A PRE-SCHOOL is celebrating after gaining the golden seal of approval from a national organisation.

Cuckoo Meadow Pre-school, based at Rathbone Pavilion, North Waltham, near Basingstoke, was presented with its accreditation award by borough mayor Councillor Gwen Richardson.

To gain the accolade, the pre-school had to demonstrate its commitment to childcare to an accreditation inspector in November last year.

The inspector checked factors including the quality of teaching, involvement of parents and the assessment of children's achievement towards the early learning goals.

Fiona Cotterell, joint leader of the pre-school, said: "We are happy to be accredited. It means that we are now able to use a new logo with the letter 'a', which will appear on all our letter headings.

"When parents are looking to make their choice of pre-school they tend to look more favourably on ones that are accredited."

The inspector praised Cuckoo Meadow for encouraging children to think about things and be independent in their learning, valuing and encouraging role play, its committed and hard-working team of staff and parents and wonderful atmosphere.

The pre-school - which has 50 children registered on its books - was established as Dummer Pre-school in the 1970s, but changed its name in January 2003 after moving to North Waltham.

It is open each weekday morning between 9.15am and 11.45am and on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons between 12.30pm and 3pm.

For more information, contact the pre-school on 01256 398172.