Mr Bee's St Augustine's

A nursery garden, a meadow and a wooded area give Mr Bee's St Augustine's an outdoor identity that extends beyond its play space. Children can build dens, explore potting sheds and use an outdoor classroom within the community gardens. For families choosing preschool care, that combination brings construction, movement and exploration into the same setting.

Based at St. Augustine’s Centre on Columbia Way in King's Lynn, the nursery has capacity for 48 children aged two to five. Barnabee Room serves toddlers and Tobee Room serves preschool children, giving the indoor provision two recognisable stages.

At its October 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities positively. That is a dated assessment. Its practical strengths included reassuring relationships, accessible play resources and outdoor activity, while language development and adults' use of spontaneous teaching opportunities needed further attention.

Attendance is term-time, with Full Daycare offered and opening hours of 9am to 3.30pm on weekdays.

Rooms and Ages

Barnabee Room combines opportunities for exploring and construction with a cosy area, space for physical activity, drawing and stories. Tobee Room adds music, technology, small-world play, messy materials and sand or water to construction and imaginative play. The distinction gives parents something concrete to consider: the toddler environment includes places for quieter activity as well as movement, while the preschool room brings together materials for making, pretending and experimenting.

These are different kinds of play rather than a timetable of lessons. A child can build something, represent an idea through drawing or explore how a material behaves. The room arrangements make those choices tangible.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: children's play and everyday activities support communication, physical development and growing knowledge. It is the baseline for the nursery's educational work.

In October 2021, puzzles gave children opportunities to persist with a problem, crayons supported early drawing and writing, and familiar stories encouraged them to join in. Mathematics also entered ordinary routines through counting and recognising shapes. This placed learning within activities children were already doing, rather than reserving it for a separate teaching slot.

Language support was more uneven at that time. Adults used words from children's home languages and had introduced signing to help communication, but sometimes moved to another question before a child had time to answer. Some children also needed more help with pronunciation. For families whose children are developing English alongside another language, the useful distinction is between providing communication aids and giving children sufficient time to use them.

Outdoor and Community Life

The nursery has a large outdoor play area alongside access to community gardens containing a social space, meadow and woodland. Den building and the outdoor classroom add settings for shared projects and exploration; the potting sheds give children another part of the gardens to investigate.

In October 2021, outdoor play took place daily in different weather conditions. Children used an outdoor kitchen for pretend cooking with mud, negotiated turns on a slide and steered pedal cars around a track. Those activities combined imagination with practical decisions about movement and other children.

The current outdoor offer is a strong reason to consider this branch. Its value lies in the different spaces children can use, from the nursery play area to the meadow and wooded surroundings.

In October 2021, children who struggled with separation received patient reassurance from their key person. Adults stayed close, used gentle expressions and responded calmly. This mattered for children whose first task was becoming comfortable away from their parents before joining in with play.

Resources were positioned within children's reach at that time, allowing them to select activities themselves and learn where toys belonged afterwards. Independence was still an area for development: adults sometimes missed chances to extend an activity or help children work through a small disagreement themselves. Practical access to materials and adult support for decision-making therefore needed to work together.

Communication with parents in October 2021 included an online application, ideas for learning at home, help with toilet training and guidance about starting school. That linked care and learning across home and nursery. School preparation here is about supporting the child's next transition.

Lunch can come from the café at St Augustine’s, where trained cooks prepare hot food, or take the form of a sandwich with fruit and yoghurt; both options are charged separately. A supplied lunch therefore needs to be considered alongside the childcare arrangement.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St. Augustine’s Centre, Columbia Way, North Lynn, PE30 2LB. An Expression Of Interest route provides the starting point for a childcare enquiry, and the branch telephone number is 01553 816907.

Full Daycare is offered. The nursery opens Monday to Friday from 9am until 3.30pm during term time, following NCC term dates. These opening hours describe the working day of the setting; families need an attendance agreement that fits within it.

Closures include bank holidays and three training days each year, as well as the period between Christmas and New Year. The term-time calendar makes this a practical option for families arranging preschool education around school terms, with holiday care needing separate planning.

Access to the nursery uses a buzzer at the centre's main entrance. This is a practical feature of a nursery operating within a shared community building.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible two-year-olds can receive 15 funded hours a week. For eligible three- and four-year-olds, the offer includes 15 or 30 hours a week. At St Augustine’s, funded early education runs during term time across 39 weeks of the year, rather than being spread across the holidays.

Hot meals and sandwich lunches have separate charges. Families should obtain the nursery's current written quotation for their childcare arrangement so that the attendance agreement and food costs can be considered together.

• Language and thinking time. In October 2021, some children needed longer to answer questions and more help with pronunciation. During a visit, ask how practitioners now support children learning English alongside another language and allow them time to respond.
• A term-time calendar. The nursery opens from 9am to 3.30pm and closes during school holidays, with additional training-day closures. This needs to fit the family's working hours and holiday arrangements.
• The total childcare agreement. Lunches are charged separately and funding depends on eligibility.

Mr Bee's St Augustine's suits families seeking term-time preschool education or Full Daycare within its daytime opening hours, especially those who value access to a meadow, woodland and opportunities for den building. Barnabee Room and Tobee Room give the indoor offer clear toddler and preschool identities.

The October 2021 assessment provides a positive starting point, with language support and opportunities to develop independence deserving attention. The strongest practical match is a family whose calendar fits the term-time model and whose child will make use of the varied outdoor spaces.