Busy Bees Day Nursery at Tunbridge Wells

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Tunbridge Wells
Unique reference number (URN): EY428303
Address: Silverdale Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 9HU
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 19/07/2011
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Busy Bees Nurseries Limited
Inspection report: 17 June 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement
Safeguarding standards met
The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for
governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open
culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively
identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.
How we evaluate safeguarding
When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:
Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all
legal requirements are met.

Expected standard
Needs attention
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Staff show care and consideration for children and support their wellbeing appropriately.
Children form positive attachments with staff. For example, babies who need support go to
staff. They are greeted with kindness and a cuddle, and staff continue the support by
sharing stories.
Children move freely around rooms and choose toys to play with that spark their interest.
This shows that they are confident, comfortable and they develop a sense of belonging.
Children benefit from healthy cooked meals, and allergies are well considered and
supported by staff. Children understand the routines and show confident independence
skills. For example, they listen well to staff and line up ready to prepare for lunch. Toddlers
work hard to serve their own food and drinks. Babies enjoy the opportunity to gain some
independence and use the sink to wash their hands. Appropriate consideration is given to
babies' individual weaning stages, and adaptations are made where needed.
Staff teach children about the importance of sun safety before using the garden. Children
confidently share their knowledge on the importance of wearing sun cream and to drink
water to keep hydrated in the warm weather. This helps children to gain an understanding of
how to manage their own safety.
Achievement Needs attention
Due to the inconsistencies in the curriculum and children's learning experiences, particularly
for those with special educational needs and barriers to achievement and wellbeing, there is
some impact on the children's achievements. This is because, at times the support they
receive varies and the barriers to achievements are not removed quickly enough for all
children.
Older children show a range of skills that they have developed during their time at nursery.
For instance, some pre-school children are highly confident and talkative. They introduce
themselves and initiate conversation. They enthusiastically talk about their knowledge of
bugs. Toddlers show increased concentration in group times as they learn new words, and
babies demonstrate their understanding of words during songs. This supports children's
communication and language development.
Children develop some skills to help with the readiness for their next stage of learning at
school. For example, children learn to take turns and play well with each other.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention
The areas for development in curriculum and teaching and inclusion, at times impact on
some children's engagement and attitudes to learning. At times, the curriculum planning
does not fully support children's learning, which does not fully support their engagement in
play.
Leaders' approach to supporting children's behaviour is inclusive for all children. Children
develop close friendships and play well together. They learn how to negotiate and work
together to set up group games. For example, pre-school-age children choose to play
'What's the time Mr Wolf?'. They organise their roles and discuss the type of wolf they would
like to be before starting the game. They hugely enjoy the interactions with each other and
demonstrate their knowledge of counting.
Routines are consistent and known by children. Staff manage the routines well, such as
moving to busy mealtimes and going out into the garden. This supports children well.
Leaders have suitable processes in place to monitor attendance. Parents are contacted in a
timely manner to follow up on information about any absences. This helps children to make
the most of their time at nursery.
Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
The quality of the curriculum and teaching on offer varies across the nursery. Leaders have
an understanding of the curriculum that they would like children to experience. However, this
is not fully embedded in practice. At times, the curriculum intention is not fully aligned to
children's ages and stages of development in each room. This means that there is not
always a clear sequenced curriculum in all areas of learning to fully support children's
progress.
Children's experiences vary across the nursery. At times, staff create activities that highly
engage children and develop their skills. For example, younger children learn names of
animals and the sounds that they make. They take great delight as they stomp around like a
hippopotamus and practise hissing like snakes. This helps to develop their imagination
alongside their communication skills. However, at other times interactions from staff leave
children for long periods of time with little input. This means that children are not consistently
supported to develop their skills.
Despite the variation in children's learning experiences, children do develop skills at nursery.
Children access outside play and learning opportunities. For example, toddler and pre-
school-age children enjoy climbing and jumping on an obstacle course to practise their
physical skills.
Inclusion Needs attention
Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with barriers to
achievement or wellbeing, such as children who learn English as an additional language, do
not have enough consistent support for their individual needs. Leaders positively welcome

all children and aim to provide a fully inclusive environment. They work with staff who know
what it is that children need and have agreed support plans in place. Children do make
some progress. However, the implementation of the plans is not consistent. Consequently,
some barriers to children's achievement remain.
Additional funding has been well considered and used appropriately to benefit children. For
example, leaders have identified that a number of children need increased support for their
communication and language. They have created a library with a depth and breadth of
books to ignite children's interest and increase engagement. Children animatedly take part
in story sessions lead by staff. However, staff show less confidence throughout the day to
continue to build on children's skills.
Leaders work well with parents to have ongoing discussions about the needs of children.
Information is gained about other professionals involved in the children's lives and used to
inform staff in the nursery.
Leadership and governance Needs attention
Leaders are generally aware of the areas that need further development within the setting.
They were responsive to ongoing feedback during the inspection and swiftly tackled areas
that were brought to their attention. However, the processes for how leaders monitor staff
practice to ensure that they fulfil their roles and responsibilities in all areas are less well
developed. This means that leaders do not always have a clear overview of all areas for
improvement.
There has been a recent redeployment of staff to different rooms across the nursery. As a
result, some teams are still embedding their working practices together. Staff positively
share the support that they receive from leaders and each other. They have a company
training package to help them develop specific skills for the ages of children they work with.
This includes guidance on choking and safeguarding training. Staff feel confident to respond
to these events appropriately should the need arise.
Parents share positive feedback about their children's time at nursery. For example, they
particularly like the information and photos shared with them via an online platform. Leaders
have suitable working relationships with other professionals.

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Children's experiences at nursery vary. For children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities and those with barriers to achievement or wellbeing, such as children who learn
English as an additional language, there are some inconsistencies in the support they
receive. Their needs are identified quickly but the implementation of the support day to day
is less so. This means that children do not fully benefit from the plans in place.
The curriculum across the nursery is inconsistent. At times, it is not sequenced well enough
to ensure that it meets the ages and stages of development of all children. In addition, there
are variations in teaching that mean that there are times when children are less engaged in
learning than other times. There are some learning opportunities that children enjoy and are
of benefit to them. For example, children explore sensory materials using dinosaurs to
stomp in the grass and slime. They count how many dinosaurs that they can see and share
with their friends. Children practise their mark-making skills by drawing around different
shapes. They use a range of tools to build their finger strength. This supports early literacy
as they start to draw and recognise letters from their name.
Children show they are independent, which is managed well by staff through routines, such
as mealtimes. Children enjoy their time playing in the company of others and staff. Overall,
they show that they are settled and secure. Children have opportunities to take part in small-
group games in the garden, which encourages children to cooperate, listen to instructions
and wait their turn. Children chase their friends and receive lots of praise from staff. Babies
enjoy exploring their emerging physical skills outside and dance and join with actions as
staff sing.
Next steps
To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the
following actions by the assigned date:
Action Completion Date
ensure that staff implement agreed strategies to support
children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities in order to more consistently implement
them in the setting to reduce and remove barriers to
achievement
28/07/2026
review the curriculum to ensure that it is suitably
planned and sequenced to meet the needs of each age
group of children to support their overall development
28/07/2026

Inspectors:
Sarah Taylor-Smith
Jennie O'Callaghan
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY428303
Address:
Silverdale Road
Tunbridge Wells
Kent
TN4 9HU
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 19/07/2011
Registered person: Busy Bees Nurseries Limited
Action Completion Date
implement effective strategies to monitor staff practice
to ensure that roles and responsibilities are suitably
fulfilled and gain a clear understanding of the quality of
practice within the setting in order to help drive
improvement
28/07/2026
About this inspection
The inspectors spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator
and parents during the inspection.
We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the
quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The
registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for
children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.
We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we
received about the provider. The provider will be able to give parents further information
about this.

Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:30
Local authority: Kent
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 17 June 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
90
Our grades explained
Exceptional
Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.
Strong standard
The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of
them.
Expected standard
The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are
following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional
standards expected of them.
Needs attention
The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary
improvements.
Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of
education and/or care.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects
services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects
and regulates services that care for children and young people.
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