A Southampton pre-school is celebrating achieving its second 'Outstanding' Ofsted following its most recent inspection.

Little Berries pre-school was last inspected in 2017 when it was awarded Ofsted's highest rating.

Despite the impact of the pandemic and cost of living crisis, staff have managed to retain their 'Outstanding' status, impressing inspectors who visited the pre-school on November 3.

The pre-school was praised for its focus on children’s personal, social and emotional well-being.

Manager Mary Elia said: “We are really proud of this validation by Ofsted. It shows our dedication to the children and young families in the local community.

“I’m so proud of the efforts of my incredible team – they go absolutely over and above for every child in our care.

“We continue to work hard to provide the best care for children and I want to say a huge thank you to all the hard-working staff at Little Berries that have mad this grade possible.”

The pre-school on Seagarth Lane in Hollybrook looks after 47 young children.

The Ofsted inspector highlighted the staff’s “passion for ensuring that children benefit from high-quality care and learning opportunities”.

The report adds: “The dedicated manager leads her team with a clear vision for what she wants children to achieve from the outset.

“The deep understanding of the curriculum aims, including how this is woven through children's daily experiences, by all staff, is outstanding.

“Staff provide children with expert teaching that focuses on speech and language acquisition.

“This has an extremely positive impact for all children, including those who are pre-verbal, those who speak English as an additional language and those who are less confident to share their ideas.

“Staff know children and their families extremely well. A shared vision for helping children to benefit from shared learning is a strength of the setting.”

The report also says the school has an effective safeguarding procedure and that parents say staff are “amazing”.