NURSERY pupils were celebrating after their school was named one of the best in Scotland.

Festival Park Day Nursery gained Glasgow's top report card from Education Scotland - and staff are now teaching school inspectors.

The Cessnock school earned four "excellents" and one "very good" after being put under the microscope.

And watchdogs were enthusiastic in their praise, calling the nursery "exceptional" and "impressive".

Head teacher Amanda Kelly said: "Some of the lines in the report are mindblowing. I hate to gloat but I have to, we worked really hard for this, and my staff deserve it - from the janitor, who smiles every morning when the children are coming in, to the dinner ladies, the teachers and our support staff.

"We are absolutely overwhelmed by the report."

The report from the former Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education reads: "We found children are learning and achieving exceptionally well.

"Babies and young care very well looked after.

"All children clearly benefit from the sector-leading approaches to personal learning planning.

"Children have an outstanding awareness of their strengths as learners, are very highly motivated and truly direct their own learning."

Following the report, teachers from the school were invited to share their expertise with a group of 50 school inspectors.

Ms Kelly added: "We were telling the experts how to teach."

Ms Kelly has been at the school since 2004, when it was housed on a previous site.

In 2006 it moved to its new home, on Lorne Street, in Cessnock.

It has pupils from 17 different language communities and holds an annual International Week to learn about different cultures.

Inspectors were impressed with the school's dedication to developing individual lesson plans based on each child's interests and abilities.

The report added: "Children's views and interests areat the centre of these learning intentions.

"For example, one child wanted to learn how to plant a sunflower, another wanted to write their own book about butterflies, and another wanted to learn how to become a builder.

"Staff skilfully use children's individual interests as the vehicle for planning next steps across their learning.

"As a result, children have an outstanding awareness of their strengths as learners."

Inspectors also praised Ms Kelly's leadership and her skill in developing the talents of her staff, saying she "empowers" her team.

They hailed positive relationships with parents and the way the nursery includes families with English as a second language.

catriona.stewart@ eveningtimes.co.uk