INSPECTORS have praised the high quality of care at St Philip’s Pre-school following an inspection.

The centre received a good rating report following a visit by the education watchdog Ofsted last month.

When appraising centres, the body has four overall ratings they can use – outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.

The pre-school in Beechcroft Road has retained the status which it achieved when it was last inspected in 2011.

Manager Debbie Sawyer said: “We are over the moon as Ofsted has raised the bar in recent years, so it is great to retain our good status.

“The inspector was delighted by how friendly the children were and how they engaged with each other.”

St Philip’s Pre-school looks after 26 children and has five staff.

Debbie said she and her team felt a degree of pressure when the unannounced inspection took place.

She said: “It is nice to get a good rating and shows the hard work of everyone has paid off. This is not just an achievement of one person but something fantastic for our whole team.

“I’m delighted that in the report it says ‘Staff are positive role models. As a result, children’s behaviour is good and they learn to share, take turns and co-operate effectively to engage in harmonious play’.

“I was absolutely overwhelmed by the news. I nearly burst into tears.”

Karen Prager inspected the centre for Ofsted and said: was delighted with their work they are doing.

“Staff have a good understanding of how children learn. The good all-round teaching gives children secure foundations for their future learning,” she said.

“They share what the children are learning next with their colleagues and consider what children are learning when they plan activities.”

To become outstanding the inspector said that the pre-school needs to provide more planting and gardening activities as well as reviewing their snack time procedures.

To see the full report visit www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted