Busy Bees Pre-School

A tiger’s tea party, birdwatching with binoculars and frogs discovered in a sandpit give Busy Bees Pre-School a recognisable character. These January 2023 examples show how stories, conversation and outdoor exploration connected children’s play with learning.

At its 13 January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that personalised planning and collaboration with families and professionals supported children with SEND well. Busy Bees has 35 places in total. Its base is Village Hall on Main Road in Sutton at Hone, Dartford, DA4 9HP; children attending in January 2023 were aged two to four.

The early years foundation stage is the required framework for children’s learning, development and care: here, its January 2023 activities linked play with language, movement and early mathematical understanding.

In January 2023, The Tiger Who Came to Tea became a shared play activity as children prepared a tea party and considered the size of a chair and the cakes their guest might need. The story gave conversation a concrete purpose. Building block enclosures and comparing pretend bakery food also brought mathematical vocabulary into play.

Outside that January, children shared binoculars to watch birds, explored surface textures through crayon rubbings and practised balance and jumping with beams and hoops. The garden and sandpit supplied things to investigate and discuss. During group conversation, older children explained the weather conditions needed for rainbows, although younger children were not consistently drawn into the discussion.

In January 2023, staff helped new children separate from their parents and begin playing, while established relationships encouraged children to start conversations. New practitioners initially had fewer key children, giving them time to learn the pre-school’s routines.

Support included small, quieter spaces for children with sensory needs, with tubes, balls and boards featuring movable cogs. A special educational needs coordinator helped staff prepare individual plans, working alongside parents and other professionals. These were concrete mechanisms for adapting activities to individual children.

Visual prompts helped children move between activities that January. However, lengthy waits to wash hands before snack or collect coats interrupted learning. This matters alongside the strengths: familiar routines still needed better organisation.

Village Hall on Main Road is the pre-school’s base in Sutton at Hone, Dartford, DA4 9HP.

In January 2023, attendance ran on weekdays during school terms, with morning sessions from 9.15am to 12.15pm. A lunch club operated twice weekly, adding a lunchtime option to the morning pattern. At that time, the pre-school also provided funded nursery education for children aged two, three and four.

• Younger children’s participation. In January 2023, group activities did not consistently involve younger children in conversation. Look for how quieter or younger children are brought into shared discussions during a visit.
• Waiting between activities. January 2023 routines left children queueing for handwashing and coats. Consider how transitions now keep children occupied.
• Term-time mornings and lunch club. The January 2023 model combined morning sessions with lunch club twice weekly. What attendance pattern operates now, and how would it fit your family’s week?

Busy Bees suits families interested in the morning preschool sessions or mornings extended by lunch club that operated in January 2023. Story-based play, garden exploration and individual support gave that inspection-era experience substance. The balance is clear: engaging activities sat alongside improvements needed in younger children’s participation and the organisation of everyday routines.