A NURSERY which was left with a £35,000 repair bill after a river burst its banks at Christmas is finally being flooded with good news, after receiving a glowing report from Ofsted.
Lingfield Nursery School was devastated by a deluge of water from the river Eden Brook, which runs alongside the nursery in Ray Lane, Blindley Heath, after it flooded overnight on December 23.
Staff gave up their time on Christmas Eve to rush in to clear up the mess, which destroyed the newly-refurbished baby room and decimated the fields around the nursery building.
But the building itself has now been repaired and refurbished and the fields, which are an integral part of the nursery's farmyard-style set up, are expected to be back in shape soon.
And on April 12 the nursery received the news that an Ofsted inspection, which was carried out on March 17 while the clean-up was still ongoing, rated it as "good".
Manager Rachel Apps said she was delighted with the upturn in fortunes: "With the flooding and the fact we were still doing repairs when the inspection was carried out, and our fields are still out of bounds because they are not safe, we are so happy with the [inspection] result."
Inspectors assessed three areas. It was judged as "good" on how well the nursery meets the needs of the children, and the effectiveness of the leadership and management. The well-being of children as a result of their time at the nursery was rated as "outstanding" – the highest possible grade.
Becky Sturt, whose 17-month-old son, Josh Wallis, goes to the nursery three days a week, said the result is deserved. The 28-year-old, of Croydon Road, in Caterham, said: "I'm really pleased for the nursery that they got such a good Ofsted report, especially after all the water damage from the floods in December. They did so well getting everything back in order and with so little disruption to the children."
To achieve an outstanding grade next time, inspectors said the children should go outside at least six hours a day, rather than the five hours they are currently able to.
Snacks, the inspectors added, should not be given at a designated time, but should be made available throughout the afternoon, so children could decide when they wanted to eat.
When the flooding occurred it had initially been estimated that the repair bill could reach £50,000, however the final bill was about £35,500, most of which was covered by insurance.
