A BASINGSTOKE pre-school is celebrating after being awarded a top rating by Ofsted.

Dandelions Community Pre-School was graded as “outstanding” by the education watchdog following an inspection last year.

The report, published in December, said: “Staff plan and provide a rich and purposeful learning environment, so that children gain independence and make their own choices about what they do and play with.”

It added: “Staff monitor the individual progress of each child thoroughly, making excellent use of information from parents, and from their own observations, to plan interesting activities.”

The inspector said the partnership with parents is “very strong” and added: “Staff recognise the uniqueness of each family and the important role they play in guiding their children’s learning.”

When Dandelions was previously inspected, in 2009, it was graded as “good”.

The pre-school, based at St Mark’s Primary School, in Danebury Road, Hatch Warren, has 57 children on roll.

To improve, Ofsted has asked the pre-school to “continue to develop and implement plans for the outdoor area to enhance further opportunities for children to explore and investigate the natural world.”

Jackie Munt, the pre-school manager, said: “We are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of everyone involved with Dandelions to achieve such a glowing and positive report.”