Jo has cared for our daughter since she was 10 months old. From the first suggestions she had to settle us into the new routine back then (as part of a nanny share) to the way she looks after both our children now (aged 3 and 9 months) she has had a huge positive impact on family life over the last two years.

She clearly cares so much about the children she is responsible for, encouraging their development, talking to them constantly and coming up with suggestions for activities and outings to enrich their lives. She makes sure they get out and about every day and is always interacting with them rather than defaulting to options like TV for entertainment. Jo has a really in-depth understanding of their behaviour and needs at different stages and supports our own ethos when it comes to raising empathetic and personable children.

Jo is very practical, not fazed at all by the idea of cooking tea whilst caring for two hungry children, and she stays calm in the face of the usual toddler challenges. I've never once felt any anxieties about leaving the children with her - from day one her calm confidence with them was hugely reassuring.

Incredibly punctual, she has never been a reason for either me or my husband to be late for work and she always leaves the house and kitchen tider than I manage to at the end of a day. Jo has also stuck with us throughout what has been a very difficult year, with far more changes to hours and working patterns than would normally be expected.

We are incredibly sad to be losing Jo as we move house next month, she has done so much to develop our daughter in particular and she will be sorely missed by all of us.

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