A SMALL West Devon pre-school has received glowing praise in its latest Ofsted inspection, having being described as an ?example of outstanding practice?.

Bridestowe, Sourton and Lydford pre-school which has 25 pupils aged between three and five years-old, meet at Bridestowe Primary School each morning. Inspectors visited the pre-school last November, and the resulting report has just been published.

Alison Horn, pre-school committee chair said: ?We have an extremely dedicated committee who are all volunteers and parents, and four excellent staff members and two long-standing volunteers?.

She said the Ofsted report commented on the ?broad range of activities? which the pre-school offered. She said the report also praised the good number of outdoor toys and the staff?s excellent understanding of safety and risk awareness issues.

The report also said the behaviour of the children was ?exemplary?, that their self-esteem was promoted, with the staff demonstrating ?good ways of encouraging good behaviour?.

Specific areas that were picked out by the inspectors as ?Very Good? were: social and educational development, mathematic development, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical development and creative development.

The pre-school is currently using a temporary classroom at Bridestowe Primary School, but Alison revealed the group was about to start a major funding bid to build a new dedicated pre-school classroom which would still be sited within the school grounds.

The pre-school also runs a lunch club as well as a toddlers? group on Wednesday mornings, at the Methodist Hall, in Bridestowe.

The pre-school has now been running for more than 30 years and in that time, has served as a stepping stone to primary school for many youngsters from the Bridestowe, Sourton and Lydford areas.

Alison said everyone at the pre-school had been ?delighted? with the Ofsted report. ?It is more than we had hoped for. We were hoping for a good report but it was fantastic.

?It is nice that all the hard work that has been put in has paid off.? she said.

She said the pre-school had also been blessed with great support from the local community, who generously supported all their fund-raising efforts.