LITTLE Acorns Nursery at Camelford have

received a good Ofsted report, with inspectors stating that children are happy and well supported by staff.

"What a fantastic achievement by both staff and committee, a real team effort," said Rebecca Coleman, chair of Little Acorns Nursery. "As a parent I am

delighted with the nursery and the standard of care it gives to both myself as a mum and my little girl Ruby."

Helen Sleep, nursery manager, added: "We work as a team to ensure the children who attend our nursery achieve their full potential. We work on an adult:child ratio of 1 to 4 which enables us to give each child the best start possible.

"Our report also identified areas of outstanding practice — the extent to which children adopt healthy lifestyles and the extent to which children make a positive contribution. We spend a lot of time as a team observing, assessing and planning for each child's individual needs and this is reflected in our practice, as Ofsted identified, 'children benefit from the opportunity to play outdoors,' 'are engaged in structured physical activities and free play' and 'develop strength and physical skills as they run, jump and climb outside.'"

Ofsted said that regular self-evaluation helps staff to identify areas for development and improvement, and nursery staff are already putting plans together to seek grant funding to update and renew their outside play space.

"We are a fully inclusive nursery and are

continually looking at ways to support further, children who have identified additional needs," said Emma Stiles, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator.

The report also identified that 'children are safeguarded by well thought through policies and procedures and the knowledge and understanding of staff.'

"Our committee of parent volunteers take their responsibilities very seriously and through monthly committee meetings together with staff, we review and renew our policies and procedures. We also have an annual appraisal system where the training needs of staff are identified. "We are encouraged and supported to attend relevant in-service training so that our knowledge of what's happening in the child care sector is always up-to-date,"

explained Kerry Corner, deputy nursery manager.

"Celebrations are the order of the day," added Nicky Emery, nursery assistant. "However, we now need to start working towards getting an overall Outstanding

outcome at our next inspection!"

Little Acorns Nursery is registered for children two to five years and is open Monday and Friday, 9am to 3pm and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays from 9am to 1pm, term time only. For more information, please

contact Helen Sleep on 01840 212114.