Celebrations are taking place at St Mary’s Church Nursery, in Great Dunmow, after Ofsted graded the facility as ‘outstanding’ in all areas.

While at the nursery the inspector found that “all children make outstanding progress due to the consistently excellent quality of teaching by the dedicated, enthusiastic and highly motivated staff team” and that “all children are confident, active, self-directed learners”.

Sue Berry, the nursery leader, said: “We are naturally very pleased with this report, but we will continue to work hard to maintain our high standards. “I would like to thank my staff team who are fantastic and highly motivated to providing the very best care and education for our children.”