Teddy bears’ picnic marks glowing Ofsted report (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Teddy bears’ picnic marks glowing Ofsted report

12:50pm Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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“EXCEPTIONALLY caring and highly stimulating...”

They are, indeed, glowing words and they came from Ofsted inspectors who gave the Crestwood Community Pre-school at Boyatt Wood, Eastleigh, an “outstanding” rating.

Staff celebrated the achievement by organising a teddy bears’ picnic for the children at the school in Shakespeare Road.

Of the 15 categories the inspectors grade, the preschool was rated “outstanding” in 14 and “good” in one.

The only recommendation was to develop the covered outdoor play area.

The report stated: “Excellent leadership and management, exceptionally good teamwork and outstanding relationships with parents have ensured that the needs of children are at the heart of the very popular pre-school’s work.

“The very skilled staff organise and monitor children’s activities extremely well so that their progress is outstanding in all areas of learning.

“Staff continually reflect on the quality of provision and how it can be improved and consequently there is an excellent capacity to improve further.”

It also praised the pre-school for its educational games, the way it promoted healthy living and encouraged children to think for themselves.

Pre-school manager, Rachael Barrett, said everyone was delighted their hard work had been recognised.

She said: “We were all just over the moon when we found out, I don’t think we’ve stopped smiling since.

“I think this achievement is the result of the efforts of the team we have here who not only support the children, but each other, too. It’s absolutely fantastic.We are all always looking for things we can do to improve.”

She added that the aim now was to keep standards high and to ensure they still focused on the children having fun and being happy.