In January 2017 Tops Day Nurseries introduced a quality assurance scheme for all of its 19 day Nurseries.
We wanted to provide recognition that our 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.
Tops Day Nurseries Quality Assurance scheme provides a route for our 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.
Engagement in a Quality Assurance programme has many benefits. It:
- Guides and supports settings to improve outcomes for children.
- Strengthens values and principles in settings.
- Promotes effective practice and its delivery.
- Increases the capacity of settings to improve quality.
- Challenges and supports key people in settings to lead quality improvement practice.
- Provides recognition that a setting has made real progress against a set of agreed standards and achieved an accredited level or stage.
The Operations Director, Amy Alderson, inspects each of our settings on an annual basis to ensure that each setting is compliant with current legislation and best practice. Alongside these inspections a Quality accreditation document is also completed for those settings achieving either a Good or Outstanding internal inspection rating.
Tops Wareham are the first setting within the family to achieve full quality accreditation in all of their rooms.
Nicky Willetts, Nursery Manager at Tops Wareham said “I am very proud of all my staff at Wareham to receive full accreditation. All my staff are hardworking and dedicated to ensure that they are providing high quality care in all our child care rooms. They ensure that the children are provided with new opportunities and that they are challenged through exciting and interesting activities.”
Leadership plays a significant role in quality improvement and our Managers have excellent systems in place for self evaluation, identifying and agreeing improvement priorities and reviewing the difference the actions have made.
A fruit hamper is being delivered to the staff team to congratulate them, with a thank you note attached which read:
“To all the Tops Wareham staff,
Thank you for all your hard work with the quality assurance scheme.
From all of the Directors”
The Tops team will also be presented with a framed certificate at our upcoming Hadland Care Group awards night.
Quality improvement is a continuous cycle based on planning; implementing; reviewing and analysing. It is a never ending journey involving children, parents and professionals.
Congratulations to all staff at Tops Wareham!
