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Busy Bees Day Nursery at Tunbridge Wells

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Tunbridge Wells is a day nursery in Tunbridge Wells for children aged 0 to 4, with 90 registered places. Ofsted report card, 17 June 2026: Expected standard in 1 area, Needs attention in 5 areas; safeguarding standards met.

Silverdale Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 9HU

Key facts

Type
Day nursery (Full day care) (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Ages
0 to 4 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered places
90 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)
Registered
19 July 2011 (Ofsted childcare register, as at 30 June 2026)

Opening hours

Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:30

Source: Ofsted report, inspection on 17 June 2026

Who runs it

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Tunbridge Wells is run by Busy Bees Nurseries Limited (Ofsted register).

Latest inspection

  • Inclusion: Needs attention
  • Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention
  • Achievement: Needs attention
  • Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Needs attention
  • Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard
  • Leadership and governance: Needs attention
  • Safeguarding standards met

Source: Ofsted, inspection on 17 June 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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.

What Ofsted found in each area

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 the setting must and should do next

The provider must:

  • 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 (by 28 July 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 (by 28 July 2026)
  • 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 (by 28 July 2026)

Ofsted's words, from the report on the inspection on 17 June 2026. Read the full report on the Ofsted website. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Inspection history

  • 21 August 2025: Actions after a concern (report)
  • 24 October 2024: Full inspection, Good (report)
  • 2 July 2024: Actions after a concern (report)
  • 17 February 2022: Full inspection, Good (report)
  • 1 December 2016: Full inspection, Good (report)
  • 14 June 2013: Inspection (report)
  • 9 January 2012: Inspection (report)

Ofsted report cards (England, from November 2025)

Since 10 November 2025 Ofsted has graded nurseries and pre-schools on a report card. There is no single overall grade. Instead, each of six areas gets one of five grades: Exceptional, Strong standard, Expected standard, Needs attention, Urgent improvement.

The six areas are inclusion; curriculum and teaching; achievement; behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines; children's welfare and wellbeing; leadership and governance. Safeguarding is judged on its own, as met or not met.

Expected standard means the setting does what Ofsted expects of every setting. Strong standard and Exceptional are above that; Needs attention and Urgent improvement mean Ofsted found things the setting has to put right.

Source: Ofsted reports

Funded childcare hours in England

All 3 and 4 year olds in England can get 15 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.

Working parents of children aged 9 months to 4 years old can get 30 hours of free childcare a week for 38 weeks of the year (Free Childcare for Working Parents), if they meet the earnings rules. You confirm your details every 3 months.

Some 2 year olds can get 15 hours a week when the family gets certain kinds of extra support.

The hours are used at a registered provider that offers them, so ask each nursery how it offers the funded hours.

Source: GOV.UK: Free Childcare for Working Parents, check if you're eligible · GOV.UK: Free childcare and education for 2 to 4 year olds (checked 31 October 2026)

Other nurseries nearby

  • St Lukes Nursery School - Pre-school, Tunbridge Wells TN4 9JH, ages 2 to 4, 34 places, 0.1 miles
    Ofsted, 4 July 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • St Matthew's High Brooms Pre-school CIO - Pre-school, Tunbridge Wells TN4 9DA, ages 2 to 4, 40 places, 0.4 miles
    Ofsted, 15 May 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Sarahs Little Stars - Day nursery, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UA, ages 0 to 5, 0.5 miles
    Ofsted, 30 August 2023: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • Rainbow Nursery @ Little Forest Children's Centre - Day nursery, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UA, ages 0 to 4, 40 places, 0.5 miles
    Ofsted, 24 July 2025: Good overall; safeguarding is effective
  • The Education Space Tunbridge Wells LP - Day nursery, Tunbridge Wells TN1 2EY, 0.6 miles

Schools nearby

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Tunbridge Wells on the Ofsted website