A PRE-SCHOOL where children giggle as they are encouraged to create their own stories has been hailed by Ofsted in a glowing report.

Little Angels Pre-School Ltd, which cares for children in St Anne’s Church, Compton Road, Colchester, was rated Good by the watchdog following an inspection in February.

The solid score was seen across all the boards when it came to quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

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Despite being rated Outstanding during its previous inspection in May 2013, the pre-school’s environment was praised as children arrive “happy, confident and ready to learn”.

But staff were told by the inspector they do not give the children enough time to respond or process their own ideas and think of solutions for themselves when asked questions.

Despite this, the youngsters are given the opportunity to self-serve their breakfast upon arrival, and can choose their bowl and what to eat before tucking in.

Creating stories was an opportunity they loved to explore, with the inspector saying the children loved to share their ideas with the staff, who value these to help build on their children’s self-esteem.

“They giggle as they change the characters of the story and serve them different foods,” the inspector added, while they enjoy using their imagination to play outside in the mud kitchen.

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The behaviour of the children was also praised, as was their understanding to the setting’s rules and how they had learnt to follow them.

Staff are gentle and calm when helping children to understand right and wrong and they work closely with families and other professionals to ensure any children who need extra support continue to make good progress.

But they have been encouraged to not mimic children’s use of words such as “doggy” and “horsey” amid concerns they may impact future correct pronunciation of words.

Additionally, during activities, when staff asks children questions, they do not give them time to respond or process their own ideas and think of solutions for themselves, the inspector stated.

However, staff were praised for knowing how to identify if a child may be at harm and for creating a welcoming environment.