THE VILLAGE pre-school has been judged as outstanding, in its latest Ofsted report.
The Ofsted inspection was the first since 2016, when The Village, of Gorse Covert Road, Birchwood, was judged to be 'good' by Ofsted's standards.
Ofsted gave The Village less than one day's notice before arriving to inspect on June 14, when two inspectors spent the morning at The Village.
The report says that The Village is outstanding in the following areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.
This was the first Ofsted inspection that The Village has received since the pre-school's new manager, Mary Hughes, took the reins.
Mary said: "They left no stone unturned.
"The inspector actually said to me 'I don't think you realise how good you are, here.'"
Speaking about the difficulties that the pandemic presented, Mary, and deputy manager Natasha, said that many of the children were quite reserved when coming back to pre-school.
However, for the staff, it felt like their 'little family' was coming back together, and it all 'just slotted back in, as if [they'd] never been away.'
Natasha said: "The inspector said that there was so much evidence for our 'outstanding' grade that they couldn't fit it all in the report!"
Mary has aimed to create an inclusive environment at The Village, where 'Together, everyone achieves more.'
On top of this, the pre-school is always open for feedback from parents, with its own Facebook community that allows parents to comment on what the pre-school is upto.
Natasha said of Mary: "As a manager, she's amazing."
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