BRAMBLES Pre-School in Figheldean has been praised by inspectors for providing children with "rich and exciting experiences" and "wonderful" opportunities to explore nature.

The pre-school, which is based at Figheldean Youth Club, received an outstanding rating from Ofsted. Previously, it had been rated as good.

Inspector Rachel Edwards said: "Children thoroughly enjoy rich and exciting experiences. They are highly motivated and throw themselves whole-heartedly into all they do.

"Staff use their qualifications and substantial knowledge of how children learn, to plan and support challenging activities that help almost all children make rapid progress.

"By focusing strongly on developing children's speech, social and physical skills, staff ensure that they prepare children exceptionally well for starting school."

The report also praised the pre-school's outdoor learning environment.

It added: "The outstandingly good outdoor learning environment gives children wonderful opportunities to explore nature, design, build on a large scale and work with others."

The report highlighted the work of staff who form "friendly and highly effective partnerships with parents" and involve them in their children's learning through daily discussions, meetings and detailed online records.

The inspector said: "Children thrive under the warm and encouraging care of the staff. Staff recognise and plan activities to meet the needs of each child.

"Managers and staff constantly reflect on their practice and find innovative ways to enhance children's learning."

To improve its early years provision the inspector said the pre-school needed to "enhance" the children's mathematical knowledge and understanding by "providing numerals in meaningful contexts outdoors and encourage children to use them". It also suggested that children should be encouraged to find ways of recording what they have done for example through drawings, making marks or tallying.

The chairman of Brambles Pre-School, Rachel Busby, said: "We are all extremely pleased that Ofsted have graded us outstanding. The staff and committee have worked tirelessly over the last few years to ensure we are offering the very best for our children. I'd like to give a special mention to the manager Bev Budd.

"Brambles is a fantastic setting amongst a lovely woodland in Figheldean. We offer an outdoor focused environment enriched full of playful learning opportunities."