By JOEL SAWYER

THE children are the stars of an Ofsted report for Half Pints Nursery in Burtonwood.

Inspectors from the education watchdog have beamed about the good nature and "exceptional" behaviour of the children at the Mercer Street nursery in a glowing report.

And the overall view is that Half Pints Nursery is good at what it does.

Opened in 1996 and based in a former primary school, the private nursery looks after 113 children aged from birth to 11 years.

It has a well-planned programme provided by staff which fully supports children's overall learning.

The main areas of education and development - such as personal, social and emotional development and physical, mathematical and creative development - are never anything less than good.

The report says: "Staff are talented and use their skills successfully to inspire the children to make their own music using instruments tunefully and rhythmically.

"The quality of teaching overall is good and sometimes very good."

And one of the main highlights of the report is the behaviour of the children.

It states: "Children's behaviour is of an exceptionally high standard and is underpinned by routines and skilled management.

"All children are very polite and well-behaved. They are happy and confident and talk excitedly about their experiences, both at nursery and their activities at home and with their families.

"As well as being sensitive to each others' needs, children show a developing awareness of the needs of those who are less fortunate, such as 'Children in Need'."

Areas the report highlights for improvement includes allowing parents to be fully involved in and informed about their children's learning and progress.

The report also recommends that the nursery continues to develop a recently-introduced system to assess and record children's progress to achieve the same high standards already established.