A NURSERY at South Harting where children embrace the great outdoors has been given a thumbs up by inspectors a year after opening.
Diggers Forest School Nursery at Church Farm has received a ‘good’ Ofsted report, with the children’s personal development, behaviour and welfare ‘outstanding’.
This has delighted owners Caroline and Alex Levitt who wanted to bring a different nursery experience to the Petersfield area when they opened the doors on Diggers last summer.
And it has validated their ethos that children learn and flourish through outdoor experiences such as growing vegetables and observing and interacting with nature.
It has been tough for the couple with mother-of-three Caroline (48) suffering a major stroke three years ago.
Alex said: “Caroline is making a remarkable recovery. Her speech is vastly improved and she continues to make progress in all areas, including having passed her driving test recently.
“We are thrilled with the results of the Ofsted inspection. The inspector was very impressed with how much we have achieved in such a short space of time, particularly with regards to how confident, happy and well behaved our children are.”
On farmland with woodland and a stream, the nursery offers a secluded outdoor space for the 30 two to four-year-olds now on the books.
It started out as an after-school club at Steep Primary, growing from there and following Caroline’s vision.
Inspectors found the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, the effectiveness of the leadership and management of the nursery, and the outcomes for the youngsters, to all be ‘good’.
Children were given exciting learning experiences, were highly motivated to explore, and made particularly good progress in communication and social skills.
To improve further, assessments needed to be developed, to enhance learning to an even higher level.