships with one another.”

Despite being an independent business, Lynn is also part of a collective of Sauchie childminders who work together to promote the industry.

The Sauchie Childminders Funded Providers is made up of Lynn, Louise Nimmo, Christine Scobie and Pauline Carberry who came together to provide support for one another and boost the profile of their business.

Louise said: “It can be quite a lonely job being a childminder and working with children every day so we created this page to raise our profile.

“We’re trying to get rid of the stigma attached to the job, where people think of us as babysitters, we feel a bit undervalued and we’re looking to change that.

“Parents need to be aware that they can use childminders just like a nursery and we’re based right here in Sauchie.”

For more information on Sauchie Childminders Funded Providers, visit their Facebook page. Lynn’s full report can be found at careinspectorate.co.uk.