STAFF, parents and children at Bute Cottage Nursery School in Penarth are celebrating the outcome of their recent Estyn inspection.

The Estyn report found the nursery to be a ‘good school, with many strengths’.

The school’s current performance was ranked as ‘good’ because “most children make good progress in line with their age and ability and achieve well in the seven areas of learning, although the most able do not always reach their full potential”, “all children have a positive attitude to learning, behave very well and develop very good self-esteem”, and “all children develop Welsh oral skills very effectively”.

Teaching was also described as “consistently good”.

The school’s prospects for improvements were also ranked as ‘good’ because “the school’s self-evaluation processes are thorough and robust”, “the new head teacher has successfully acquired a good oversight of the school’s strengths and areas for development”, and “the school has excellent, innovative and well-established partnerships with parents”.

The report from the education watchdog recommended that the nursery “ensure that the most able children are effectively challenged so that they meet their full potential” and “develop the role of the governing body, so that governors are more involved in determining the strategic direction of the school and monitoring its progress”.

Currently there are 79 on roll, 52 of whom were new to the school in September 2013, with head teacher Joanna Bryan joining the school in January 2013.

Head teacher Joanna Bryan said: “We are delighted that Estyn has recognised the school’s strengths, particularly our development of the children’s Welsh language skills and our work with parents and families. The report states that teaching is consistently good and that all the children have a positive attitude to learning.”

Councillor Chris Elmore, Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet member for Children’s Services, congratulated the school, saying: “Bute Cottage is a popular nursery school, which gives many Penarth children an excellent start to school life. I’m pleased to see that the inspectors recognised that the school’s prospects for improvement are good because of excellent and innovative partnerships with parents.”

The school’s chairman of governors, Graham Roddis, said: “The governors would like to thank the staff for their on-going hard work and commitment. Given that the inspection was at the start of a new academic year, with a large intake of new pupils, we are particularly pleased with the children’s confidence, involvement and good work during the inspection week.”

The school says it is developing a new action plan in response to the report, with the aim of ensuring that the most able children are effectively challenged so that they meet their full potential and that the role of the governing body is developed.

The report is available on the Estyn website www.estyn.gov.uk