A CHILDREN’S nursery has had double cause for celebration.

Ladybirds Nursery in Highfield Park, St Albans, celebrated its eighth birthday and at the same time was awarded “outstanding” status by Ofsted.

To mark both occasions, the children enjoyed a party where they helped prepare “treats” as part of a wider curriculum topic on food followed by an entertainer and traditional party games.

Ladybirds caters for up to 61 children from three months up to school age and is owned and managed by two early years teachers Julie O’Kelly and Bernadette Lee.

Julie said: “It’s fantastic that the inspector arrived with no notice on a typical day and found standards to be outstanding across all of the four rooms. We were particularly pleased that she recognised the committed staff team.”

Bernadette added: “We believe that we have always valued children as individuals and it is gratifying that this has been recognised. We have worked hard to ensure all the children here make excellent progress towards the early learning goals through partnerships with parents and other professionals.”