A TORFAEN nursery has been given the second highest rating in its latest inspection.

The ‘Two Counties Nursery’, in Croesyceiliog, Cwmbran, was inspected by Estyn and the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) in November last year. The report, published last week, rated the school as ‘good’ across a number of areas, ranging from wellbeing, learning and care/development, to teaching / assessment, environment and leadership.

The good rating — sitting within the four point scale of poor, adequate, good and excellent — means the school has “many strengths and no important areas requiring significant improvement”.

The nursery, which has 46 places, is a private full day care centre catering to children aged up to five with all children speaking English as their main language.

Torfaen County Borough Council funds seven pre-school children at the nursery and no children with additional learning needs currently attend.

The report states children “communicate well and express themselves effectively”, showing independence and confidence and “interacting well with each other”.

In terms of learning, the report added that most children make good progress, develop their physical skills well and use ICT technology successfully.

Safeguarding was also regarded as a “priority”, from encouraging children to learn about the importance of a “healthy lifestyle” to a “carefully” implemented behaviour policy.

Nursery manager, Sue Longford, was credited for “promoting and sustaining improvements successfully” and providing “positive direction” to the nursery practices.

Partnerships with parents were also noted, with leaders keeping parents “well informed” about the nursery’s work through “regular discussions and correspondence”.

Inspectors have asked the nursery to draw up an action plan to address recommendations for improvement.

These include providing “better opportunities” for children to learn about their local community, improving hygiene practices before meal times for younger children and introducing a formal system for supervising and appraising staff.

The nursery manager Sue Longford, said: "To achieve the good standard in every assessed activity in the nursery is an excellent outcome of which we are proud and delighted.

"We were also pleased to note that in the parent questionnaire responses, 100 per cent of parents gave us a good overall satisfaction rating.

"Our thanks go to the parents and staff for making Two Counties Nursery one of the best in the area."

For more information on the nursery, search ‘Two Counties Nursery’ on Facebook.