Celebration as Dudley pre-school gets top marks from Ofsted

The Foundry Road Pre-School in Foundry Road, Kingswinford received an outstanding grading following an inspection.

Rachel Tatler, co-owner of the pre-school with Sam Lavender, said: "We were rated outstanding in all areas and obviously, we are absolutely thrilled.

"It is all down to hard work from the staff and a very good team."

The pre-school was praised for the quality of teaching, the standard of assessments, the safety of children and the secure emotional attachments the children build with staff.

Staff were also praised for the excellent relationships they built with parents and their 'excellent' leadership and management skills.

With teaching, the report stated the 'well qualified' staff placed a strong emphasis on developing language, which had a 'highly positive' impact on children's learning.

The assessments were considered to be precise with excellent planning tailored to children's individual needs, while staff were confident in their knowledge of safeguarding procedures and knew what to do if they had any concerns about a child's wellbeing.

With their emotional welfare, the report stated the staff were 'attentive and encouraging' and helped them to settle quickly.

They were also praised for seeking the views of parents on the education offered by the pre-school, while the leadership was proactive in encouraging improvements to the school.

Mrs Tatler said the pre-school had about 76 children on its books, while approximately 30 regularly attended morning and afternoon sessions.

However, she said because of the growing membership the pre-school was looking to expand open hours on a Friday so it will be open from 9am to 4pm each week day.

She added: "We have been running the pre-school for five years and since taking over we have carried out a lot of improvements and spent a lot of time and money improving the building. We have done a lot of work to get where we are."