Staff of Linden Leas Pre School in West Wickham are “over the moon” after the nursery was rated ‘Outstanding’ in all areas by Ofsted in a report published last month.
The report said that staff at the nursery were “wonderful” role models to the children, with those attending being polite and respectful of others.
The inspector noted that children offer to share toys and equipment with friends when they become upset, and that the management of the nursery was “inspirational”.
The inspector added in their report: “Staff have very high expectations of children. Children’s independence is an important part of the curriculum.
“Children enjoy being a ‘helper’, who moves around the nursery to call children to snack and politely ‘serves’ children with additional bread at the snack table.”
Lesley Davies, manager of Linden Leas Pre School, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she felt very lucky to have a strong team working there.
She said staff were very hard working and constantly reflected on what was best for the children.
She said: “We want to make children independent and confident and have a can-do attitude so that they’re able to take risks and master new skills, because if they’re cautious, they won’t be able to try and learn new things. So it’s really important that they are confident and independent and have a go.”
She added: “We just have high expectations of their behaviour so they do behave well. We’re very supportive of children who might struggle a little bit so we put in lots of strategies to support those children. It’s very much a team effort.”
The report said that children arrived to the provider happy and excited to begin their day.
It said that the nursery is a “hive of activity” and staff have developed remarkable relationships with parents.
Ms Davies said: “We were over the moon with the result and I think it validates all the hard work and the effort that we put in.”
She added: “We try really hard to be the best that we can be because in doing that, we’ll have the best outcomes for the children and their families as well. It’s very much a community and supporting the families is also really important to us, as much as supporting the children.”
Linden Leas Pre School reportedly has 61 children aged between two and four years old enrolled and has been open since 1998.
The most recent inspection was the first the provider has received since 2017, when it was also rated ‘Outstanding’.
