Busy Bees Day Nursery at Woking Noah's Ark

Ducklings hatching, vegetables to dig and a woodland area gave this Woking nursery a recognisable outdoor character in March 2023. In March 2023, children explored living things first-hand, then brought those experiences into their games: babies played with ducks in water, while older children invented play around dinosaur eggs. Nature supplied the starting point. Play helped children revisit it.

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Woking Noah's Ark has capacity for 65 children, accepting ages from three months to five years. The Blackhorse Road setting also uses the name Noahs Ark at Worplesdon. At its 22 March 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good overall, found safeguarding effective and recognised strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Full-time attendance, morning sessions and afternoon sessions give families different ways to organise childcare. The nursery opens throughout the year, with bank holiday closures.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: for families, this means a day that develops language, movement, social skills and early understanding through play. The March 2023 activities show how those strands can work together, rather than becoming separate formal lessons.

During March 2023, babies heard songs outdoors and joined in with instruments. Toddlers practised number ideas through counting rhymes. Older children extended a reading of Room on a Broom by mixing a potion, taking turns to stir and exploring what happened when colours were added to water. A story became something children could do, discuss and investigate.

Mr McGregor's Garden brought physical activity and early mathematics together in March 2023. Children dug vegetables and measured growing plants. Children resolved a disagreement over a jug by holding it together to wash vegetables. That small interaction matters: an everyday activity gave them a practical reason to negotiate and cooperate.

Outdoor and Community Life

In March 2023, children had regular opportunities to use the on-site farm, woodland area and forest school, an outdoor approach involving exploration and practical experiences in nature. These were places for learning as well as movement. Children talked about a wormery they had made, describing the worms' movements and feeding.

Watching caterpillars develop, seeing ducklings emerge and examining worms gave children concrete examples of life cycles during March 2023. They could return to those ideas in conversation and imaginative games. For a child absorbed by animals or growing things, this is a useful picture of the experiences that shaped the nursery's day at that time.

Relationships and Communication

Buddy bears and a lending library connected nursery life with home in March 2023. The bears supported children's emotions, while borrowed books gave families something to share beyond the nursery day. Children helped choose the bears' names and voted for a book each week, giving them a say in familiar routines.

Communication also needed attention. The March 2023 improvement priorities called for clearer explanations to parents about the knowledge and skills children most needed to develop. Sharing an activity is useful; explaining what a child is learning from it gives parents a more practical starting point for support at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that staff worked with parents and other agencies to support children with SEND, using individual targets and small-group language activities to help them progress. Adults checked children's understanding before taking an activity further. This gives families a concrete example of support organised around a child's next steps.

Mealtimes had a social role in March 2023, with adults sitting alongside children and talking with them. However, staff needed to give clearer guidance about eating routines, including discouraging knife licking. That improvement priority concerns everyday adult practice, so it deserves attention alongside the learning activities.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Blackhorse House, Blackhorse Road, Woking, GU22 0RE. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across the year except bank holidays. Those hours define the operating window; families can choose full-time attendance or request morning and afternoon sessions across the weekdays.

The branch contact form provides an enquiry route, and new parents can telephone the central enrolments team on 0330 333 8133. A branch visit can be booked by selecting a date and time online or contacting that team. This gives families a straightforward way to arrange an individual conversation about starting nursery.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare options include 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 determines which option applies to a family. Private childcare is also offered, allowing attendance outside a funded arrangement.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The useful comparison is the complete cost of the chosen attendance pattern, rather than the funded entitlement considered on its own.

• Learning updates. Clearer communication about children's next learning steps was a March 2023 improvement priority. During a visit, ask how staff now explain those steps and connect them with activities at home.
• Mealtime guidance. Adult support for healthier eating routines also needed attention in March 2023. Ask how practitioners teach children to use cutlery and develop appropriate habits while eating.
• Your attendance quotation. Full-time, morning and afternoon attendance serve different schedules. Ask for the precise session boundaries, the funding delivery pattern and separate positions for meals and non-food consumables in your written quotation.

This nursery suits families considering either full-time attendance or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, for whom its March 2023 outdoor experiences provide a useful starting point. Its March 2023 day had memorable substance: living things to observe, vegetables to grow and stories to turn into practical play. The farm and woodland experiences give that account its character.

The decision also rests on everyday communication and care. Understanding how staff now explain learning priorities and guide mealtime habits will help families assess the practical improvements identified in March 2023. Those conversations belong alongside the appeal of the outdoor experiences described in March 2023.