The Hilltoppers
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Long established
A day nursery in Rotherham for babies from 3 months up to 5 year olds, open 07:30 to 17:00, 5 days a week. £7.50 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in February 2025. Open since 2017, with 43 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
For non-funded hours or for top up hours we charge a standard rate of £7.50 per hour.
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
15- and 30-hour funding options for eligible families.
Worth knowing. Funding can be used during term time or stretched across the whole academic year.
What childcare usually costs in Barnsley
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Barnsley from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
S63 0DSWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 12 February 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy and settled in this nurturing nursery. Staff take the time to get to know children well and develop positive relationships. As a result, children are engaged in their play and make good progress. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. They are able to access the setting and the opportunities that staff provide for them. The staff work well with parents and wider professionals so that specific programmes of support can be implemented swiftly for children with SEND.
Staff have consistently high expectations of children's behaviour. As a result, children are extremely well behaved. They skilfully recognise when children need support and adapt their teaching effectively to support children at different stages of their emotional development. They encourage children to be kind, caring and thoughtful towards each other. For example, when children play a game of 'What's the time the manager,' the positive interactions from staff support children to invite each other into their play. This creates a very calm and respectful environment.
Staff organise the environment so that children have access to a wide variety of stimulating resources and activities that ignite their curiosity. For example, children use natural resources, such as stone and twigs. The older children use real-life resources, such as porcelain plates and cups and glass jars, for role play in the home corner. This helps children to confidently explore and play effectively.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support all staff to understand the learning intention of planned physical development outdoor activities so that they can consistently support and challenge all children n further improve communication and information-sharing with parents to provide more consistency about their children's progress and how to extend their learning at home n clarify how children's awareness of online safety will be consistently promoted by staff.
- 12 February 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 10 April 2019Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for The Hilltoppers
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- Is £7.50 an hour still the rate? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.