Busy Bees Chester Hopscotch

Paper-making experiments and garden insect hunts give Hopscotch's March 2023 nursery life a clear character: children investigated questions for themselves, with books and practical exploration feeding their play. At its 22 March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding overall and judged its education Outstanding. The useful detail lies beneath those grades.

Busy Bees Chester Hopscotch, on Parkgate Road in Chester, has capacity for 76 children aged 3 to 60 months. Babies through to children approaching school age can attend the same setting, although that whole-nursery capacity should not be read as the size of an individual group.

Full Time childcare is an attendance option. Opening hours run from 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays, with care across the year and bank holiday closures.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play, communication and growing independence belong together rather than being treated as separate parts of the day. Hopscotch's March 2023 activities show how that could work in practice.

During that month, preschool children explored the origins of paper, researched their questions and tried making paper themselves. This gave a practical purpose to discussion and investigation. Another activity began with children arranging a dinosaur play tray for their friends, then choosing dinosaur stories to add to it. Books became part of the play they had initiated.

School preparation also formed part of the March 2023 curriculum. Activities were adjusted to children's interests and needs, while preparation for future learning sat alongside their chosen play. For parents, the important distinction is between rehearsing school routines and building the skills children use to learn: curiosity, conversation and sustained attention.

Outdoor and Community Life

In March 2023, toddlers searched the garden for insects with magnifying glasses, including worms and dragonflies. The garden supplied something real to investigate, with equipment that encouraged closer observation rather than simply a quick look.

Children also took part in activities involving a local residential home that month. Clothing exchanges and fundraising introduced another connection with people beyond nursery. These experiences brought kindness and consideration into practical situations, rather than leaving them as abstract ideas.

Relationships and Communication

Family boxes were part of baby settling in March 2023: personal photographs created a connection with home, and parents could record their voices for staff to play when a baby needed comfort. The arrangement recognised that familiar faces and sounds could matter as much as an unfamiliar activity.

Parent workshops were another part of nursery life that month, including work on children's independence. That gave families and practitioners a shared subject to work on, linking what happened at nursery with everyday self-care at home. Parents were also consulted about their children's experience.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the inclusive communication support, including visual routines, home-language stories and signing that helped children communicate with friends. Those findings belong to that visit.

In March 2023, parents came in to read stories in their home languages, while visual timetables and a dedicated library supported children learning English as an additional language. Staff also taught signs and explained why some children communicated differently. The practical benefit was participation: children had ways to understand the day and interact with one another beyond spoken English alone.

Breathing exercises and yoga featured that month too. Children practised calming themselves, while helping with tidying and other tasks gave them responsibilities within the group. In the garden, they identified hazards and discussed how equipment should be used. Care included opportunities to practise judgement as well as receive adult help.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Parkgate Road, Chester, Cheshire CH1 4BE. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday; the nursery operates across the year and closes on bank holidays. This gives families a clear operating window against which to compare their working day.

Full Time childcare is an attendance option, and the enquiry form covers weekday requirements. Families can contact the branch through its contact form or telephone 01244 379 005; the enrolments team can also be reached on 0330 333 8133.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare options include 30 Hours working families funding, 15 Hours universal funding for children aged 3 and 4, and 15 hours for 2-year-olds receiving support. Eligibility applies, so these options should not be read as a promise that every child qualifies.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The useful comparison is the total cost for the attendance pattern a family actually needs, rather than funded hours considered in isolation.

• Baby settling. Family boxes and recordings of parents' voices were used in March 2023. During a visit, ask how photographs and familiar voices fit into settling now, and how staff respond when a baby needs comfort.
• Full Time attendance and funding. Full Time childcare is an attendance option and the nursery accepts funding enquiries. Ask for a written attendance proposal separating funded hours, paid care, food and non-food consumables, so the arrangement can be compared with your working week.
• Communication support. Signing, visual timetables and home-language stories featured in March 2023. Families whose child uses another language or a different way of communicating should discuss how those methods would be used for their child today.

Hopscotch suits families considering Full Time childcare who value practical investigation and a close connection between home and nursery. Its March 2023 examples are memorable: children explored how paper was made, brought dinosaur books into their own play and used familiar family photographs during settling.

The Outstanding judgement gives that dated picture weight. The decision for a family now is how the attendance proposal and their child's settling and communication needs fit together.