Busy Bees Day Nursery at Weymouth

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Weymouth
Unique reference number (URN): EY435250
Address: 1 Cumberland Drive, Granby Industrial Estate, Weymouth, Dorset, DT4 9TT
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 12/08/2011
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Busy Bees Nurseries Limited
Inspection report: 27 January 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 make steady progress from their starting points and develop the foundational
knowledge they need for their next stage of learning. However, inconsistencies in teaching
mean they do not always make maximum progress. Children grow in confidence when
communicating, as they share their needs and feelings with familiar adults. Babies have
positive bonds with staff and express their needs clearly to them, for example as they ask
for more food at lunchtime.
Children build their independence through purposeful actions, such as pouring their own
water from a jug and sweeping the floor to clear sand. These skills help them prepare for
their next stage of learning. Children develop their language skills as they participate in
singing familiar songs and join in with repeated phrases. Children with special educational
needs and/or disabilities and those who may face barriers to learning make clear gains,
such as moving from single words to speaking in short sentences.
Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders establish an inclusive culture where staff identify and assess children's individual
needs promptly. Staff recognise emerging concerns as they notice changes in behaviour
and home circumstances. They work closely with families to agree early support. Leaders
address barriers to learning, such as low attendance, swiftly. They target individual support
effectively, review children's needs regularly and adjust support appropriately.
Staff understand the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities
(SEND) and those known to social care. They adapt their interactions with these children
and the environment to help them participate confidently alongside their peers. For example,
staff adapt their language to encourage children with additional needs to join in with farm
animal play with others. Leaders work in close partnership with external professionals. This
ensures that disadvantaged children receive timely and targeted support.
Leaders use additional funding thoughtfully to reduce disadvantage. For example, extra
adult support enables children to move freely and settle more confidently, which improves
their engagement and wellbeing. They monitor the impact of this funding carefully.
Leaders with specific responsibility for SEND receive relevant training to strengthen their
understanding of inclusive practice. They maintain ongoing communication with families so
that support remains consistent between home and the setting.

Needs attention
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Needs attention
Staff teach children rules, such as lining up to go outdoors, but they do not manage these
well enough to support children's wellbeing or learning. Children often wait for long periods
while staff attend to individual needs or tidy up. During these times, staff supervise less
effectively, and children engage in unsafe or unhygienic behaviours, such as drinking dirty
water. These delays also reduce valuable learning time.
Leaders establish positive expectations for behaviour, and many children form warm,
trusting relationships with staff. Children seek them out for comfort. Staff teach children how
to share and take turns, and children collaborate successfully during play. For example,
children engage in role play together in the home corner, taking telephone calls. Babies
show growing kindness for each other in their play, such as by passing toys to peers.
However, staff do not apply expectations consistently. While staff address some incidents of
poor behaviour promptly, they overlook others because gaps in supervision prevent them
from noticing these incidents. This inconsistency limits children's ability to learn how to
manage their actions.
Leaders promote the importance of attendance and punctuality, and they support families to
maintain regular routines. In group activities, staff do not consistently help children sustain
attention, which reduces their developing focus and engagement.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention
Although staff generally keep children safe, they do not always follow safer eating
procedures. Staff do not clean tables thoroughly before food is served, and weak
supervision means children mix foods, spit food onto the table and pick up food handled by
others. This exposes children to unnecessary risks, including from allergens and choking.
Most children, including those who face barriers to learning, form trusting relationships with
key staff. However, some children take a long time to settle, and staff do not always use
effective strategies to reassure them. Staff promote positive messages about healthy
choices. Children learn about nutritious and less-nutritious foods through play. For example,
staff ask children to provide a puppet monkey with healthy foods. Staff work closely with
parents to tailor weaning routines and review these regularly. Leaders prioritise dental
hygiene and share resources for home.
Children learn to describe their feelings as they relate them to coloured soft toys. This helps
them to recognise and label their emotions. Staff handle nappy changing sensitively, using
eye contact and conversation to build secure attachments. Staff work closely with families to
support sleep routines. They play calming music and provide attentive support to help them
to settle. As a result, children sleep well at the setting.

Curriculum and teaching Needs attention
Leaders set out a curriculum that covers all areas of learning. However, the quality of
teaching and implementation of this curriculum are inconsistent. Weaknesses in practice are
not identified quickly enough. Staff use assessment to identify children's needs, including
those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or facing other barriers. However,
they do not consistently adapt teaching for those children without additional needs. This
means that learning is often incidental rather than intentional. For example, in pre-school,
staff do not consistently use skilled reading or questioning to engage children with books. As
a result, some children disengage during story times and do not benefit from the intended
learning.
Staff plan mathematical learning across the curriculum, yet they do not reliably build on what
children know. They sometimes introduce tasks that are too difficult. This limits children's
understanding and leads to overly directed interactions.
Staff provide broad opportunities and activities every day. They prioritise physical
development, particularly for babies who regularly use soft-play equipment. Children spend
time outdoors in all weathers, but staff do not always use these opportunities purposefully to
extend learning. Staff support babies' personal, social and emotional development
appropriately, and most babies form secure attachments. Staff talk to children about their
emotions and help them to identify their feelings.
Leadership and governance Needs attention
Although leaders identify where staff practice is ineffective, they have not acted quickly
enough to address these weaknesses. As a result, poor supervision leads to some unsafe
practices during mealtimes and places children at risk. Staff often prioritise domestic tasks
over engaging with the children, and unwanted behaviour is overlooked. This means that
they do not always meet children's needs. Staff access training and development, but these
opportunities have not yet resulted in consistent practice. Staff sometimes interact passively
and miss opportunities to extend children's learning. This means that professional learning is
not having the intended impact.
Leaders benefit from support from the wider organisation, and both they and staff speak
positively about the guidance they receive. Leaders have an emerging understanding of the
setting's strengths and weaknesses. Their evaluations during the inspection aligned with
identified concerns. For example, leaders recognise that transitions are not working well and
begin to consider how to improve them.
Leaders make decisions with children's best interests in mind, especially those who are
disadvantaged or have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They plan supervision
sessions to support staff wellbeing and ensure that their workloads are manageable. Staff
find these sessions useful.

What it's like to be a child at this setting
Inconsistent supervision affects children's day-to-day experience. Staff often focus on tidying
and organising resources rather than interacting with children. As a result, they do not
always supervise children well and they sometimes miss minor accidents. This reduces how
secure children feel and limits opportunities for them to learn and thrive through high-quality
interactions. Staff do not consistently provide the high-quality care, learning and sense of
belonging that children need to flourish.
That being said, children enjoy many aspects of their day at this setting. They regularly sing
songs, explore books and share stories with adults. For example, one child passes a book
to an adult to read to them, while they 'read' to a toy baby. This shows their growing
enjoyment of early reading. Children benefit from a spacious outdoor area where they can
move freely, run and explore equipment suited to their age and stage. Staff plan activities
thoughtfully and adapt resources so that toddlers and older children can explore in ways that
match their developing skills. For example, staff provide large scoops for toddlers and
pipettes for pre-school children during water play.
Most children form warm, trusting relationships with their key person. Babies share joyful
moments with staff, such as knocking down blocks in sand together, and staff respond with
enthusiasm and eye contact. Staff engage children in conversation, although staff do not
always use questioning or language purposefully enough to deepen learning.
Staff support children sensitively when they move between rooms or prepare for school.
This includes children who face barriers, disadvantaged children and those with special
educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders work closely with local schools to tailor
transition visits so that children feel confident and ready for their next steps.
Next steps
The provider is not meeting the requirements of the Early years foundation stage and Ofsted
intends to take enforcement action.
We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to have taken the
following actions by the assigned date:
Action Completion
Date

Inspector:
Alanda Phillips
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): EY435250
Address:
1 Cumberland Drive
Granby Industrial Estate
Weymouth
Dorset
DT4 9TT
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 12/08/2011
Registered person: Busy Bees Nurseries Limited
Action Completion
Date
improve the quality of teaching and interactions through sharply
focused professional learning so that all children receive high-quality
learning experiences
30/03/2026
use staff effectively to ensure children are adequately supervised and
that their needs are met
06/02/2026
ensure that staff follow safer eating procedures and always have
children within sight and hearing whilst eating.
28/01/2026
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, staff, parents
and children 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.

Register(s): EYR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Dorset
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 27 January 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
59
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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