Top Tots Daycare

A weekly rhyme, a garden mud kitchen and rooms organised around different kinds of play give Top Tots Daycare a clear identity. This Croydon setting combines sensory exploration for younger children with a more structured preparation for Reception as children grow. Its strongest practical appeal is the connection between the spaces children use and the activities planned within them: construction, pretend play, books and early number work each have a home.

Top Tots accepts children aged nine months to five years and has capacity for 49 children in total. At its October 2021 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. That is a dated judgement, rather than a description of every aspect of today's provision. The current offer includes term-time sessions and paid extensions, with attendance patterns tied to funding eligibility.

The Poetry Basket brings a new rhyme each week, while Ready for Reception addresses independence and social confidence alongside learning. Outdoor play has substance too: planting areas, chalk boards and climbing equipment give children reasons to do more than run around.

Rooms and Ages

The Caterpillar Room (Under Two's) comprises connected toddler and sensory spaces, pairing resources for babies' sensory exploration and early sounds with child-height equipment and activity areas for toddlers. Children can move between the spaces, so the arrangement supports exploration as well as adult-planned challenges.

For children aged three to five, the Butterfly Floor contains rooms organised by activity rather than one undifferentiated play space. That makes the physical offer easy for parents to understand. The room names also explain what children can do there.

The Arts & Crafts Room combines paint and other creative materials with freely accessible playdough, rollers and cutters, and also accommodates cooking activities involving measuring, pouring and mixing. In the Numeracy & Literacy Room, named placemats, letter resources and puzzles connect early reading and number work with recognition of a child's own name and exploration of shapes.

Changing displays in the Role Play Room include a grocery store, a dentist and a vet surgery, alongside costumes and a kitchen for acting out familiar experiences. The Reading Room brings books together with a Feelings Corner containing Colour Monster props, a mirror and emotion cards, making stories and feelings part of the same space.

Lego, train tracks and other building resources in the Small World & Construction Room give children ways to experiment with balance and connections, while a projector and screen link their interests to images beyond the nursery. These are different routes into learning, rather than simply different collections of toys.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the shared requirements for children's learning and care: here, activities develop communication, movement and relationships alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding of the world. A child's key person adapts activities to their individual needs. The framework is the common foundation; the named programmes explain what Top Tots adds to it.

Ready for Reception develops practical independence, confidence with other children and persistence when trying something unfamiliar. Its preparation extends beyond letters and numbers to personal care and problem-solving. For parents, that matters because the move to school involves managing routines and relationships as well as beginning more formal learning.

Each week, The Poetry Basket (Helicopter Stories) introduces another interactive rhyme, with attention to vocabulary, listening and the sounds of language. Parents are encouraged to continue the rhymes at home. This gives families a specific activity to share, rather than a broad instruction to support learning.

Read, Write, Inc supports literacy in the Numeracy & Literacy Room, alongside alphabet materials, sandpaper letters and writing equipment. Tuesday mornings bring the Music and Movement Class, using games, dancing and music to practise listening and rhythm. Cooking Club takes place once each half term; its room-based activities include chopping, mixing and measuring, connecting practical tasks with early mathematical ideas.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden includes a climbing frame and slide, a mud kitchen and chalk boards for making marks outdoors. Small vehicles use the paved area, while sand and water activities occupy grassy spaces. Fruit and vegetable patches give children opportunities to observe growing plants and changes in nature. Wet suits support outdoor exploration across the seasons during the nursery's term-time operation.

Wednesday football sessions are led by Totstars, an external company, and carry no additional charge. They take place in the garden unless weather conditions prevent it, combining movement with following instructions and playing alongside others. Suitable footwear is a participation requirement, so families need to send sensible shoes or an extra pair on football days.

Relationships and Communication

Key people work in both the younger children's rooms and the preschool provision. Their role includes matching learning activities to a child's needs, giving families a familiar contact for conversations about development. The manager also holds the designated safeguarding lead and special educational needs and disabilities coordinator roles, with a deputy safeguarding lead within the management team.

At the October 2021 inspection, Ofsted found that settling began with information-sharing between parents and staff, and that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received effective, targeted help through regular discussions involving families and other professionals. Those findings describe practice at that date. They give parents a useful basis for discussing how support would work for their own child.

Weekly newsletters cover learning and events. Parent resources include guides to home learning, positive behaviour, weaning and toilet training, plus Starting Reception. This extends the nursery's communication into practical subjects families encounter at home, with the key person acting as a contact for further resources.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The Feelings Corner offers concrete tools for talking about emotions: children can use the Colour Monster props, mirror and cards alongside stories. Books in the Reading Room change by term to reflect children's interests, and a Book of the Week has accompanying story props. Emotional language therefore has resources behind it.

In October 2021, lunchtime organisation needed attention because some younger children waited long enough to lose interest, especially in the baby room. Some older children also needed more deliberate help to join in with their peers. These are meaningful points for families choosing care for a baby or a quieter preschool child; they concern the ordinary routines through which comfort and confidence develop.

Moving towards school is supported through Ready for Reception and the Starting Reception family guide. The emphasis on personal care, social confidence and trying new tasks gives this preparation a practical shape. It is preparation for the transition, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

Top Tots operates at 25 Shrublands Avenue, Croydon, CR0 8JD. Opening hours are 8am to 5pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and 8am to 3pm on Thursday and Friday. It operates during term time and closes for school holidays. The term calendar includes staff-training closures, so the calendar matters alongside the usual weekly hours.

The funded booking patterns are specific. Children receiving 15 funded hours attend either five mornings, 9am to noon, or three days, 9am to 2pm, during term time. For children receiving 30 funded hours, the pattern is five days, 9am to 3pm. These arrangements depend on the relevant funding eligibility.

Parents can add paid hours before or after a child's session within the opening window. That creates a useful distinction between the funded session and the longer attendance a family may need. It also means a Wednesday collection arrangement cannot simply be carried over to Thursday, when the nursery closes earlier.

Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form. The enquiry route provides a direct way to discuss the published attendance arrangements. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Working-parent funding is accepted for children aged nine to 23 months, for two-year-olds and for eligible three- and four-year-olds, with 30 hours a week across 38 weeks. Children from families receiving additional support can access the two-year-old entitlement from the term after their second birthday, subject to eligibility, providing 15 weekly hours over 38 weeks. Universal funding for three- and four-year-olds provides 15 hours weekly over 38 weeks, starting in the term after the third birthday.

Hours attended beyond a child's funded allocation are charged at the applicable hourly rate. The same distinction applies when a child moves from a full-fee arrangement into funded attendance: funding covers the entitlement, while additional hours remain paid. The funding and fee information sets out the attendance patterns and charging structure together.

• Term-time family logistics. School holidays are closure periods, and Thursday and Friday finish earlier than the other weekdays. Match the calendar and collection times to the care your household needs.
• Funded attendance pattern. The 15-hour entitlement has a five-morning or three-day pattern; the 30-hour pattern runs across five days. At a visit, discuss how the relevant pattern and any paid extensions would fit your week.
• Baby lunches and quieter children. In October 2021, lunch waiting times and support for older children joining group play needed attention. Ask to see how those routines now work, especially if either issue matters for your child.
• The complete daily cost. Extra attendance hours are paid, while Wednesday football carries no extra charge.

Top Tots suits families seeking term-time morning sessions or longer term-time days, with paid extensions where needed. Its clearest appeal is the combination of purposeful activity rooms, weekly language work and a garden equipped for both energetic and exploratory play.

Ready for Reception gives school preparation a practical emphasis, while the connected Caterpillar spaces offer a different starting point for younger children. The October 2021 Good judgement provides a useful inspection reference, but the lunch and social-participation concerns deserve attention during a visit. For families whose weekly routine fits the funded patterns and holiday closures, this is a nursery with a clearly defined offer.