PUPILS and staff at dozens of schools across Staffordshire and Cheshire were celebrating today after being singled out for national praise by England's education watchdog.

All the schools feature on Ofsted's latest list of the country's "outstanding" education and childcare providers, which is compiled from the findings of inspections over the last year.

The roll of honour includes tiny schools, inner-city primaries, childminders and special schools.

Despite the schools' varied intakes, Ofsted inspectors found they share several key ingredients, including consistently good teaching, strong leadership, exceptional progress by pupils, and excellent support systems.

In Stoke-on-Trent, three and four-year-olds in council-run nursery schools are benefiting from some of the best early years learning opportunities in the country.

Grange Nursery, in Meir, Kingsland Nursery, in Bucknall, Sir Thomas Boughey Nursery, in Shelton, and Northwood And Broom Nursery all feature on the list.

The Croft At Total Fitness, a private nursery based in Trent Vale, has also been praised for its outstanding care.

And three Potteries primaries inspected during the 2007/8 academic year have been officially recognised too.

For two of these schools, Weston Coyney Infants and Sandford Hill Primary, it marks the third time running they have made the list.

Janet Warner, headteacher of Sandford Hill, said: "It's hard work to maintain high standards and it is down to the commitment of everyone at the school."

At Belgrave Primary, in Longton, inspectors were particularly impressed with the exciting curriculum. Activities have included getting pupils to stage their own version of Dragons' Den.

Creative approaches are also a feature of life at many of the other schools.

At Northwood And Broom Nursery School, children practice writing using ice cubes full of frozen paint and form letters in custard or shaving foam.

Rushton Primary, in Rushton Spencer, near Leek, is also bursting with ideas. Several pupils monitor how many pieces of fruit or vegetables their classmates are eating. They then plot their results on a graph to track children's healthy lifestyles.

Headteacher Alyson Hurst said much of the success is down to being a small school. She added: "Pupils get more attention and we've got more scope to do interesting things."

At Crewe's Leighton Primary, pupils have produced work inspired by Shakespeare. To improve language skills, children stage tours of the school by torchlight, so they can talk about dark places and different sources of light.

At Smallwood Primary, near Sandbach, all pupils learn Spanish, every child has the chance to learn a musical instrument, and youngsters take charge of looking after the school's chickens.

Among the special schools winning praise are two which support pupils with behavioural or emotional difficulties.

Cicely Haughton School, at Wetley Rocks, has been singled out for its outstanding care. And Adelaide School, in Crewe, is doing inspirational work, including having pupils run their own radio station.

Inspectors summed up life at Adelaide by saying: "This school transforms the lives of the young people it serves and restores their faith in themselves and their abilities."

Nationally, almost 3,000 education or childcare providers are mentioned on Ofsted's outstanding list. There were a total of 45,000 inspections and Ofsted visits during 2007/8.