“Inspirational” nursery teachers have been praised after their pre-school was rated as “outstanding” in an inspection.
St Saviour’s Pre-School and Nursery in St Albans received the top marks in all areas of the assessment carried out by education regulator Ofsted, which took place on April 23. It had previously been rated one grade lower, as “good”.
In her report, inspector Lorraine Pike said: “Children of all ages thrive in this welcoming and vibrant environment.
“The strong skills of all key persons ensure that children form very warm and caring bonds with them from an early stage.
“The very well-qualified staff team is inspirational. Staff have a superb understanding of how children learn and form excellent partnerships with parents and involve them in every aspect of their children’s learning.”
Ms Pike particularly praised the leadership team at the nursery, based in St Saviour’s Church Hall, Sandpit Lane, St Albans, saying: “The management team and staff are relentless in their pursuit of excellence.”
The quality of teaching was also highlighted, with Ofsted saying: “Rich, varied and imaginative ideas stimulate children to share their understanding of people, families and communities beyond their immediate experience.”
As a result, Ms Pike said: “Children make rapid progress from their individual starting points, including those who speak English as an additional language or those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
“They are extremely independent from a young age. Children are highly capable and expert problem solvers. For example, they solve complex mathematical problems, such as subtraction and addition.”
The nursery, which children can join from two years of age, is owned and managed by Margaret Jacobs and Tina Alder.
There is a separate nursery group led by an early years teacher, which enables the children to benefit from focused literacy and numeracy activities for part of the session, whilst still enjoying free play in the hall and garden.
A spokesman said: “We are delighted that Ofsted recognise the positivity and hard work that characterises our pre-school and nursery.
“This ‘outstanding’ rating is a credit to our children, parents and staff and we are incredibly proud we have achieved this result.”
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