Tops Day Nurseries provide recognition that their settings and teams maintain and improve provision in order to offer the highest quality learning and development experiences for all children and their families. Children who experience high quality provision are well placed to achieve higher outcomes at school and develop better social, emotional and cognitive abilities necessary for life-long learning.
The Tops Day Nurseries Quality Assurance scheme was launched in January 2017 and provides a route for Leaders and Managers to raise standards through a process of self-evaluation and self-assessment. This involves practitioners in a cycle of continuous improvement in which the provision is audited against a set of standards.
Director of Early Years Audit and Training, Amy Alderson, audits each of our settings on an annual basis to ensure that each setting is compliant with current legislation and best practice. Alongside these audits a Quality accreditation document is also completed for those settings achieving either a Good or Outstanding internal audit rating.
Tops Babbacombe’s report highlighted impressive key points, including:
- Children enjoy quality time with sensitive and responsive staff who support their learning well.
- Older children benefit from engaging teaching sessions that support their early reading skills effectively. They listen to exciting stories, play rhyming games and sing songs to help them recognise the sounds that letters make.
- Children’s interests and learning are supported effectively through planned activities and stimulating learning environments.
- The manager has clear plans in place to support her staff team. She completes observations of staff teaching and helps them to improve the quality of their practice through role modelling and mentoring.
- Staff are good role models for children and children learn good manners.
- Staff place a strong emphasis on children’s speech. They lead activities, such as Early Talk Boost, to help children learn new words and how to listen and concentrate.
- Staff support parents effectively to get involved in their children’s learning. They share observations and assessments with parents of what their children do at nursery
Quality improvement is a continuous cycle based on planning; implementing; reviewing and analysing. It is a never ending journey involving children, parents and professionals.
