Jigsaw Pre-School
Jigsaw Pre-School is a pre-school in Basildon for children aged 2 to 4, with 26 registered places. Ofsted report card, 15 January 2026: Expected standard in 6 areas; safeguarding standards met.
Gordon Hall, Bardfield, Basildon, SS16 4JN
Key facts
- Type
- Pre-school (Sessional day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Ages
- 2 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered places
- 26 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
- Registered
- 4 September 2006 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Opening hours
Monday,Friday : 09:15 - 12:15,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday : 09:15 - 14:15
Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 15 January 2026
Who runs it
Jigsaw Pre-School is run by Lorraine Porter and Vanessa Matthews Partnership (Ofsted register).
Latest inspection
- Inclusion: Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard
- Achievement: Expected standard
- Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard
- Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard
- Leadership and governance: Expected standard
- Safeguarding standards met
Source: Ofsted, inspection on 15 January 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children arrive at the pre-school with enthusiasm and are warmly greeted by staff. They readily join in with their peers at their chosen activity and settle quickly. Children are happy and demonstrate they feel safe and secure in the calm and nurturing environment. They chat confidently to staff, who give them time to speak and respond with interest. Staff are attentive and responsive in their approach, helping to support children's emotional and physical wellbeing. This nurturing approach supports all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to feel valued and that they belong.
Staff know children's individual needs and carefully adapt activities so all children can participate. There is an ambitious curriculum in place for every child, including those with SEND. The tailored support in place for every child means that all children make progress in their learning and development. Activities focus on children's need and interests. As a result, children enjoy learning and demonstrate high levels of curiosity and engagement. Younger children hold paintbrushes with good control to create patterns, focusing intently on the different colours and shapes they make on the paper. Older children demonstrate their independence as they put on their own coats, shoes and hats before going outside.
Children are familiar with the expectations for their behaviour at the pre-school and behave well. They readily share the resources with their peers and take turns independently with minimal support. Staff are positive role models, treating each other and children with kindness and respect. They demonstrate a constant approach, as well as visual strategies, to help children to regulate their behaviour when needed. Children are familiar with positive hygiene routines, such as washing hands before eating. Staff plan regular opportunities to play and learn outside to help to promote children's wellbeing.
What Ofsted found in each area
Inclusion: Expected standard
There is a clear focus on inclusion at the pre-school. Managers have a high expectation for every child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Managers and staff access training to support children with SEND. This helps them to assess and swiftly identify children's individual needs and confidently implement effective strategies that support all children's learning and development. They adapt the environment and activities to help ensure that every child is able to access all areas of the curriculum, including those with SEND. Staff adapt their teaching and carefully consider resources so all children feel included and can participate. For example, they work with children in small groups, incorporate a variety of visual aids and use Makaton to support children's communication. Consequently, children make positive progress from their starting points and experience meaningful learning experiences, including those with SEND.
Managers and staff develop effective partnerships with parents and carers and other professionals. They engage in regular discussions and ensure families are involved in the plans for children's support and learning. Managers and staff work closely with external professional, such as therapists, social care and health professionals, to share information and ensure children gain the additional support they need as swiftly as possible. Children's individual learning plans are initiated, monitored and reviewed with parents. These are shared with all staff to ensure they know and can support children's care and learning needs. Managers use additional funding in collaboration with parents to support children's individual needs. This helps children eligible for additional funding to reach their full potential.
Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard
Overall, managers and staff plan a broad and ambitious curriculum. They create a safe and inclusive environment, where all children can participate in all areas of the curriculum and make progress. Staff use assessment to monitor children's progress and to identify what they need to know or do next. The managers have a clear overview and identify any gaps in children's learning swiftly. They put targeted support plans in place quickly. There is a sharp focus on developing children's communication and literacy skills. Staff use their interactions, stories and purposeful group activities to support children's language development and literacy skills. They adapt activities and use Makaton and visual resources to further support children to communicate. Children are confident communicators and show high levels of interest in books. Staff actively join in as children play and learn. However, staff do not consistently consider what children already know or can do to extend their learning and help them to make more progress. For example, as children pretend to brush play teeth, staff praise their actions but do not engage children in discussions to assess what they already know and consider how to build on this to extend their knowledge and skills further.
Staff support children's personal, social and emotional development well. Children are extremely sociable and respectful towards staff and each other. Children develop their physical skills. They have lots of fun as they run around trying to catch bubbles and walk across beams in the garden. This helps to support their strength and coordination. Children manipulate dough and use tools to make patterns in sand, strengthening their fine motor skills. However, although staff plan mathematical activities, they do not place as much emphasis on children's continued mathematical development. For example, they do not consistently weave mathematical language or incorporate counting sequences as children play to build on their early mathematical skills.
Achievement: Expected standard
Children are curious, confident and show good learning habits. They independently select and engage with activities and persevere to achieve the outcomes. This prepares them for the next stage in their learning, including starting school. Children become good communicators and are confident to interact with staff and each other. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities use Makaton and visual resources to support reciprocal communication. However, due to inconsistencies in some staff interactions, children do not always have opportunities to extend their knowledge and skills further to achieve as much progress as possible.
Children have plenty of opportunities to develop their physical skills, inside and outside. As a result, they demonstrate confidence in running, coordination and fine motor skills. They are confident to express themselves creatively as they paint and draw patterns and images using a variety of tools, such as brushes, crayons and pencils with good control. Children become highly engaged in their play and learning. For example, young children concentrate to create towers with magnetic shapes. They thoughtfully select the coloured pieces and carefully join them together to ensure the tower still balances, persevering until they have finished and showing pride in their achievements.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard
Staff support children to follow the expectations for their behaviour with clear, consistent and age-appropriate messages, as well as visual strategies. For example, children know there must be a spare red hat to wear if they want to take a turn at the sand table. As a result, children behave well and readily share and take turns with the resources. Children develop secure relationships with staff and each other. They learn to be kind and respectful because staff model this behaviour to children and each other. At mealtimes, staff support children to use good manners, such as please and thank you.
Children demonstrate independence, confidence and secure social skills. They have a positive attitude to their learning and interact well with each other. For example, children show interest and praise each other as they talk about what they are each making with play dough. They remain engaged for extended times and persevere until they are happy with their creations. Children show good control as they push and pat the dough to make their shapes, often repeating again until they are happy with the outcome. Managers recognise the importance of children's attendance, which they carefully monitor. They address any concerns swiftly, helping to support children's wellbeing and promote a positive attitude to learning.
Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard
Managers and staff gather a broad range of information before children start. Consequently, staff understand every child's individual needs from the beginning. This helps all children to settle well and promotes their emotional wellbeing. Ongoing and regular communication with parents and carers helps staff to adapt to children's emerging needs and to be aware of any significant changes in their home lives. Staff are clear about children's dietary requirements and allergies, helping to support their safety and wellbeing. Children benefit from healthy snacks and demonstrate their independence as they carefully pour their own drinks. Staff sit with children and remain alert at mealtimes, helping children to remain safe while they are eating.
The key-person system is firmly embedded. This supports staff to build trusting relationships with children and families. Staff know children well and provide tailored care and learning for each child. They prioritise children's emotional wellbeing. Children learn about their emotions through books and puppets. They become familiar with good hygiene routines, such as washing their hands before eating. Children learn about oral hygiene and brush their teeth after eating lunch. Staff plan regular opportunities for fresh air and exercise, such as children play and interact with resources in the outside area.
Leadership and governance: Expected standard
The enthusiastic managers are highly effective as leaders of the pre-school. They have a clear vision and work closely with staff to provide an inclusive, nurturing and stimulating environment for all children. They have high expectations for all children. Overall, managers take time to reflect on the environment, resources and curriculum and to ensure they meet the emerging needs of all children. Managers work closely with parents and carers and other professionals, when necessary, to help them to provide the most effective care and support for every child. Staff are encouraged to engage with regular targeted professional development to enhance their knowledge and skills. However, managers recognise that they do not support staff consistently to develop their knowledge and skills to promote children's learning and development to the highest level. Managers give staff's wellbeing a high priority through effective supervision meetings. Staff advise they enjoy working within the team and feel supported.
Managers get to know families well. They consider the uniqueness of each family. Managers communicate effectively and consistently to support each child's care and education and help them reach their full potential. Managers and staff foster trusting relationships and provide parents with guidance on topics, such as healthy eating, good oral hygiene and potty training. Parents receive information to help them support children's development at home. Managers plan to extend this further by introducing a lending book library scheme for every child, supporting parents to share books at home with their children.
What the setting must and should do next
The provider should:
- Leaders should support staff to develop their knowledge and skills to consistently extend children's learning.
- Leaders should support staff to maintain a stronger focus on mathematics and increase the opportunities to support children's mathematical development as they learn and play.
Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 15 January 2026. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Inspection history
Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)
Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.
The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.
Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.
Source: Ofsted reports
Funded childcare hours in England
All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.
Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.
Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.
The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.
Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)
Other nurseries nearby
- Just Imagine Day Nursery Ltd - Vange - Day nursery, Vange SS16 4JX, ages 1 to 4, 22 places, 0.1 milesOfsted, 5 August 2025: Outstanding overall; safeguarding is effective
- Serendipity Nursery - Day nursery, Basildon SS16 4NF, ages 0 to 4, 50 places, 0.2 milesOfsted, 31 August 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
- Rainbows Preschool Nursery - Pre-school, Basildon SS16 4DA, 38 places, 0.3 miles
- Little Steps Pre-School - Pre-school, Basildon SS14 1SA, ages 2 to 4, 28 places, 0.3 milesOfsted, 29 April 2024: Outstanding overall; safeguarding is effective
- ABC TREEHOUSE - Day nursery, Basildon SS16 4AE, ages 2 to 11, 32 places, 0.5 milesOfsted, 23 November 2022: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
Schools nearby
- Bardfield Academy - Primary, under 0.1 miles
- Greensted Primary School & Nursery - Primary, 0.4 miles
- Ryedene Primary and Nursery School - Primary, 0.4 miles
- Cherry Tree Primary School - Primary, 0.5 miles
- St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Basildon - Primary, 0.5 miles