Busy Bee Pre School Millbrook

A scout-hut setting with a practical emphasis on growing independence gives Busy Bee Pre School Millbrook its character. Sandcastle conversations, balancing on wooden planks and imaginary baking in a mud kitchen were part of its September 2022 day. These are useful examples of learning through ordinary play, with children doing things for themselves rather than simply following adult demonstrations.

At its September 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Good and judged safeguarding effective. It has capacity for 32 children at The Scout Headquarters in Millbrook, Southampton, SO16 9JA; the children attending in September 2022 were aged two to four.

Morning and afternoon sessions offer different ways to organise attendance. The strongest reasons to consider this setting are its personal key-person arrangements and the concrete examples of language, independence and outdoor play from September 2022.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and care: play, communication and developing personal skills sit alongside early mathematical understanding. Here, the September 2022 curriculum placed extra emphasis on children's emotional development and relationships, responding to the effects of the pandemic.

In September 2022, sandcastle building gave staff opportunities to introduce words connected with children's actions. Signing also supported communication, including choosing milk or water at snack time. This linked language to something children wanted to do, giving the words and gestures an immediate purpose.

Construction play brought mathematics into the same everyday setting. In September 2022, staff asked children to add bricks to towers and explored differences in height; children also stretched upwards and crouched down to investigate the ideas physically. Early number and measurement were therefore connected to objects and movement, rather than treated as separate exercises.

Outdoor and Community Life

In September 2022, children practised balancing across wooden planks, taking turns and judging what they could manage. Adults encouraged those who were hesitant. The mud kitchen supported pretend birthday baking and conversations about celebrations, linking imaginative play with opportunities to talk together.

The indoor accommodation in September 2022 was a room within a scout hut. Children knew a tambourine signal meant pausing to listen, and took responsibility for clearing away toys. These details give a useful picture of a shared environment with recognisable routines.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a personal key person. The settling policy assigns that practitioner before attendance begins and makes them the family's main contact for care, learning and developmental records. This gives parents a clear relationship through which to share changes at home and discuss their child's needs.

For two-year-olds, the settling policy starts with two-hour sessions during the first two weeks, reviewed after each session and adjusted to the child. Parents or carers are expected to remain for much of the initial week, with separation increasing as the child can manage it; staying is their choice and is not compulsory. The policy also allows more time where needed and rejects leaving a distressed child to cry as a settling strategy.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children made good progress and that SEND support included individual plans, funded one-to-one help during play, and cooperation with parents and other professionals. Those are dated findings, but the mechanisms matter: support was directed towards individual needs rather than left as a general intention.

Promoting Positive Behaviour, the behaviour policy, sets out a staged response to difficulties: staff consider possible triggers, involve parents and agree support before seeking external help where necessary. Its ABCC method examines what happened before a behaviour, the behaviour itself and what followed. That provides a structured way to understand repeated difficulties.

Children do not have to be toilet trained to attend. The nappy-changing policy provides for changes, cooperation with parents over toilet training and parents supplying any required cream; used nappies are bagged for families to take home.

The allergy policy requires an individual risk assessment and health care plan. Its position is that nuts and nut products are generally avoided, rather than an unconditional nut-free guarantee.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am, with afternoons from 12.15pm to 3.15pm. A lunch period sits between them, from 11.45am to 12.15pm. These separate windows matter for families arranging shorter preschool attendance around other commitments.

In September 2022, attendance operated on weekdays during school terms. That dated operating pattern is relevant for families considering how preschool fits around holidays.

Getting There

The address is The Scout Headquarters, Millbrook, SO16 9JA. The contact address also identifies the Scout Hut on Canford Close, Southampton; enquiries can be made by telephone on 07866 433405 or by email at info@busybeemillbrook.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

In September 2022, the pre-school provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four. Current prices should come in the nursery's written quotation. Parents supply any nappy cream their child needs.

For children in care, the transition policy provides for the key person or designated practitioner to liaise with the receiving school and share relevant documents with the social worker's agreement. This concerns continuity of care and information when a child moves on.

• Language and cultural learning. The September 2022 improvement priorities were more consistent speech modelling and deeper learning about cultures beyond children's own. Ask how staff now address both through everyday activities.
• Time for settling. The policy gives two-year-olds an initially shorter attendance pattern and allows separation to develop gradually. Families need to consider who can remain with their child during that adjustment.
• The attendance and quotation details. Morning and afternoon sessions are separate patterns. Before booking, request a written plan covering term dates, funded attendance, lunch arrangements and responsibility for nappies and wipes.
• Allergy planning. The policy combines individual assessment with a general avoidance of nuts. Families affected by allergies should discuss current precautions, medication arrangements and the child's health care plan before attendance.

Busy Bee Pre School Millbrook suits families considering either morning or afternoon preschool sessions and who value a personal key-person relationship. Its September 2022 examples give substance to the educational offer: language developed through sand play, mathematical ideas through building, and confidence through outdoor challenges.

The balance is clear. A Good inspection sits alongside specific improvement priorities for speech modelling and cultural understanding, while settling arrangements require families to allow time for their child to build trust. Those practical and educational details should guide the decision.