Teachers at a Stevenage primary an nursery school are "exceptionally proud" after they were given an award for outstanding provision.

Early Years is a scheme provided by HFL Education that teaches a school how to improve the quality of its early years learning.

After completing the process, The Leys Primary & Nursery School has been given the Early Years Quality Gold Standard Award for outstanding provision.

According to HFL Education, achieving a gold standard is a "prestigious recognition" that acknowledges and celebrates early years schools and settings which demonstrate "outstanding commitment to excellence and quality".

The Leys Primary and Nursery School team have been recognised for their hard work.The Leys Primary and Nursery School team have been recognised for their hard work. (Image: The Leys Primary and Nursery School) Mrs Balaban, leader of early years education at Leys, said: “I’m exceptionally proud of the whole early years team, who have shown outstanding commitment and perseverance to develop and implement different parts of the whole project.”

She continued saying that during nursery and reception they are committed to providing a "high quality and stimulating provision" for all of their children.

A spokeperson for the school said: "As team, we decided that supporting and encouraging children to read for pleasure will have a huge impact not only on their future learning but also on their wellbeing.

"As a part of EYQS process, we devised a ‘Make a Difference’ project focusing on developing a lifelong love for reading.

"We wanted to give children as many exciting opportunities to read as well as give them the confidence to start reading by themselves."

An assessor's from HFL Education highlighted that the school identifies the needs of its children and families early on and throughout the process it "uncovered ways in which practice could be affecting outcomes".