THE Children’s Nursery is celebrating after stepping up a level in its latest Ofsted inspection, despite tougher criteria.

The nursery opened in the council offices in Euclid Street in 1992, primarily to provide childcare for Swindon Council employees, but is now available to the wider community.

It was graded ‘good’ in the latest report from the school standards watchdog.

The nursery was praised across all three criteria – meeting the needs of the children, the contribution to their well-being and the management and leadership of the nursery – following an inspection earlier this month.

Inspectors said this was a marked improvement from the nursery’s previous inspection in January, when it received a level 3 “in need of improvement”.

Katherine Parker, manager at the nursery for children as young as three months, said the improvement was down to all the hard work of the staff.

She said: “We’re really thrilled. Everybody has worked really hard to make sure we made the improvements we were asked to make at the last inspection.

“We have had some really intensive staff training and the improvements have really been down to the work of the staff.

“I only started as manager at The Children’s Nursery in May last year so really the hard work was all from them.

“We did know last time that we required improvement and we took the necessary steps.

“The new framework does mean that we are now under much greater scrutiny but it means that we need to meet higher standards and to get a good is really very good.

“We’re obviously going to try to continue to improve and work towards being outstanding.”

Inspectors said one of the greatest strengths of the nursery was the strong management structures and failsafes to ensure children’s happiness, as well as the nursery’s focus on healthy lifestyle and the positive relationship developed with parents.

Inspectors said in the report: “Children settle quickly in this welcoming environment, where friendly, caring staff support them effectively. Children are progressing well in all areas of learning and development.

“Overall, the quality of the teaching practice is good and some is excellent. Ongoing staff training has resulted in skilled staff making good judgments about when children need time to play and explore independently.

“Children effectively learn how to keep themselves and others safe as they explore the spacious rooms and outdoor environments.”

But inspectors noted that children’s knowledge of maths could do with improvement and they needed to extend their independence.