'It's like a family': Award-winning Zig Zag Nursery in Peterborough marks tenth anniversary

A much-loved Peterborough day nursery has marked more than a decade of looking after children in New England.

Zig Zag Nursery, which is based at St Paul's Church Hall on The Triangle, has cared for hundreds of babies, toddlers and infants since it first opened its doors back in December 2012.

Nursery manager Chelsea Richardson has been part of the Zig Zag journey from day one.

“A lot of the staff have been here since the beginning,” she says proudly. “It’s like a family.”

Chelsea remembers how the nursery – which now employs 16 staff – started off “very small” with just one pre-school room.

A baby room and toddler room were added as the business grew; holiday clubs, after school clubs and breakfast clubs joined them later.

Nursery owner Karolina Khan and her husband started the partnership with St Paul’s Church back in 2012 with a clear goal - to cater for the whole community, including those who spoke little or no English.

Zig Zag has grown to become one of the community’s most inclusive day nurseries, staffed by a diverse, multilingual team that can speak English, Polish and Russian.

The nursery – which won the PT Nursery of the Year award in 2019 – also offers flexible sessions, hot meals, a large garden space and forest school activities.

Despite all the successes of the past decade, Chelsea acknowledges an ongoing challenge that continues to be a major thorn in their side.

“We often find that parents don’t know we’re here,” she said, explaining “we’re kind of really tucked away on The Triangle.”

This can be a problem as it can cause parents to miss out on essential childcare services they’re entitled to.

“Two-year-olds get 15 hours free [childcare] from Peterborough City Council,” Chelsea says, adding, “three- and four-year-olds get 15 hours free, too.”

“In this area, there are a lot of disadvantaged children and families and some of them don’t even know they’re eligible for that service.”

Chelsea and her team’s mission now – and for the next 10 years – is simple:

“We’re trying to make sure people know we’re here,” she says, “making sure parents know those services are here, should they need them.”