A children’s centre that was forced to slash its activities due to a lack of council funding has been awarded a good Ofsted rating.

West Chessington Children’s Centre, based in Lovelace School in Mansfield Road, was forced to change its use and offer a reduced number of activities for children and parents from September.

But an Ofsted inspection into the south of the borough’s children centres released this month, found the centres – Chessington Children’s Centre at Castle Hill Primary School and West Chessington Children’s Centre, were both performing well.

The report states: “Most families, including those from priority groups, are registered with the group and have access to good quality services, support and information.

“Sessions for children are well planned to reflect early years foundation stage outcomes. The effective planning of these sessions is complemented by the good role modelling of staff during sessions.

“Most of the children who are eligible to do so, access good quality free early education places.”

The changes to West Chessington Children’s Centre came about after a Kingston Council consultation asked users which activities should be retained and which could be cut.

The council had a £76,000 approximate budget for the site, but hoped to slash it to £24,000 this year.

At the time the changes were announced, Lovelace Primary School governor Steve Narramore said: “They are going to staff it with staff from Castle Hill. The staff will be stretched so the quality and the quantity of the service will go down.”

Ofsted inspectors called for the centres to increase the number of parents in learning or training courses and create better partnerships with employment organisations such as Jobcentre Plus to become outstanding.

West Chessington Children’s Centre opened in April 2010 and the following year it escaped council cuts after it was named as one of the Surestart centres staying open.

At the time co-ordinator Katrina Elliott said: “It is really lovely that Kingston Council has recognised the need in the area and is keeping the children’s centre open.

“I know a lot of other boroughs haven’t done that.”

Both centres are now run by Brenda Wood, who is based at Chessington Children’s Centre.

She said: “We are delighted with the good outcome for our children’s centre and that the quality of our services for children and families has been recognised.

“The centre has gone from strength to strength since our previous inspection and it is excellent that so many families attend and benefit from our exciting programme.

“We are particularly proud that Ofsted reported that as a result of attending the centre, families become better equipped to overcome personal and social barriers and improve their life chances.”