A PRESCHOOL near Andover is “thrilled” with its latest Ofsted rating.

Chilbolton Pre-School, on Longparish Road, Wherwell, was rated “good” in all areas bar one, which was deemed “outstanding”.

The inspector who visited the school said the management team involves staff, children and parents when looking to further improve the school.

They said: “Staff have worked hard to create strong partnerships with parents and other professionals and this helps children to flourish in their care.”

For “Quality of teaching, learning and assessment”, the inspector said the well-qualified staff had an excellent knowledge of all children through effective observation.

The report added children benefited from “a wide range of challenging and exciting opportunities and resources”.

Examples of this included imaginative role play in an “ice cream parlour”.

The inspector found staff helped children manage their own behaviour.

They said: “Staff have created an exceptionally welcoming and stimulating environment where children are highly motivated and eager to engage.

“Staff provide very positive role models for children and they speak to children in a calm and respectful manner.”

The inspector added children are highly confident and enthusiastically join in discussions.

They also found the preschool’s children benefitted from outdoor play and learning about healthy eating.

Two reasons were given for why Chilbolton Pre-School was not yet outstanding.

Firstly, children who chose to spend a lot of their time outside did not benefit on the opportunity to build on their early reading skills.

They also found that although staff sought initial information from parents, they were less successful in finding out what children already know and can do to before planning learning experiences from the beginning.

Committee Chair of Chilbolton Preschool, Penny Hockley, said: “We are thrilled the report recognises how hard working and committed our staff are to the care, education and development of every child.

“We are particularly proud to achieve outstanding for personal development, behaviour and welfare as it reflects the teams encouragement of each child as an individual.

“Very many thanks to all of the staff and families for making our setting such a wonderful place.”