A LOCAL pre-school has moved into 2005 on a high after being given a big thumbs up by school inspectors.

Moorside Pre-school was inspected by officials from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) only three months after it opened in its new home at Moorside Primary School, Lancaster.

Yet their report described the pre-school as providing good quality care for children' in a warm, welcoming and stimulating environment'.

It also said staff were well qualified and experienced and that the setting adhered to all the national standards required.

The pre-school, a registered charity managed by a committee of volunteers, got off to a good start at the beginning of last year when it was offered the tenancy of self-contained rooms at the primary school.

It left its former home at St Paul's Community Centre, Hala, in July and won £5,000 of lottery funding to furnish its new and bigger home at Moorside with toys, furniture and equipment.

Chairman Geraldine Dixon says: "2004 has been a year the staff, committee and parents will never forget and we are all extremely proud that, through great teamwork, we have been able to achieve so much in such a short space of time.

"Receiving a brilliant Ofsted report really has to be the icing on our cake."