A SOUTHAMPTON pre-school has proved it is top of the class after gaining an 'outstanding' rating by inspectors.

Ofsted, the education watchdog, heaped praise on Harefield Community Pre-School and their highly-skilled staff, pushing them up a rating from their previous 'good' judgement from their last inspection.

Lead practitioner at Harefield, Tina Ford, said the report was excellent news for the school, she added: “Now that we have got this report, it gives parents more confidence to use our school.

“The parent’s response has been great and they have all said that we really deserve it.”

In the report, the inspector praised the school for their teaching style. It said: “The enthusiasm and warmth of staff effectively underpins the children’s sense of belonging and security. Staff are highly focused on keeping children safe and protecting them from harm.”

The report also added that the pre-school, which employs 15 staff and has just over 60 children on roll, provides a wide range of rich and exciting activities.

Tina, responding to the report, said: “It is important to us that the children are happy. and especially important that they come in (to the school) happy. It is better for the children.

“We have discussions with the staff to make sure everything is running well and conduct planned activities. Engaging the children’s interests is really important to us.

“We work alongside the committee to ensure the staff are all fully qualified and have the right references before they join.

“Protecting the children is, of course, a very big and important priority to us.”

The school opened in 2002 and is situated at the same location as Harefield Primary SchoolIt employ 15 members of staff and looks after children aged 2 to 8.

By Will Rimell