Busy Bees Chichester

Small acts of independence give Busy Bees Chichester its character: in March 2025, children helped with lunch by taking water jugs to the tables, while older children helped younger ones retrieve balls beyond a fence. These are useful examples of nursery learning reaching beyond an organised activity and into everyday life.

Ofsted rated the nursery Good at its 10 March 2025 inspection, with staff deployment identified as the area requiring improvement. That gives families a positive overall judgement alongside a concrete point to explore.

Based at The Cherries on Summersdale Road, the nursery has capacity for 92 children aged 3 to 60 months. Weekday attendance choices include mornings, afternoons and full-time childcare, giving families different ways to organise their week.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: everyday play and routines support skills such as communication, independence and getting along with others. In March 2025, independence was a clear thread through the day, including the practical responsibility of carrying water for lunch. Children had opportunities to contribute, rather than simply wait for adults to do everything.

Language learning also reached home. In March 2025, a word of the week was shared with parents so that new vocabulary could be used beyond nursery. The example was jive, with children learning how to use the word appropriately. This gives parents a specific starting point for conversation rather than a general instruction to practise language.

Older children took part in shake and write, an activity supporting early writing, while younger children had individual singing interactions with staff. Stories added further opportunities to hear and use language. The distinction matters: the examples show different experiences for younger and older children, rather than one activity applied across the age range.

Outdoor and Community Life

Community experiences in March 2025 included visiting residents at a local care home and meeting police officers at nursery. A police vehicle's siren captured children's interest, giving staff a concrete starting point for talking about people who help others.

Questions and carefully chosen resources extended those experiences into learning about help and safety. The value was in connecting an interesting encounter with something children could understand about their own community. Within nursery, the example of older children passing balls back across a fence also showed cooperation taking a practical form.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2025, parents valued communication about their children's care and learning and the relationship with their key person. Staff listened to families and followed familiar home practices, including baby-led weaning. They also offered ideas when children were moving towards toilet training, linking nursery care with changes happening at home.

Babies sought closeness with staff, who responded with cuddles. For families choosing care for a younger child, that is a more tangible example of relationships than a broad claim about a welcoming atmosphere. It belongs to the March 2025 picture of daily life.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged that the curriculum met children's needs, including those with SEND, with staff sharing information with families and professionals and recognising when referrals were needed. The practical mechanism was continued communication and review, rather than a general promise of support.

In March 2025, staff also invited parents to supply words from children's home languages and used these with children. That connected language development with familiar family experience. Staff helped children work through minor disagreements and acknowledged their efforts, giving everyday interactions a role in learning to manage relationships.

The staffing concern was specific. During March 2025, colleagues were sometimes unable to help each other at busy points such as lunch, affecting the organisation of the day and the support children received. Families should weigh that alongside the positive care examples.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year, with bank holidays closed. Morning, afternoon and full-time attendance choices are offered across the working week. These choices make the nursery relevant to families arranging shorter attendance as well as a fuller weekly pattern.

Getting There

The address is The Cherries, Summersdale Road, Chichester, PO19 6PL. New-parent enquiries can be made through the contact form or the central enrolments team 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 determines which scheme applies; the attendance choices alone do not establish a family's entitlement.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. Families comparing paid childcare with funded attendance need to consider the whole arrangement, including any additional hours they choose.

• Support at lunchtime. March 2025 brought a specific improvement request about staff deployment, including colleagues being unable to support one another at lunch. During a visit, ask how cover now works at this busy point in the day.
• Morning and afternoon attendance. These choices sit alongside full-time childcare. Use the visit to establish how your preferred pattern would fit your child's routines and your working week.
• Funding and everyday supplies. The nursery offers several funded schemes. Request a written breakdown covering funded attendance, meals and non-food consumables so that the arrangement is clear before committing.

Busy Bees Chichester suits families considering morning or afternoon attendance as well as full-time childcare, with independence and communication prominent in its March 2025 nursery day. Carrying water for lunch, vocabulary shared with home and encounters with the local community give substance to that picture. The staff-deployment concern deserves equal attention: the strongest decision will balance those everyday learning opportunities with how support is organised at busy times.