A COMMITTEE of mums and staff who run a rural playgroup are celebrating their successful Ofsted inspection.
Tilston Pre-School Playgroup which is based in the Memorial Hall was praised by Ofsted and awarded a ‘good’ rating .
The group had only last year adopted the Early Year’s Provision curriculum and had been working hard to implement all the changes required. The pre-school is very unusual in that it has been running for the past 35 years for local people by a committee of staff and mums. It is run as a charity, and is entirely non-profit-making, so has to rely on fundraising and donations.
The Ofsted inspection praised the playgroup’s ‘warm and welcoming’ environment and said the children were ‘eager to attend and relish their time in the setting’. It said the staff ‘strive to provide an inclusive and welcoming service and work effectively as a team because they feel valued and involved’. It also said ‘each individual is made to feel special and their qualities encouraged’.
Manager Jean Gibson who has worked at the group for 18 years said: “We are absolutely delighted with the Ofsted inspection. It took a lot of hard work to take on the early year’s work but it all paid off.
“There was a lot of paperwork and little changes, like labelling all the equipment which took time and effort.
“It takes a lot of work to run the playgroup as a charity, and we do an awful lot of fundraising. I would just like to thank all the staff, chairwoman Hannah McGiver and those parents and locals who have supported us.”
The playgroup takes children from Malpas and Farndon as well as in Tilston from the age of two and currently has spaces.
