THEY may have only just had their first Ofsted inspection, but Hop Skip and Jump Swindon already has its sights set on an outstanding grade for next time.

The centre, which provides respite care for children with disabilities, has been given an overall grade of satisfactory in its first visit from Government officials since it opened in July.

Inspectors said that while there is a strong focus on meeting children's individual needs, the centre needs to improve the way it addresses priorities for development.

Centre supervisor Michael Lowe said: “The fact we have passed and comply with the early years requirements means we can really work on fine-tuning the programme and it gives us a benchmark to go by. Here is where we have to improve, let’s do it and get it to outstanding.

“Everybody is working very hard. I wouldn’t say that the report was unjust in any way. We have been reviewing our policies and we have been upgrading the documentation.”

Hop Skip And Jump Swindon offers families of children with life-limiting disease or special needs much-needed respite.

The centre, based at Upper Shaw Farm, opened last July after refurbishment work finished at the community centre.

“Some people might say seven months is a long time but it’s not really that long and when you are starting something up you are always striving to improve,” he said.

“I would like to improve those satisfactory scores to a higher level.”

Ofsted officials, who visited the centre last month, said in the report: “Staff demonstrate how children are able to play safely and how they make some progress in their learning and development in this inclusive and well-resourced respite provision.

“There is a strong focus on meeting children’s individual needs and on providing high levels of support for parents and the wider family. Staff are developing partnerships with outside agencies and other early years providers to support individual children.

“There are some self-evaluation processes in place and staff show a capacity for further improvement.

“However, staff are not fully effective in identifying and addressing priorities for development. In particular, some regulatory documentation is not easily accessible or available for inspection.”

The centre received 14 satisfactory grades in the report, as well as three good grades.