BOSSES of Oxenhope Preschool which was deemed inadequate by Ofsted inspectors four months ago say huge progress has been made.

The inspection team criticised the quality of teaching when it visited the preschool, based at the village community centre, in May.

And other concerns included that children were not always supported in effective learning.

But this week preschool manager, Paula Williams, said Ofsted had made a monitoring visit last month (Sept) and was pleased with what it saw.

"The feedback was extremely postive and another full inspection has been recommended," she said.

"We accepted some of the findings of the report following the May inspection, but we did not agree with several points.

"However we decided to move forward. Some changes had already been implemented and we put other plans in place.

"Good progress has been made."

New figures released by Ofsted show that in the three-month period between the start of April and the end of June, a quarter of all nurseries and child minders across the Bradford district visited by inspectors were deemed inadequate or in need of improvement.

There were 49 inspections, and only three providers gained the top grade. Thirty-four were rated good.

Inspectors said five required improvement while seven, including Oxenhope Preschool, were given the lowest rating.

Bradford district had the second highest percentage of inadequate early years providers in Yorkshire and the Humber, with only North Yorkshire having a higher proportion – 17 per cent. The regional average was just eight per cent.

An Ofsted spokesman said: “Parents should be assured that young children are in an environment where they can learn and develop. However, there are still too many early years provisions which do not help young children be ready to learn when they start school.”

Coun Ralph Berry, executive member for children’s services at Bradford Council, was pleased that three quarters of the centres were deemed good or better.

He added: "There are bound to be a few inspections that raise concerns. A lot of these that get inadequate do turn things around pretty quickly.”

Coun Debbie Davies, Conservative spokesman for education, said: “Parents need to have faith that the care children are getting is at least good. I’m quite disappointed with these figures.

“In some areas people don’t have a choice which nursery their children go to. If a nursery gets inadequate or requires improvement they obviously lose confidence in the care their children are getting."