Bee Curious Childcare

Highland cattle, alpacas and books beside a growing area give Bee Curious Childcare a recognisable character: farm life and early learning meet at Glebe Farm in Astbury. This is more than an outdoor backdrop. In May 2025, children explored the farm with staff, learning animal names and sharing stories outdoors.

At its May 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding and found that carefully planned learning, responsive teaching and warm relationships helped children make rapid progress. The examples beneath that judgement are persuasive: counting games grew out of children's interests, while books were paired with objects that invited further exploration.

Bee Curious Childcare has capacity for 27 children. Children attending in May 2025 were aged 1 to 3; that is an inspection-time age range. Full-day care sits alongside term-time and year-round attendance options.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning and care, with play used to develop skills and understanding. Bee Curious also uses the Curiosity Approach, an approach centred on exploration, and Forest School ethoses, associated with learning outdoors. Its environment uses invitations to play and materials arranged around children's interests, giving children starting points for their own investigations.

In May 2025, a dinosaur game turned an interest into mathematical practice. Children counted the toys before staff hid them beneath a scarf and removed some; the next challenge was working out what had disappeared. The useful distinction is the connection between independent play and a planned next step. An activity children wanted to join became an opportunity to practise counting and subtraction.

Books received similarly practical treatment that month. A witch story was accompanied by bottles and toy bats, while a bird information book sat beside owl models. Babies could reach textured board books, and children heard a sunflower story near the growing area outdoors. Reading extended beyond listening to an adult: objects, textures and surroundings gave children ways to investigate the subject themselves.

Outdoor and Community Life

Glebe Farm supplied real encounters with animals in May 2025. Children learned the names of highland cattle and alpacas, splashed through puddles along farm paths and ate a snack in a shelter near a Shetland pony. These experiences made vocabulary tangible, linking words to animals and places children could encounter directly.

Celebrations also brought stories and other people's experiences into the day. The May 2025 inspection described a World Book Day tea connected to The Tiger who Came to Tea and learning about Diwali through food and clothes brought by parents. A fire service visit and an Easter conversation with local vicars added encounters with people beyond the nursery team. These are dated examples of how learning reached beyond the play materials indoors.

Relationships were a clear part of daily life in May 2025. Staff listened to children's ideas and responded with patience; children, in turn, played cooperatively and treated one another kindly. Shared laughter featured in the day. For parents, those observations add useful substance to the overall grade: the account describes how adults and children interacted, rather than relying solely on a judgement label.

At the May 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the ongoing exchange of information with families, which helped staff respond to individual learning and care needs. Communication mattered because information from home could shape what happened during the nursery day.

The current team structure includes a manager, an operations manager, a deputy manager and nursery assistants. Staff have paediatric first aid training, an arrangement relevant to responding to illness or injury rather than an assurance about overall safeguarding effectiveness.

Food is straightforward: breakfast, snacks, drinks and a hot lunch are included in the full-day fee. Le Cafe at Glebe farm supplies the hot lunch, connecting the meal arrangement to the nursery's farm setting.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Glebe Farm, Peel Lane, Astbury, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 4RQ. Opening hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, and the full-day session runs from 8am to 5pm. Year-round care and term-time-only places are offered, with a two-week Christmas closure.

Part-time or full-time childcare can accommodate office hours or shift work, subject to availability. Early starts and later collections may be arranged in advance and incur additional fees. These extensions require an arrangement; they are separate from the ordinary full-day session.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 07432219777 or by email at hello@beecuriouschildcare.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded childcare is offered. Fees depend on FEEE funding eligibility and Tax Free Childcare payments, so families should obtain a current written quotation for their intended attendance pattern. The full-day fee includes breakfast, morning and afternoon snacks, drinks throughout the day and hot lunch; early or late arrangements carry an additional charge.

• Farm-based learning. Animal visits and puddle-filled farm walks featured in May 2025. At a visit, ask how outdoor experiences are organised for your child's stage of development.
• The working-day window. The ordinary full day ends at 5pm, with earlier starts or later collections requiring prior arrangement and extra fees. Families working shifts should discuss the particular pattern they need before committing.
• Starting age and settling. Children attending in May 2025 were aged 1 to 3. Ask which ages are currently accepted and how the settling process would work for your child.

Bee Curious Childcare suits families drawn to learning through exploration, with Glebe Farm giving that approach a concrete setting. The May 2025 examples connect books, counting and animal encounters to children's interests, while the Outstanding judgement gives those details considerable weight.

Full-day and part-time patterns, alongside term-time or year-round attendance, make it relevant to more than one working routine. The practical consideration is the 5pm finish: any extension needs an advance arrangement. For families whose hours fit, the combination of farm experiences and thoughtfully developed play is the strongest reason to consider it.