A WORCESTER pre-school has been given notice to improve by Government inspectors.

St Peter's Pre-School at St Peter's Village Hall in St Peter's Drive, was criticised by Ofsted following its latest inspection. The inspectors said: "Children's welfare is not safeguarded because staff do not ensure that parents give prior written permission to administer any medication, or that written records are kept of all medicines administered to children and that records are retained after children have left."

However, the education watchdog praised the pre-school in a number of areas, including the quality of its education and the way in which it helped children to make a positive contribution.

The report said: "The quality of teaching and learning is good.

"All children, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, make good progress towards the early learning goals because staff have a firm knowledge of the curriculum guidance for the foundation stage and understand the breadth of learning that children acquire from different activities.

"Children behave very well at the pre-school. They respond positively to the calm manner of the staff and their consistent expectations for children's behaviour.

"They learn to share and to take turns using an egg timer when using popular equipment such as the bikes."

Stuart Milton, the chairman of the trustees of St Peter's Pre-School, said: "We were obviously disappointed when we got the report but everything that the inspectors highlighted for improvement was done within seven days of the inspection.

"Were they to visit again tomorrow it would be a completely different report. It's just a shame that they can't come straight back. There were, however, a number of good comments in the report which reflected how well the pre-school is doing in many areas and we were pleased about that."

The inspectors said children were not safeguarded "because procedures are not in place to ensure that Ofsted is notified at the earliest opportunity of changes to the committee and significant events such as serious accidents.

"Children's safety is also compromised because, although the committee are aware that all current staff hold Criminal Records Bureau checks, there are no procedures in place to enable any new staff who may be appointed in the future to be checked to ensure that they are suitable to work with children."

THE INSPECTORS' REPORTWhat the pre-school does well:* Children develop their understanding of the principles of healthy eating as they enjoy a range of healthy snacks that includes a choice of fresh fruit or vegetables each morning.

* Children's welfare is safeguarded because the staff have a sound understanding of child protection issues and the procedures to follow if they were to have concerns about a child in their care.

* Children feel valued as individuals because they celebrate their birthdays with a cake and a card and each day a child is chosen to be special so that they bring in a book to read at story time, give out plates at snack time and lead the line when moving around the building.

* Children benefit from the care of well-qualified and experienced staff and minimum staff ratios are exceeded at many sessions.

* The manager provides good leadership to the other staff and they all work together extremely well as a team.

What could be improved:* Ensure that parents give prior written permission to administer any medication, that written records are kept of all medicines administered to children and that records are retained after children have left.

* Ensure that Ofsted is notified at the earliest opportunity of changes to the committee and significant events such as serious accidents.

* Evaluate activities to show what children have learnt and to identify their next steps in learning.

8 Improve the range of books available to children.