Youngsters at Wiggles Playgroup in Sheerness have something to shout about after the nursery was rated ‘outstanding’ at its first inspection.

Ofsted visited staff and children in Delacey Hall on the Esplanade last month, and gave top marks for each of four categories.

Following the publication of the education watchdog’s report, owner Vicki McManus said: “I always dreamed of running a pre-school nursery.

“We opened in September 2015, with 24 children on the roll – now have 76 and employ 20 staff serving the community.

“Our manager, Shelley Gould, and staff all strive for excellence.

“We are proud to have received recognition of all our hard work and dedication by being graded as ‘outstanding’ on our very first Ofsted inspection.”

Inspector Sarah Stephens awarded top marks for effectiveness of leadership and management; quality of teaching; learning and assessment; personal development; behaviour and welfare; and outcomes for children, after conducting a joint observation with the manager, viewing documents, speaking to parents and children and holding discussions with staff.

She said the children were “extremely confident”, “very eager to learn” and “keen to share their experiences and actively engage others in their conversations and games”.

She added: “The manager monitors her staff exceptionally well.

“She provides them with highly focused and robust supervision, support and training.”

The inspector said staff provide “outstanding opportunities” to involve parents in their children’s learning with stay-and-play sessions, which helps continue learning at home.

Staff and leaders were praised for working in partnership with other professionals to “superbly” support children’s individual abilities, including those with special educational needs or disabilities providing an “excellent, consistent” approach.

The report added: “Children make consistently high rates of progress in relation to their starting points and are prepared exceptionally well for the next stage of their learning.”

The inspector praised staff for introducing “exciting science experiments” to extend and challenge the youngsters, aged two to four, and said staff managed the children’s behaviour “exceptionally well” reminding them to use their “walking feet” and “indoor voices.”

Wiggles Playgroup is open 9am to 3pm on weekdays in term-time. For further details call 01795 669336.