Staff save Pennington Village Pre-School at risk of closure, turning Ofsted ‘needs improvement’ to ‘good’ in six months

A SCHOOL manager has praised her staff for “completely turning around” a pre-school at risk of closing amid a damning Ofsted report.

Fiona Newland came to Pennington Village Pre-School in November last year when, she says, it “was in a really sorry state and on the brink of closure”.

She said: “The staff are wonderful, and many have been here for years and really care about the children.

“But bad management had led to standards at the school slipping and the staff were really demoralised.”

The result had been a critical Ofsted report of “requires improvement” which upset staff and parents.

But Ms Newland said she was “determined” that things would get better at a site where she started her teaching career.

She said: “I knew it could be a great school again. I had come from Ballard school to my new role as manager.

“I had not realised just how bad things were at Pennington but I saw it as a challenge when I did.

“At its heart it is a wonderful school with great staff. We started by putting a strong management team in place along with a safeguarding team.

“We introduced other measures and, within six months, we turned things around, thanks largely due to the amazing staff I have here.

“They wanted things to be right and they rose to the challenge. I couldn’t wish for a better team.”

The pre-school’s latest Ofsted report, issued in September, is ‘good’, which Ms Newland said was “just so great”.

“We are all so delighted by the report and are looking forward to a brilliant future,” she added.