News

Foodsteps Sustainability Report

Never too small to make a difference

As we celebrate our 20th year here at Jigsaw we have taken some time recently to reflect on our journey and to consider what our path will look like moving into the future. Our philosophy on Day One focused on ensuring that we provided a safe, caring, nurturing and stimulating environment in all areas of our care allowing all our children to flourish as individuals. 

Our core philosophy remains as relevant today as it did when we first opened our doors back in 1999. However, over the years this has evolved with a growing focus and consideration for our environment starting to feature more prominently on the nursery's agenda. 

Our success over the years has been built on our appetite to evolve. The world has changed significantly over the past 20 years however throughout that period we have consistently pushed the boundaries to ensure we are delivering the very best for our children. 

The food that the children eat within our nurseries not only has an impact on everyone in the setting but also on the health of our planet. Sustainable food is about food culture and how decisions made about growing, buying, storing, cooking and wasting food today will impact future generations.

Over the past 18 months both the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change) in partnership with the UN and professors at Oxford University have released reports which have been acknowledged as the most comprehensive analysis ever produced detailing the impact of animal farming on our planet. Both reports consistently note that unless there are drastic changes in global land use, agriculture and human diet, the world will fall significantly short in its fight to curb greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on global warming. It is with our children and the planet's future in mind that we have taken the significant decision to make our food menus plant based as of January 2020.

We are undoubtedly reaching a defining moment in relation to our environment and here at Jigsaw we feel it is our duty to ensure we take meaningful action in an attempt to secure a sustainable future for all our children.

3rd World Hope

We recently sent a shipment of Christmas presents to the children that we support in Malawi as we do every year. Shaun, the founder of 3rd World Hope will hopefully be sending us some photographs after Christmas to share with our children at nursery.

Our partnership with 3rd World Hope remains one of our most significant achievements and the relationship we have established goes significantly beyond bricks, mortar and materials.

Our partnership began in 2010 with an initial aim of raising £10,000 by the end of 2013 and with the amazing support of our parents we were able to achieve this and begin work on the rebuild of a school in Malawi. With our parents continued support we have now raised a staggering £24,000 up until November 2018.

Environment and Sustainability

We believe that children are our future and therefore at Jigsaw we aim to ensure we do all we can to ensure our footprint is ethical. Several changes we have made in the last five years include; 

● Installation of solar panels in 2013 which reduced our electricity consumption by 60%.

● Switching from plastic to glass for our milk bottles, reducing 765 plastic containers a year to zero.

● Sourcing our fruit and vegetables locally, lowering our carbon footprint as we support local businesses.

● Having our nappies incinerated to stop them being dumped in landfills.

● Ensuring sustainability within our Forest School by sourcing materials from elsewhere/ other people.

● Up cycling our staff uniforms and children's uniforms.

● Encouraging parents and children to use reusable plastic cups for water to reduce our plastic cup consumption to zero.

● Promoting the environment within the curriculum and planning.

● Using online applications to minimise the use of paper as a means of communication between us and you.

We will continue to focus on enhancing our sustainability as we move forward.

Tapestry - A new progress record for development

'Jigsaw has moved on from using 2Simple and now uses a system called 'Tapestry'. This is similar to 2Simple but more inclusive for parents. Observations completed by staff are added to the child's online journal everyday meaning parents are able to log in and see what their child has been up to on that day. Parents are able to log in whenever they choose and even complete their own observations and send them to their child's Keyperson. This is a fantastic way to cement our partnerships with parents and means both parents and carers can work together to promote the best possible development and learning opportunities for every child.'

Moving with the times

Jigsaw now uses an online developmental progress record. This system is called 2simple. It allows us to track each child’s individual progress and highlights any areas to develop. We are able to ensure all children achieve in all areas of development and encourage them to exceed in their milestones. All our observations are sent to parents regularly via email for their perusal.

The Times

We at Jigsaw were contacted by the Times newspaper. They wanted to write a piece about our Nursery as they had heard about our NDNA award and were interested to know why we gained the title “Best Day Nursery in the UK”. We at Jigsaw lead the way in our provision thinking outside the box giving children opportunities they wouldn't necessarily have at home, allowing them to take calculated risks and encourage critical thinking.

Channel 5 News

Channel 5 news contacted us after reading the wonderful piece written in the Times. They asked if they could come and film us doing what we do amazingly well.  They wanted to know what sets us apart from all other nurseries and how we safely encourage children to use real tools during creative play at nursery.

Nursery Team

Please take a look at our short video showing what a fantastic team we have at nursery. At jigsaw we have an outstanding retention of staff. We have been open since 1999 and most of our senior staff have been with us since 2000-2005. Having a good team is paramount for a good working relationships and promotes continuity for the children where they feel safe and confident to explore, learn and grow.

Fun Day

Each and Every year come rain or shine our Summer Open days are outstanding fun with fancy dress, bouncy castle, raffles, games galore and a chance to sample our menus whilst meeting all the staff and parents. We always raise a massive amount for our charity in Malawi.