A Sittingbourne pre-school has been rated “outstanding” in all areas after a surprise inspection.

Little Treasures Kindergarten was given the top rating after the Ofsted inspection on June 7.

A delighted co-owner, Debbie Cooke, said: “We are chuffed to bits. We have always been rated good with outstanding areas but this is the first time we have been outstanding across the board.”

The inspection looked at effectiveness of the leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare and outcomes for children.

It said: “Children are inquisitive and actively involved in their learning.

“They have an abundance of stimulating and vibrant experiences to choose from which allows them to make very informed choices in their play.”

The inspector added there were “exceptionally secure” settling-in procedures to help children forge close attachments to all staff and that staff were “extremely vigilant” and made detailed observations and assessments.

Mrs Cooke, a mum-of-three and grandmother-of-two, said: “We have built up a fantastic team of 10 who always take care of the children and try to make it fun and exciting, with little adventures like walks to the town or park.”

She and friend Sue Jacobs founded Little Treasures 17 years ago and have been in the Oast House in Bell Road, Sittingbourne, for the past five years after their first landlord forced them out.

Mrs Cooke said: “At the time we almost threw in the towel. We had to convert the Oast ourselves, knocking down walls, replacing floors and redecorating with our husbands, our families and our own money.

“We also had to appeal when Swale council initially refused us permission but, looking back, moving to the Oast was the best thing that could have happened to us.”

The nursery has 72 children aged two to four on its books.

Mrs Cooke, said: “We have a couple of vacancies but since we posted the result of the inspection on our Facebook page the phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”

She added: “We have a high ratio of staff to children so there is always someone available to give a child a cuddle or read them a story.”