Playgroups impress Ofsted for education

Playgroups and pre-schools in England have the most improved daycare provision of any Government-funded care provider in the past year, an Ofsted report has found. The report, Nursery education: Quality of provision for three-and four-year-olds 2000-01, published last week, looked at nursery settings in the private, voluntary and independent sectors which are subject to Section 122 inspections. It said 86 per cent of all providers were judged to be good overall, with 13 per cent satisfactory overall and less than 0.5 per cent unsatisfactory.