The team at Sparklers Preschool say they are thrilled to have received an 'Outstanding' rating from their most recent Ofsted inspection.
The small community preschool is based in Peatmoor, West Swindon.
It provides early years education for 30 children between the ages of 3 & 4.
The preschool was inspected on the 21 February and was graded as ‘Outstanding’ in all areas by Ofsted officials.
Manager Sarah Hodges and her small team of staff say they are absolutely delighted with the result.
Sarah, a fully qualified primary school teacher, took over management of the setting in 2021 with deputy Natalie Stiles.
Sarah said: “We’ve worked extremely hard for the past two years to ensure the children’s health and wellbeing is at the heart of our practice. We are passionate about giving the children the best possible start to their education and we aim for them to leave us fully prepared for school.”
Mental health and wellbeing are considered priorities at the preschool. Ofsted said of Sparklers: ‘Highly trained and knowledgeable staff have a strong focus on children's mental health and well-being’.
The preschool's Deputy Manager Natalie Stiles has trained to qualify as a children’s yoga teacher and is now the settings mental health and wellbeing lead.
Sparklers has implemented yoga, mindfulness and meditation into their daily sessions.
Natalie explains: "Healthy living is at the core of everything we do, we try to embed this at a young age. Yoga is not just a form of exercise, it’s a lifestyle which involves looking after your body and mind and that includes healthy eating and sleeping.”
The preschool also offers regular forest school sessions, welly walks, Friday football sessions and plenty of free play with a focus on loose parts.
Inspectors were said to have found that the staff have an exceptional partnership with families, with parents reporting excellent communication and ideas of things to do at home as well as techniques to support their children’s wellbeing within the home environment.
Sarah commented: “We visit the children at home before they join the preschool and this is a great way to kickstart the relationship and connect with the parents and children. It is really important to us that we get to know the children and family well before they come into our care.”
Inspectors also pointed out the ‘exceptional high levels of confidence and independence’ witnessed in the children. ‘The children arrive at this exceptional preschool, happy and excited for their day.’
Natalie added: “This is what is so important to us when caring for such young children. We are committed to providing the very best start to education at Sparklers.”
Staff says they are very proud of the positive comments in the report and see it as an accurate representation of what Sparklers Preschool offers children and their families.
Sarah said: “I would like to thank everyone involved on our journey to outstanding, a huge well done to the team. We are so proud to share it with you and look forward to continuing our journey to make Sparklers Preschool the very best it can be.”
More information about Sparklers can be found on its website at: https://www.sparklers-swindon.co.uk/
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