Busy Bees Solihull

A bug garden, children tending plants and toddlers experimenting with coloured dough give Busy Bees Solihull a recognisable picture of learning through doing. Those examples belong to March 2023, rather than a promise about today's activities. This nursery at Blythe Valley Park has capacity for 100 children, with an accepted age range of 3 to 60 months.

At its 23 March 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding, finding ambitious education, strong communication work and effective safeguarding arrangements. Later safeguarding compliance findings in January and June 2026 are also material to the decision. The grade needs to be read alongside them.

Families can request full-time attendance, mornings or afternoons. That gives the nursery relevance to parents seeking different weekly patterns, rather than just one attendance arrangement.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: in everyday terms, play brings together language, movement, relationships and early understanding of the world. In March 2023, staff planned activities around individual development, with clear intentions about what each child would learn. The examples were practical rather than dependent on formal lessons.

During that month, singing and books featured throughout learning. Toddlers used rhymes to explore numbers and body parts; older children remembered why growing plants needed water. Staff also learnt words used by children whose home language was not English. For families, that connects language work to familiar experiences and gives children's existing vocabulary a place in nursery life.

Number work in March 2023 extended beyond reciting a sequence. Older children estimated quantities before counting and explored adding and taking away while constructing towers. Outdoors, comparing sand-filled buckets brought weight into an activity children could handle themselves. These examples show how an ordinary resource can support several kinds of thinking.

Outdoor and Community Life

In March 2023, the bug garden gave children an opportunity to examine a slug through magnifying glasses, while planting involved small gardening tools and caring for living things. Outdoor movement included climbing and balancing. Indoors, toddlers had a low-level gym equipped with steps and a slide, and babies were encouraged to move towards treasure baskets.

World Puppy Day also featured in March 2023, with families contributing pictures of their pets to the learning. It was a concrete connection between home interests and nursery activities, rather than an isolated topic chosen entirely by adults.

Independence was built into ordinary routines in March 2023. Toddlers tried adjusting their apron sleeves before meals, while older children took responsibility for bringing tableware to their friends. Staff demonstrated how to handle cutlery and then encouraged children to try. For parents, these are useful examples of care that makes room for children to practise doing things themselves.

In March 2023, families contributed experiences from home to children's learning. Healthy eating conversations also accompanied meals, using fruit and vegetables as discussion starters and encouraging drinking water. These are dated examples of the relationship between care routines and learning, rather than current menu commitments.

Ofsted's January 2026 compliance document recorded a child being left in a secure room beyond staff's sight or hearing, followed by supervision and whistleblowing training, while its June 2026 document recorded shortcomings in allegation-handling procedures and a subsequent response bringing future action into line with local safeguarding partner procedures. Both documents therefore matter despite recording corrective steps.

The January account concerned supervision during movement between rooms. The June account concerned how allegations were handled: following the April regulatory call, an action was issued, and on 27 May 2026 the provider responded with steps to ensure proportionate action in future. These were different safeguarding failures. Families should weigh the repeated findings alongside the earlier inspection judgement.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year, with bank holidays excluded. Full-time attendance, morning sessions and afternoon sessions can be requested across the weekdays. The opening window helps parents assess the working day; the choice of attendance patterns gives a separate decision about how much nursery time they want.

The nursery's address is Blythe Gate, Blythe Valley Park, Shirley, Solihull, B90 8AF. Its direct telephone number is 0121 745 7862, and new-parent enquiries can also go through the central enrolments team on 0330 333 8133. There is a branch contact form and an online visit-booking route.

Funding and Paid Extras

The branch's enrolment route includes 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 remains a condition of funding. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, allowing families to assess their own attendance arrangement before committing.

• Repeated safeguarding findings. January and June 2026 brought separate findings about supervision and allegation handling, with corrective steps recorded. At a visit, ask how room transitions are checked and how allegations are escalated through local safeguarding procedures.
• Your child's daily care. The accepted ages span 3 to 60 months. For a younger child, ask how settling, sleep and communication with the key person would work in their room.
• The funding package. Three funding categories appear in the branch's enrolment route. Ask for a written breakdown separating funded care, additional hours, food and consumables for your chosen pattern.

Busy Bees Solihull suits families considering full-time attendance or shorter morning and afternoon patterns. Its March 2023 learning examples combine language, early maths, physical activity and practical independence, with the bug garden providing a memorable example of exploration.

The repeated safeguarding compliance findings in 2026 carry substantial weight. A decision should rest on both the earlier Outstanding judgement and a clear account of how supervision and allegation-handling procedures now operate.