Youngsters and staff at a village nursery were jumping for joy after it was rated outstanding across the board.

Following a visit by inspectors from Ofsted, Happy Days in Iwade, near Sittingbourne, was given the rating – the education watchdog's highest – in all four areas of inspection.

These comprised the effectiveness of leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and
welfare, and outcomes for children.

Collette Pridmore, joint nursery owner, said: "We are delighted with the result and would like to thank all our staff for their hard work and also the parents for their ongoing support."

During the inspection on October 26, regulators looked through a range of documents including the children's records, watched activities taking place and spoke to parents.

Inspector Stephanie Graves said: "Staff are highly effective in helping children of all ages become engrossed in the activities they enjoy.

"They continually adapt planning and teaching to encourage children’s individual interests.

"All children, including those who have special educational needs or speak English as an additional language, make extremely good progress in their learning."

In its previous Ofsted report in 2015, the nursery was given a 'good' overall rating.

The Ferry Road nursery employs 31 staff, of whom 21 hold relevant childcare qualifications at level three or above and currently has 164 children on its roll.

Inspector Graves noted this year that the nursery staff were "steadfast role models who engage respectfully with children and encourage them to develop high levels of respect and cooperation for one another".

She added: "Staff are consistently loving and kind to children and help them to develop high levels of self-assurance, independence and emotional well-being, ready for learning."

She also highlighted that leaders and managers continually used ongoing self-evaluation and risk assessment to swiftly improve practice.

Happy Days is open each weekday from 8am until 6pm for 51 weeks of the year.