THE AL HIKMAH Nursery in Utley has been classed as outstanding in all areas by Ofsted.

An inspector praised the quality of teaching and learning, the children’s personal development, behaviour and welfare, and the effectiveness of leadership and management.

She visited the day nursery off Greenhead Lane in April, upping their previous Good assessment from 2016.

Al Hikmah Nursery, run by the Jamiat-Ahl-E-Hadith-Keighley Committee, cares for 14 children aged two to four.

It supports children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs.

Ofsted inspector Julie Dent said outstanding and inspirational leadership motivated an excellent staff team who carried out their roles and responsibilities with passion, dedication and commitment.

Staff said they felt supported in their professional development, which was highly personalised according to their needs, strengths and interests.

Partnerships with parents were excellent, with parents praising the communication from staff.

The inspector said: “Teaching is outstanding. All staff have a thorough knowledge of children’s learning needs.

“Activities are exciting for children, and staff are highly skilled at tailoring their teaching to reflect children’s individual stage of learning and their emerging interests.

“Children continuously show enormously high levels of engagement, curiosity and concentration. Staff constantly encourage children to solve problems and think critically.”

The report stated that children’s behaviour was outstanding, with polite and confident youngsters who understood the importance taking turns and taking responsible for their actions.

The children discussed how they felt and talked about what made them happy.”

The inspector suggested that to further improve quality, the nursery should provide even more inspiring and innovative opportunities for children who preferred to learn outdoors.

Shohab Ali, a trustee at the nursery, said the Ofsted rating give a true reflection of the hard work, dedication and passion shown by staff.

He said: “Teaching and learning, behaviour and progress shown by our students was highlighted as key strengths.

“We believe Ofsted summed up the work shown by the management all the way down to the volunteers brilliantly.

“We would like to thank all of our supporters, parents and most importantly the students who are a credit to our establishment.

“This report gives us the management an excellent platform to develop our nursery and other services from this site.”