Baby Grows Day Nursery in Gillingham has become part of the growing family of Tops Day Nurseries in the South.
On their first day as new owners at Baby Grows, they received a visit from Ofsted and the nursery was awarded a ‘Good’ rating. It was also awarded the grade ‘outstanding’ in one of the three areas, ‘The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of the children’.
The acquisition brings the total number of nurseries owned by Tops Day Nurseries to 16 providing childcare to over 2,000 children, strengthening its position as the largest nursery group in the South. The group already owns nurseries across Dorset, Somerset and Hampshire.
Baby Grows Day Nursery in Marlott Road, Gillingham, opened its doors in 2005 and is currently celebrating its’ 10th birthday. The facility provides excellent childcare for children from birth to 5 years old.
This news comes during the 25th anniversary of Tops Day Nursery, and in the last year the group has launched Tops Cooking School and Tops Forest School to significantly improve the quality of childcare available in the South.
Cheryl Hadland, Managing Director at Tops Day Nurseries, said: “Baby Grows Day Nursery is a lovely childcare facility, with a particularly strong and caring staff team, and we are pleased to welcome staff, parents and children into the Tops family. To receive a visit from Ofsted on our first day was nerve-wracking, but we are delighted with the result and it just goes to show that Baby Grows is a happy and well-run nursery.”
Sallie Wills, Nursery Manager of Baby Grows Nursery said: “The staff at Baby Grows are all very excited to become part of the Tops Day Nursery family. We are already seeing the benefits, with greater support with our parent communications, more resources and technology, and the wealth of experience and knowledge Tops Day Nurseries has 
to offer.”
The nursery will continue to be called Baby Grows for now, and it will eventually be renamed Tops Gillingham. When the time is right, parents will be offered the same flexible booking as the rest of the Tops Day Nurseries across the south where they can book to nearest 15 minutes, but for now the existing opening hours and booking system will remain in place.
To find out more about Baby Grows, please click here.
To view a copy of the Ofsted report, please click here.
About The Ofsted Report
Here are some of the comments Ofsted made about the nursery:
- Staff support children’s personal, social and emotional development exceptionally well. They interact sensitively with children so that each child feels valued and develops a very positive sense of emotional well-being.
- Leadership and management is strong. Management provide frequent supervision and training opportunities for staff, which effectively helps them to develop their practice.
- Staff have completed behaviour management training. As a result, staff use consistent and highly positive strategies that help children learn to behave well. Staff have very high expectations for children and effectively boost their confidence and self-esteem.
- Staff are confident in their knowledge of safeguarding issues. They regularly attend child protection training and cleary understand the procedures to keep children safe.
- Staff plan effectively for children’s individual next steps and interests. They provide a good range of meaningful play experiences, which actively support their learning.
- Management and staff continually reflect on how children learn through play, and evaluate practice. This shows their commitment to making continual improvements and promoting positive outcomes for children.
