Busy Bees Nursery

An enclosed garden for each nursery area and a shared Sensory Room give Busy Bees Nursery in Newton Hall a clear emphasis on outdoor play and sensory exploration. Children plant seasonal herbs, seeds and bulbs; indoors, quieter activities have a space of their own. These are useful differences for families who want movement, exploration and rest to fit into the same nursery day.

At its November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with Outstanding behaviour and attitudes, and found safeguarding effective. The strongest practical reservations concerned older children's lunchtime waits and the space younger children needed to practise walking. Both deserve attention alongside the positive judgement.

The nursery accepts children from 0 to 60 months and has 169 places in total. That is whole-setting capacity, rather than the size of an individual room or the number attending together. Its two-storey building is on Priory Road in Durham.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning and care: play develops communication, physical skills and relationships alongside early mathematics, literacy, creativity and understanding of the world. It is the common foundation for nursery education. Here, child-chosen play sits alongside activities organised by practitioners, allowing children's interests and planned learning to share the day.

Letters and Sounds adds a specific preschool strand. This phonics resource develops listening and speaking as preparation for reading, beginning with activities involving everyday noises, rhythm, rhyme and sounds made by the voice and body. The emphasis starts with hearing and using sounds, rather than simply recognising printed letters. Families can find the approach explained on the curriculum page.

In November 2024, story activities involved children discussing birds, listening to their calls and guessing objects concealed in a bag from spoken clues. Mathematics included recognising dice patterns and combining the spots on two dice. These examples make the learning tangible: conversation, listening and number work happened through objects children could discuss and handle.

Children also had a nursery council in November 2024. They contributed to decisions and explored potential hazards with staff, then tried identifying risks themselves. That gave them a practical role in thinking about their surroundings, rather than leaving every decision to adults.

Outdoor and Community Life

Each nursery area has an enclosed garden, and outdoor play forms part of the day except in poor weather. Seasonal planting gives children something real to tend and observe. Herbs, bulbs and seeds connect play with changes in the garden, rather than making the outdoor space solely somewhere to expend energy.

The Sensory Room is accessible across the nursery. Toys, music and scented resources support exploration through touch, hearing and smell; activities include tummy time, yoga and group games. It offers another pace of activity alongside the gardens and main play areas. Staff support children while they use it.

Relationships and Communication

The Special Carer system gives each child a familiar practitioner and parents a first point of contact. During settling sessions, that practitioner completes a care plan with the family and takes responsibility for the child's care and emotional needs. This creates a clear person to approach about routines, reassurance and development.

Development observations are compiled using iconnect and can be viewed through Parent Zone, the system giving parents access to those observations. Individual learning plans are also shared within nursery. For families, the value is the connection between everyday observations and conversations about what their child is learning, rather than relying only on a brief account of activities.

Room changes are gradual and discussed with parents, practitioners and children. Play visits introduce the next room, its staff and potential friendships before the move takes place, and children move when ready. The transition therefore includes time to become familiar with the new surroundings. The Sensory Room also becomes a place for afternoon sleep, giving rest a designated setting within the nursery.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that flexible settling arrangements followed children's home routines and that additional funding was used effectively to meet individual needs, including buying resources for communication and language. These are concrete examples of adapting care and support to a child, rather than expecting everyone to settle or learn in the same way.

In November 2024, practitioners used calm reminders and modelled considerate behaviour. Children recognised the tidy-up signal and followed routines such as handwashing before meals. The daily structure helped make expectations understandable, although lunchtime organisation still needed attention.

Staff development includes regular training and encouragement to pursue further qualifications. The nursery supports its team towards paediatric first-aid qualifications. This describes its training arrangements; the dated safeguarding judgement remains the relevant assessment of effectiveness.

Daily food is provided, with menus planned around healthy eating.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The nursery operates for 51 weeks each year, excluding bank holidays. That opening window is useful for planning work and collection arrangements across much of the year.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 0191 375 0244 or by email at enquiries@busybeesdurham.co.uk. A contact form provides another route to the nursery.

Getting There

The address is Priory Road, Newton Hall, Durham, DH1 5HW. The nursery has links to the A1 for families travelling from outside Durham and the surrounding villages.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including places for eligible two-year-olds subject to the local authority's criteria. Funding information also covers children from nine months and children aged three and four, and describes a 30-hour entitlement across 38 weeks; this is not a guarantee of eligibility for every family.

The fees page separates funded places from chargeable extras. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The useful distinction for budgeting is between the funded entitlement itself and any additional charges attached to the agreed arrangement.

• Space for first steps. In November 2024, younger children's surroundings needed better organisation to leave enough room for walking practice. During a visit, look at how the current layout accommodates children beginning to move independently.
• Lunchtime pace. Older children waited too long for food in November 2024. Ask how lunch is organised now, including how children are occupied before their meal is served.
• Your attendance and funding arrangement. Opening hours span 7.30am to 6pm, and funded places have a separate chargeable-extras category. Ask for a written quotation showing the booking pattern, funded hours, meals and non-food consumables together.

Busy Bees suits families who value daily garden play, a shared space for sensory activities and a familiar practitioner responsible for their child's care. Letters and Sounds gives preschool learning a clear listening and early-reading strand, while Parent Zone connects families with development observations. The November 2024 overall judgement was Good. Its two practical improvement points, lunchtime waits and space for early walking, are the right details to weigh when considering the nursery for your own child.