URN 147572 · Inspected 2026-08-05 · Published 2026-09-24 · Inspector: Jacqueline Halpin
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Mill Hill Unique reference number (URN): 147572 Address: 30 Millway, Mill Hill, London, NW7 3RB Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 05/12/2000 Registers: EYR Registered person: Busy Bees Day Nurseries (Trading) Limited Inspection report: 5 August 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 Achievement Expected standard Children enjoy daily play outside, which contributes to their good health. Children fill and pour water from containers which helps to strengthen their hand muscles. Children explore weights and measures accurately, as they consider whether objects are heavy or light. Children demonstrate delight in their achievements and the praise that is given. Children access learning which is age- and stage-appropriate. This helps them to build knowledge and learning over time, so that they can move to the next stage of learning with confidence. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are making good progress from their starting points. Children benefit from carefully planned activities to meet their needs and interests. For example, when children are settling in, resources are readily available to soothe children and engage them in learning. Leaders swiftly adapt the environment to meet the individual needs of every child. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard Leaders and staff have high expectations of how children should behave. Staff are positive role models who lead by example. For example, during mealtimes, staff are calm and talk to children with interest. Staff talk to children at eye level and are respectful to their needs. This helps children gain a positive attitude to their learning and feel valued. Staff ensure that any poor behaviour is swiftly addressed. Staff have routines which children know and understand well. For example, before mealtimes, all children wash their hands, many without prompting. After lunch, young children have a sleep. Some children independently take their shoes off and place them in a basket before lying on their sleep mat. This reduces the likelihood of cross contamination and promotes good hygiene practice. Staff are effective in building trusting relationships with children and families. This helps in understanding the individual needs of children and supporting the emotional needs of every child as they transition through each room. Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard Leaders ensure that all children's welfare and wellbeing, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, is key to their success. The key-person system is effective in fostering children's emotional health, through positive relationships with parents and a nurturing approach to care and teaching. Children respond well to this approach and generally settle in quickly to nursery. Leaders provide children with nutritious and varied meals to support healthy choices. Children enjoy the varied menu and use lunchtime as a social event where staff and children talk and interact. Mealtimes are now consistently monitored to ensure that any choking incidents are prevented. Staff do not allow children to leave the table before checking that children do not have food in their mouth. Safety is also prioritised at sleep time, where hygiene practice is followed by all children, and sleeping areas are a calm and quiet space to rest. Leaders and staff recognise the importance of children expressing their emotions. For example, when children are settling in, staff prepare and gain an understanding of individual interests. This helps to secure children's emotional wellbeing. Curriculum and teaching Expected standard Leaders have an action plan to strengthen the curriculum and teaching in all rooms. They have a good understanding of what they want to teach and how this will be delivered consistently to ensure that children learn in sequence with high-quality teaching. Progress has swiftly been made so that staff have a greater understanding of consistent and purposeful teaching. The curriculum is varied and offers children a wide range of learning opportunities. Leaders are working towards an ambitious curriculum that considers every child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders are overseeing that the curriculum is taught well with clear intentions. As yet, high-quality teaching is yet to be embedded. Children learn about mathematics from a young age. Babies hear counting and older children learn how to compare numbers with objects. For example, children are asked to count animals and then link with the number cards. Staff extend children's knowledge and ask them to hold up their fingers to the number identified. Children are excited as they confidently share their enjoyment of numbers. Leaders and staff encourage parents to share family photos. This is how children learn about what makes them unique and about those around them who may be similar but different. Inclusion Expected standard Leaders and staff have high expectations for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to make good progress and thrive. Staff take time to get to know the children well, and interventions are swiftly put in place to narrow the gap in learning. Children are assessed during their settling-in period and up to six weeks, to establish their starting points in which to identify next steps. Ongoing assessments identify where children, including those who are disadvantaged, need further support. Leaders and staff work with professionals to help reduce the barriers to learning. For example, staff work with the local authority inclusion team and the teacher of the deaf to gather strategies to support children's next steps. Some staff have accessed specialist training to support children who have SEND and help them reach their full potential. Leadership and governance Expected standard Recent changes in leadership have led to swift, demonstrable steps to put things right, following welfare requirement notices that have recently been served. Leaders ensure that staff knowledge in safeguarding is robust to include procedures to follow when a child arrives at nursery with an existing injury. Leaders now ensure that safeguarding is prioritised to ensure the safety of children, this includes whistleblowing procedures. Leaders ensure that daily assessments, in particular to the outside areas, are implemented to keep children safe during play. Leaders have effective oversight to ensure that staff are deployed in each room. This helps to support the good health of all children and ensure that during mealtimes, children are supervised to prevent any choking incidents. Sleep routines are now consistent to ensure that good hygiene practice is always followed. Leaders are working with staff to quickly identify their strengths and where further support is needed. This is to embed consistent and high-quality teaching which has been identified as an area of improvement by leaders. Staff are valuing this approach and are working as a team to provide a nurturing learning environment for all children. Leaders are quickly getting to know parents and establishing partnerships so that positive relationships can be developed between nursery and home. However, this is yet to be embedded to strengthen family engagement. What it's like to be a child at this setting Children arrive and are warmly greeted by kind and attentive staff which helps children to settle. Children share their experiences with staff and their friends throughout the day, demonstrating that they feel safe, secure and ready to learn. Children have lots of opportunities during the day to build on their physical skills. They use wooden blocks from which to jump, to build their balance and core strength, which staff have lined up. Children have the confidence to extend their learning by extending the line with various resources of their choice to share with their friends. This helps to develop their problem-solving skills and social interactions. Children have opportunities to jump, hop, cycle and climb which helps to develop secure physical development. Children behave very well as staff are positive role models. Any unwanted behaviour is swiftly managed to meet the individual needs of every child. Leaders monitor the attendance of children and follow up each day when children who are expected to attend do not arrive. This helps to build communication between nursery and parents and support good attendance. Children listen to stories, and staff talk to children throughout the day during play and routines. This helps to build on children's vocabulary and supports them to become confident communicators. Babies enjoy snuggling up with staff as they hear storytelling. Older children help to turn the pages as they become familiar with the story books. Children are developing a love of books. Children enjoy interacting with one another. For example, children learn about the buildings they live in and point to photos of buildings which they link with their home life. They point to photos of their family to share their experiences with enthusiasm. Children who need additional support in their learning are quickly identified as staff know the children well. Strategies are put into place to narrow the gap in learning and support children Inspector: Jacqueline Halpin About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 147572 Address: 30 Millway Mill Hill London NW7 3RB Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 05/12/2000 Registered person: Busy Bees Day Nurseries (Trading) Limited Register(s): EYR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00 to reach their potential. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting point. Next steps Leaders should continue to strengthen the delivery of curriculum to ensure consistency of teaching from all staff. Leaders should improve parent partnerships further so that learning is extended at home. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, special educational needs coordinator, staff 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. Local authority: Barnet Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 5 August 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 78 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. 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