A village pre-school is celebrating after being rated outstanding by Ofsted for the fourth time in a row.

Teynham Community Pre-School, in Station Road, Teynham, near Sittingbourne, was given the best rating possible by the education watchdog after an inspection in January.

In a glowing report, inspector Kelly Hawkins gave a clean sweep of ‘outstandings’ for the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

She said: “Staff establish exceptionally positive, secure and trusting relationships with all children. They get to know their personalities, routines and interests extremely well. Children have outstanding levels of well-being, self-motivation and an excellent sense of belonging. They take part in activities which enable them to discuss worries they have and put their minds at rest immediately.”

Pupils were said to be “incredibly confident and happy at the safe and secure setting”, their behaviour was “impeccable” and were “extremely polite”.

The pre-school is in the grounds of Teynham Primary School. It caters for two to four-year-olds and has eight staff, who were praised for providing “extremely enthralling and fascinating experiences” to keep children motivated to learn.

The report added: “The extremely passionate and dedicated staff team attends incredibly beneficial training to support them to enhance their already impressive skills and knowledge.”

Meanwhile, youngsters are encouraged to take part in activities that require “excellent levels of maturity”, the report said, such as using real tools, like saws and hand drills, to build their own wooden resources.

The latest report means the pre-school has been outstanding since 2008.

Pre-school manager Kelly Southern said she was incredibly proud of her staff.

“The early years Ofsted inspection framework changed in September but, due to the hard work and dedication of the whole team, we’ve managed to secure another outstanding judgement in all areas,” she said.

She added: “It delighted us that the inspector could see how happy and content the children are as, above all, that is the greatest quality we can ask for.

“Thank you also to our amazing committee of parents that supports the pre-school fundraising, enabling us to offer the experiences and activities we do. Not forgetting our fantastic parents who entrust us with their children, attend story times, support fundraising events and take part in family challenges – we couldn’t do what we do without their support.”

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