Ilkley pre-school receives outstanding Ofsted rating (From Ilkley Gazette)

Ilkley pre-school receives outstanding Ofsted rating

8:28am Tuesday 23rd March 2010 in Schools By Amanda Greaves

AN Ilkley pre-school received an outstanding rating after impressing an Ofsted inspector with its ‘excellent’ early years education provision.

All Saints Pre-school, based in Operatic House on Leeds Road, was rated outstanding in all of its inspection criteria, the top mark available, in its latest Ofsted report.

Inspector Jane O’Callaghan visited in mid-February, and her report was published at the end of the month.

The only improvement she suggested to the preschool’s provision was to provide further opportunities for parents to access their child’s individual learning and development records. She said: “Overall the quality of the provision is outstanding. Children are offered an excellent range of experiences, which capture their imagination and support their learning highly effectively.

“This ensures that they make excellent progress towards the early learning goals, given their age, ability and starting points.

The setting is wholly inclusive and each child is valued and respected.”

She also praised a ‘full and comprehensive system of self-evaluation’ which meets the need of all children ‘extremely successfully’ and ensures continuous improvement is sustained.

The pre-school caters for pre-school age children, from two and a half upwards, and holds seven sessions a week. There are currently 30 children on the roll.

The inspector says children’s safety and safeguarding underpins everything they do, and she highlighted the pre-schools vetting processes for adults, and the role of the designated child protection staff member.

The inspector also highlighted the preschool’s awareness of equality and diversity in everyday practice. The playgroup currently supports children with special educational needs or disabilities, and also supports children who speak English as an additional language.

Highly-successful partnerships are established with parents and other early years settings that children, attend, the inspector said.