Busy Bees Nurseries Reviews 

My little boy is having the best time at Busy Bees in St Andrews. He has been there for 6 months now. I was so worried about him starting nursery but he settled in so quickly and absolutely adores his key worker Lauren, which makes us feel less of the parent guilt of sending him to nursery. Really glad we picked this nursery, staff are all lovely, children always seem happy and the nursery is always clean and a good temperature. They’ve catered really well to my boy’s CMPA, and he has done so well with eating, which we can attribute to the variety of dishes he has at nursery! We’ve always managed to get him in if needed on an extra day if something at work pops up. He has come on so well with his walking and talking and development in general. Thank you for making it so much easier to return back to work and for looking after our boy so well!

Awful company, dishonest and
incompetent do not trust them with your children. I have been with Busy Bees since 2021 and thought we would be with them until my youngest child started school. Unfortunately in June this year we were told that after an Ofsted inspection the nursery was closing with immediate effect as a welfare requirement notice was issued. During this time the level of communication was appalling there was a complete disregard for the impact it had on families. Then eventually the centre partially re opened and then on 31st July immediately closed again as Ofsted suspended the licence. We were told after 5pm on a Friday via the app so we couldn’t even sort childcare out. Again the communication was appalling and I still don’t know what happened and if my child was at risk. Not had any sort of apology from Busy Bees and the whole situation has caused so much distress for my family and the upheaval for my little boy has been awful and completely avoidable. The staff themselves are great and have been let down by busy bees. Thankyou for ruining my summer busy bees

Sadly, our experience has changed dramatically

We chose this nursery because it had previously had an excellent reputation, and for a long time we were very happy with the care and environment provided. Our child was thriving there, and we had a great deal of trust and confidence in the staff.

Unfortunately, our experience since earlier this year has been very different. There has been significant staff turnover, with many of the familiar staff members who previously cared for our child no longer working there. We have also seen a much greater use of agency staff, which has made the environment feel far less settled than it once was.

The facilities also appear very different from how they are presented in some of the older photographs online, in our experience.

We have noticed a significant change in our child's behaviour since these changes took place. Behaviour that we had not previously experienced has included spitting, hitting and punching. We appreciate that children's behaviour can change for many reasons, but we are concerned about the impact that the constant changes in staff and environment may be having. Other parents have also expressed similar concerns to us.

The staff members who have remained have been working extremely hard, and we do feel for them. They appear to be dealing with considerable changes while trying to maintain the care of the children.

We have raised concerns directly with the nursery and have had meetings to discuss some of the issues. Unfortunately, from our experience, we have not seen the improvements we had hoped for afterwards. We have also experienced difficulties receiving responses to complaints and concerns raised by email.

On several occasions, we have arrived at the nursery and been unable to leave our child because we were told there were insufficient staff available to accommodate them. Having this happen without prior warning has been extremely difficult, particularly when arranging childcare around work and other commitments.

What makes this particularly disappointing is that this is not how we remember the nursery. We previously had complete confidence in the care our child received and were proud to say they attended. Sadly, that confidence has now been lost.

This review is based entirely on our own experiences as parents. We sincerely hope that things improve for the children, families and staff currently at the nursery, because it is very sad to see such a significant change from the positive experience we previously had.

At this stage, based on our experience, we would not choose Busy Bees childwall again for our child.

AVOID!!!!

Former employee here, from what I have witnessed and dealt with this is by far the worse run nursery I have ever seen!! The higher up senior managers give zero support to the CD. Staff are well, just treated as numbers nothing more. Seems to be more agency than actual staff majority of the time. Certain incidents that happen in rooms with the children aren’t recorded properly, and parents even notified on what actually happened. People suspended over incidents then staff mysteriously retracting multiple statements so that person gets to continue working. Probably because they our low on level 3 child practitioners. So it’s almost like we’ll bend the rules to suit our agenda. Most days what parents see is 99% an act and the place isn’t sunshine and rainbows. I’ve seen countless staff crying their eyes out or having mental breakdowns due to the stress and having to work long shifts and overtime without a heads up. Most days there just told to get back in there room and deal with it. I’ve walked into rooms to find one member of staff and 20 children in there!! I know this as Ive stood and counted them myself. You’ll be promised pay rise to make you stay and 6months down the line it never comes. More bullsh*t basically to keep you where you are. Rooms are constantly split up daily due to lack of staff and can’t cover the ratio’s. This also includes children with dietary and allergies that shouldn’t be moved what so ever!! There currently closed because staff got that fed up they took it among themselves to phone ofsted. Regardless of what busy bees tells you it wasnt there decision, just another lie they chose to tell parents. Since then that management they’ve sent to “sort it” I wouldn’t trust to run me a bath never mind a nursery. They also try to punish staff that leave by saying you owe them money in pay or taking your holiday pay from you. This is by far the most corrupt company I’ve ever come across. I am not surprised that when searched they are near enough 1 billion in debt! No wonder they have to rob there hard working staff, meanwhile senior managers drive around in range rovers collecting 80k a year for doing sweet FA!! Place is to put as clear as I can a bad joke!! That said the staff in the rooms are lovely. It’s just a shame management can’t seem to pull there heads from there behinds and get on board! Oh and for the parents who received letters about Ofsted there was no “vigorous” training. The training was e-learning online videos which took a day then staff were sent to other sites to cover so they could save on agency costs. So staff were inadequate of doing there jobs apparently and needed “vigorous training”, yet were fit enough to then be shipped out to look after other people’s children. Then left miles away from there homes and forced to find there own way back to Leeds some how. Again absolutely disgusting!!! And from what I’ve seen and heard from other sites Colton isn’t even the worse one. Typical money hungry company that care more about lining there pockets than they do there staff and the children’s welfare. Oh after the little Ofsted visit the first time they said they wouldn’t be splitting rooms anymore, guess what it lasted all of two hours the first day we reopened! And they were going to do it again until someone notified a manager ofsted had just walked through the door, then guess what they didn’t! Hmm I wonder why?! Corruption of the highest form! Good riddance!!

We decided to withdraw our kids and send them to other settings sadly. The staff are wonderful and the kids have great relationships with them and are happy! However, there is high staff turn over and staff openly talk about interviewing in other places where pay is better and hours are less. Our invoices were always wrong and I spent 6 weeks with finance sorting out mistakes after they incorrectly stated we owed £1500. Nursery shut for 1 month due to a mouse infestation. The temporary option then shut down in the heat wave due the fact the company hasn’t invested in aircon. They also have the nerve to charge you for the incidents when they shut! Lastly the set up didn’t support potty training, my child frequently had accidents at lunch or in the garden when there were no staff to take him to the loo. Despite asking repeatedly a potty was never put in the garden to help this problem.

Wouldn’t send my child here.
Staff don’t actually care and can’t wait for home time.
Staff told me “she don’t like us can’t you tell”
My daughter came out looking a mess with food all over her every day.
She’s now thriving at a new nursery!

Lovely facilities and staff

Very clean, great staff, amazing environment, my daughter was always so excited to go! Asked me everyday if she could go to nursery especially to the garden trip haha! She learned a lot while she was there. Wish she was able to attend for a longer period! Thank you so much for her amazing experience!

Everyone in busy bees are so wonderful. Always very happy, cheerful and will always take a moment to have a chat if at any point you need it, for advise, reassurance or general questions you may have. My daughter has now had two key workers from moving up a class. She loved her old key worker and still makes an effort to come and say hello to her when she can but you can see within just 2 weeks she also loves her new one as I do. I have full trust in her. My daughter is learning something new every week, a dance move, and word a hop a jump to washing hands and growing her confidence.
The app is fantastic it keeps us parents up to date on there day and what they are learning that week, that way you can follow it through at home, reading the same book, learning the same word and dancing and singing to the song of the week!

They always listen about any concerns I have and are quick to take things on board. My childs confidence has sky rocketed sinxe being at busy bees and I am so happy

My little boy started just over a year ago and he is flourishing. He loves going to nursery and always has a big smile on his face. The app helps with seeing what he’s been up to on a daily basis and we can communicate easily through it.

Being able to share their development milestones that the nursery are working on with activities to support them really helps as well especially when they’re ideas you hadn’t thought of

We have chosen Busy Bees for both of our children. We’ve been so impressed with the staff and nursery. We actually had a place at a different nursery and turned it down to stay at Busy Bees. They have so much outside space, the food sounds great, the staff are engaged.

Busy bees is a really good nursery, I feel confident that my son is safe and sound there. The girls are really lovely and caring towards my son. Jessie, Leena, Holly, Alana and all the staff in the toddler room, are all very lovely and really make me feel confident that my son is well taken care of. Thank you!

I can’t fault Busy Bees or the team here. The experience of registering was smooth and easy. The website and app are full of useful tips and information including fee calculators and guides to funding etc. but most importantly, my son has been attending the nursery since February and he has received the absolute best care possible. The staff at truly know him and he’s learned so much whilst in their care. He’s always so happy at pick up. They regularly update the app with special moments, observations and day-to-day information on his eating habits, nap lengths and nappy changes which is super useful in helping me to plan our routine at home. They respond to any messages in the app quickly too. I’m kept up to date with his curriculum and book of the week so that I can reinforce learning at home. I wholeheartedly trust the team and I enjoy conversing with them at drop off and pick up. His key person has been brilliant and the wider baby team are just as knowledgable about his behaviours and routine. The nursery is clean but not clinical and it’s an environment children enjoy being in. They follow safety protocols including passwords for pickups when it’s a less familiar face. I can go to work and concentrate knowing he is well taken care of and safe and that’s priceless. All my queries are addressed promptly and fully. I have absolutely no regrets in choosing this nursery over others in the area and would recommend to any parent who asked.

Great, helpful and supportive staff

Unfortunately, our experience with Busy Bees Sudbury Hill has left us extremely disappointed, particularly with how a serious safeguarding concern involving our child was handled.

Following an incident involving our son, we raised a serious concern regarding an injury and an allegation involving a member of staff. The matter was subsequently referred to the Police and LADO, and the staff member concerned was suspended.

What has been particularly upsetting is the **lack of communication and support from the nursery throughout the process**. We received very little proactive communication and were not even initially informed that meetings had taken place involving the nursery, Police and LADO.

We were also surprised that nobody from the nursery contacted us to obtain a detailed statement or ask us to provide the evidence we had regarding the incident. Most disappointing of all, there was very little contact simply to ask **how our child was doing following what had happened**.

We have since been informed by LADO that the nursery was expected to provide updates to us as parents. However, we had previously been told by the nursery that they could not provide updates and that these would need to come from LADO or the Police. This left us being passed between organisations without clear communication.

The Police investigation has now progressed, but we were extremely concerned by the length of time it took for the suspect to be interviewed. We were informed that delays occurred while the Police were waiting for information/details required as part of the safeguarding process.

We completely understand that an ongoing investigation can restrict what a nursery is legally able to disclose. However, **confidentiality does not prevent basic communication, reassurance and concern for a child's welfare**.

As parents, when you entrust a nursery with your child, you expect safeguarding concerns to be dealt with urgently, transparently and professionally. Based on our experience, we have been deeply disappointed with how Busy Bees Sudbury Hill communicated with and supported us following such a serious matter.

For these reasons, we made the decision to remove our child from the nursery.

We love Busy Bees. Both our children have been attending from 6 months of age and have got on extremely well. They plan lots of interactive activities, the meals are varied and best of all the staff genuinely care about the children.

Great with communication. Lovely staff always friendly and helpful. My son loves going and is always happy.

Busy bees has helped my child grow so much and has helped with confidence and knowledge. My child is coming home knowing so much about what has been learnt during the day. Staff are friendly and supportive. Very clean and safe environment for my child.

Both of my children attended busy bees and I couldn’t recommend them enough. The loveliest staff and the learning environment is amazing. Teachers who aren’t even in our children’s class know them and say
‘Morning’ to them boys when walking to their rooms. I feel very comfortable they are in the best possible care and would recommend them to everyone. Thank you Busy Bees Team!