A TEESDALE nursery has been praised for the quality of its teaching in a government report.

A recent Ofsted report into Bowes Pre-School rated the school as "good" and praised the work of the staff and the behaviour of the children.

Twenty children, aged two to four, attend the pre-school which operates in a building next to the village primary school, known as Woodpecker Cottage. The inspector, Elizabeth Blenkhorn, who visited the school in November, also highlighted the enjoyable activities which were provided for the children.

She said: "Children take part in enjoyable and stimulating play activities which have regard for all aspects of their development.

"The relationship between staff and children is warm, supportive and encouraging.

"Staff have a positive approach to managing children's behaviour and children behave very well."

Catherine Ryan, the pre-school treasurer, said: "It is nice that all the hard work we have been doing has been recognised. You can't really get better than an Ofsted recommendation."

The pre-school leader, Helen Needham, said: "The children are offered a variety of nutritious snacks and hot meals, which are prepared in the school kitchen, with attention paid to any special dietary needs.

"We make sure that we keep in contact with the parents so that they can monitor their child's progress, we find this puts worried mums and dads at ease."

This pre-school is part-financed through the North Pennines Leader+ Programme.