An Andover nursery has been rebuked by inspectors after it was told it ‘requires improvement’ in all areas.

Shepherd Spring Pre-school Nursery, in Smannell Road, was last inspected by Ofsted in 2014 where it was deemed ‘good’.

However, in a report the school was told by the end of this month it must improve the accuracy of children’s developmental assessments, improve coaching, support and training for staff, and monitor planning and teaching practice more effectively.

Although parents were found to be happy with the nursery , inspectors said the manager “does not observe and monitor staff practice effectively enough.”

The report said this did not help the manager to quickly identify and act on under-performance and as a result help staff improve their teaching practice to a ‘consistently good level.’

It added the manager does not seek early intervention for children who are delayed in their development, specifically those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as a second language.

Inspectors saw children form close friendships. However the report added: “Staff do not help some children who need support to interact with others during their play to develop their social skills. “Staff talk with children in a polite way and positive way and provide children with a positive role model.

“However, some staff give children lots of instructions and do not always give them time to ask or answer questions to develop their learning further.”

The report said this meant some children played with resources silently and did not share what they knew and understood.

Inspectors concluded most children develop skills needed to start school.

However some children were not reaching “typical levels of development in some areas of their development”.

The nursery’s committee was not prepared to comment beyond saying parents have “openly disagreed with the report”.