A pre-school in Shaw which has been looking after youngsters for more than 50 years has kept its 'Good' Ofsted grade.

St Andrews Pre-School in St Andrew's Methodist Church on Trent Road provides daycare for children between two and three years old and has been considered a 'Good' nursery since its registration in 1968.

In a follow-up inspection in September this year, Ofsted inspector Joanne Ryan had plenty of praise for the provision.

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Ms Ryan described staff as "kind" and "caring" towards the youngsters in their care as they support them to "feel happy" and share "high expectations" of their behaviour and ambitions.

Staff regularly give the children praise and encouragement, recognising their achievements by displaying their work to others.

This builds on their confidence and self-esteem and, as a result, the children are "curious" as they investigate and explore all the nursery has to offer.

They also enjoy being creative and use materials to explore their ideas.

For example, they use their imagination and pretend to be on construction sites with pretend power tools while moving crates around to create new spaces.

They were also observed digging in the mud and splashing in water when recreating a favourite story.

Ms Ryan said this shows the children have "positive attitudes" to learning as they build on their knowledge about things they have seen and find new ways to do things.

As for their independence, the inspector said staff support the children to do things for themselves such as getting a drink when they are thirsty and making choices about toys they want to play with which supports them to "become competent at undertaking tasks for themselves".

Ms Ryan said the leadership team have "clear intentions" about what the children learn through a sequenced curriculum.

For instance, younger children use chunky chalk to make marks and older children use thinner chalk to make their marks more defined.

The Ofsted inspector said this sequencing helps children to become ready for their next stage in learning.

They learn about mathematical concepts such as 'under' and 'over' and can count backwards from 10 to one.

The youngsters are also taught about the world around them by growing peas, making bird feeders and watching windmills blow in the wind.

Communication and language are other highlights in the report as not only do the children show a "love of books", but they can talk about the features in the stories they hear as staff read the stories and bring them to life with props.

The pupils take a book home each weekend to share with their families which helps their approach to learning from home and the setting.

Parents have good relationships with the staff and school as they are kept well informed about their children's progress.

When it came to their physical skills, Ms Ryan said the children benefit from the outdoor playground including a ladder and slide while the chalk promotes their hand muscles.

As for leadership, Ofsted noted the team provides a "wealth of support" to staff in order to "continuously improve their practice" and help staff gain new knowledge to support children towards good outcomes.

However, the inspector said there are "some weaknesses" in ensuring all leadership procedures are fully followed, for instance, the setting notified Ofsted about a change in the chair of the committee but did not follow all the procedures or make the necessary safety checks.

In addition, while the nursery works closely with other professionals to give children extra support, the team has not developed partnerships with other settings that children attend.

Ms Ryan said this "does not fully support consistency in meeting children's care and educational needs".

To improve further, Ofsted advised the nursery to develop relationships with other settings that children attend.

Got a story? Email me Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk