A WEAVERHAM pre-school has received an ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted.

Woodlands Pre-School Nursery achieved the accolade in the categories for effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, personal development, behaviour and welfare and outcomes for children.

Insp Beverley Devlin said: “Children make excellent progress. The manager and staff track children's progress very precisely to quickly identify any gaps in learning.

“They use the information to plan teaching that matches children's specific learning needs.

“Children's behaviour is exemplary. Staff are excellent role models and highly effective in supporting children to behave well at all times.

“Children demonstrate self-control when playing independently without staff involvement.”

The inspection praised the relationships the pre-school maintains with parents.

The inspector said: “Families praise the wonderful care, support and learning opportunities the staff provide for their children.

“Staff share information with parents about their child's progress and use information from parents to support children's learning.”

The report reflects on how well the staff work together.

Insp Devlin said: “The manager and staff are extremely dedicated and enthusiastic about their roles. They ensure that all children make excellent progress and have a happy and highly enjoyable nursery experience.

“Staff are exceptionally well supported to further extend their professional development.”

The outcomes for children are another highlight of the provision.

Insp Devlin said: “Children all make exceptional progress. They develop excellent skills through an extensive range of activities to prepare them extremely well for the next stage in their learning or school.

“Children are extremely socially confident. For example, they eagerly share their news at register time, and at snack time they have lively discussions about what they have done this morning and their plans for the weekend.”

Sue McDonald, manager of Woodlands, said: “It’s a great achievement by the whole team certainly.

“I’ve run the pre-school for 20 years and it’s great to have someone say it’s an outstanding establishment.

“The whole team are so dedicated to what they do.”