A BRIDPORT pre-school has received a glowing report after its first year of operations.

St Catherine's is described as "a very good organisation" by Ofsted inspectors.

They report that "good quality care" is provided for children aged three to five by staff who are well deployed and who work well together as a team, supporting the children well in their activities.

Safety is a strong feature of the pre-school's setting in the grounds of St Catherine's primary school. Staff provide a very good mix of stimulating activities that promote all areas of learning, say the inspectors, and there is a good partnership with parents and carers.

The report highlights: * Staff effectiveness and supervision of the children is very good. They are well deployed, supportive of each other and work well together as a team with a good awareness of the children's individual needs. * A very good balance and range of interesting activities and opportunities that actively support and nurture the children's learning. * Effective procedures in place to ensure a safe environment is provided and maintained through regular risk assessment and supervision of the children. * Children's personal independence is fostered well and management of children's behaviour is effective. * Staff are positive role models, providing a consistent approach and clear boundaries. * Activities are very interesting, well planned and meaningful and take into account the range of abilities in the group.

In every category of their combined report the inspectors gave the pre-school's performance their highest ranking of "good" for social care and "very good" for nursery education. In line with all such reports some areas are outlined for improvement. These include providing challenges for children to use large-scale equipment such as a climbing frame and ensuring the confidentiality of children's development records. The preschool has now set out an action plan to address these issues. A new record keeping system has been introduced with individual summary sheets to maintain confidentiality. And an enclosed garden area with safety surface for climbing frame is already in the planning stage.

Pre-school leader Emma Burt said: "We are absolutely thrilled with the report. The pre-school achieved the highest standards in both the care and the education sections of the inspection despite having only been open for just over a year. The support of the committee, parents and St Catherine's School has been invaluable and this report must be very reassuring for them."

Head of St Catherine's Primary School Patricia Phelan said: "I would like to congratulate the staff and committee of the pre-school on achieving this excellent inspection report which affirms their hard work and commitment. Our school is fortunate to have a dedicated and skilled team providing education of the highest quality for our pre-school children."