CHILDREN settle well at a small and friendly village preschool and their behaviour is excellent, Ofsted found.

Ron Goldsmith reached his conclusion at the Leaps and Bounds Pre School at Eccleston Village Hall on Church Road, Eccleston.

He believed all aspects of the group were ‘good’.

The privately owned pre school has 18 youngsters on roll.

First opened in 2004, it re-registered under new ownership this year, according to his report.

There are four members of staff, including the manager/owner.

Staff know the individual children ‘extremely well’ and several parents spoken to were ‘highly complementary’ about the quality of care provided and described the staff as ‘amazing’.

The youngsters make good progress and activities are planned around their interests, whilst taking into account the next steps in their development.

Children are given regular opportunities to look at books and are encouraged to take books home. A range of visits are carefully planned.

All the children settle well and their behaviour is excellent.