Parents and staff have expressed their shock after a pre-school was handed its worst-ever Ofsted rating.

Inspectors ruled Canterbury Day Nursery “requires improvement” after finding one of the rooms was “chaotic” at times.

But mums and dads whose children go to the facility in the city say it is a “fantastic” provider and the Ofsted score is “really harsh”.

After visiting the Havelock Street site in June, the watchdog praised the staff’s commitment, knowledge of safety procedures and its “engaging and exciting curriculum”.

But after finding fault in the “arrangement of one of the rooms”, they downgraded the nursery’s previously “good” rating.

Vicki Ball, whose two-year-old girl Evie attends the pre-school, says if inspectors had properly consulted parents they would have come away with a much different impression.

“We were quite surprised by the report because both of my kids have been there and we think it’s excellent,” said Ms Ball, 37.

“They’ve done a lot of work to help Evie progress with her speech.

“I feel like the rating was really harsh because, generally, the report is quite glowing.

“When people are looking for nurseries they’re going to see that rating and that’s going to maybe affect the nursery’s intake.

“If they’d asked all the parents, they would have got a different outlook”

Another parent, Ruth Sanz Sabido, says she feels sorry for the staff.

She says that when her three-year-old, Sara, first entered the nursery she was only speaking Spanish but, after forming a strong connection with her key worker, has now really come along with her spoken English.

“I was really shocked when I saw the report,” she said.

“To me this is a really great nursery. I just cannot fault them.

“Imagine doing your job so well and then getting an evaluation like this - it must be soul-crushing. It just feels unfair.”

The Ofsted report, published on September 5, says children display pleasure and confidence in engaging with the learning at the nursery, which caters to more than 100 youngsters.

But the officials found faults with how staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

“The nursery consists of four rooms, three of which are very effective in providing activities that support children's development in an enjoyable and stimulating way,” the inspectors wrote.

“However, the arrangements in the fourth room are less effective.

“This particularly relates to the staff's ability to support children with SEND.

“Staff working in this room are sometimes overwhelmed – the room is overcrowded and, at times, chaotic.”

Because of this, says Ofsted, some children “occasionally wander around the room and do not all show high levels of involvement”, disrupting the play of other children.

The report goes on to emphasise that generally the quality of education for most children, including those with SEND, is strong.

However, inspectors say the nursery has not ensured staff have sufficient capacity to best serve some children, particularly those who need support with their emotional and behavioural development.

But leaders of the pre-school, which has been in operation since 1977, disagree with the report’s findings.

In a statement, charity manager Dawn Pearce, nursery manager Sally Cavaglieri and deputy manager Michelle Flahaut told KentOnline: “We feel that the recent Ofsted judgement is very unfair, and the report lacks the evidence to come to this conclusion.

“We are very sad that the hard work and dedication of every member of our team has been given this judgement.

“It's hard not to feel disillusioned as a team when all our hard work and care for the children isn't fully recognised, especially for those children with SEND.

“But we will, as we must, pick ourselves up, re-group and continue to offer a high standard of care to all our families, working even harder to get back the grading we know we deserve.”

The managers added that they had attempted to fight the rating with a formal complaint and had asked for a re-inspection.

But they say they had been told that the “requires improvement” rating will stand until they are visited again within the next year.

“We have, and always will, place the children and families in our care at the forefront of our provision,” the managers added.

“We are currently working with the educational improvement services to help address the areas of our provision that Ofsted felt we needed to improve upon.”

Ofsted has been approached for comment.