Highly qualified staff at a pre-school have been praised for their "exceptional" teaching and leadership. 

Parkside Pre-School in Peel Close, Chingford, has boosted its Ofsted rating from good to outstanding following an inspection last month.

Ofsted inspector Jennifer Forbes found the ten qualified childcare staff "constantly strived for excellence" and children were well prepared for moving onto their next phase of schooling. 

The report said: "Children thrive in this outstanding pre-school.

"Staff understand how children learn extremely well and they provide outstanding opportunities for children to explore, learn and express their creativity.

"Children's behaviour shows that they feel very safe and happy and they make friends easily.

"Overall, staff help children to learn skills of independence to boost their self-esteem extremely well."

Outdoor learning activities were labelled as "excellent" with children spending their time digging and making discoveries in the garden. 

The pre-school, situated next to Parkside Primary School, currently looks after 33 children during the morning and afternoon sessions between Monday and Friday.