The site at Whitnash Primary School, in Langley Road, scored the highest possible praise in all six areas of assessment. From keeping up to 34 children safe and healthy to assuring they achieved, contributed and met standards, the nursery wowed inspectors who visited in November. They also found the Willows' organisation and procedures "outstanding" - a word which appeared regularly in the report.

In fact, it contained no suggested improvements for the ten members of staff "because of the quality and standards of care".

The pre-school has 87 children aged between two and five on its register, with 34 attending morning or afternoon sessions during school term.

Delighted manager Sue Harris said: "We are very pleased. It's tribute to hard work and being committed to high standards.

"We try and make it a caring, fun and secure environment. Once you've created that you are on the way. And we never set our children up to fail. We set them up to achieve little tasks on their own, which improves their self-confidence and independence.

"Adults are very good at stepping in, but children need to be able to explore. We put a lot of emphasis on outdoor play where children are much less inhibited and more able to express themselves. And we try and really make it a personal learning experience for each child."

Inspector Anne Felicity Taylor wrote: "Children flourish and their health and well-being is successfully promoted because activity is such a part of the routine. They are offered a marvellous variety of activities and the rooms and outdoor area are exciting, interesting and stimulating for them.

"The quality of teaching is outstanding and children are making impressive progress. Staff display great skill tailoring activities to a child's individual learning needs and children display warmth and affection to staff. They are confident, secure and proud of their achievements and are offered a wonderful variety of creative activities to stimulate their imaginations and express their feelings with confidence."

Particularly pleasing findings included an outdoor lesson on the Nativity complete with a straw-strewn 'stable', children "counting the pieces of fruit or vegetables" they ate and helping one another to tie their shoelaces. They said "good morning" to one another in sign language, many could write their names in "properly-formed letters" and went for "welly walks" around the school grounds and a nearby wood to examine nature's changes.

The youngsters' "mature understanding of right and wrong" and each other's faiths and the commitment to their security were also praised.