Bumble Bees Private Day Nursery School
GoodBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Tonbridge for children from birth to 5, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in February 2025. Open since 2024, with 58 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Kent
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Kent from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
TN12 6ABWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 20 February 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children and their families are at the heart of this happy and family focused setting.
The long-standing staff team is highly committed and dedicated to ensuring that they provide high-quality care and education. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from very kind and caring staff who know them incredibly well. For example, staff ensure that small groups of children have access to different rooms, uniquely set up to develop children's interests in creativity, mathematics and literacy. Children thoroughly enjoy exploring the roleplay area, spending time making pretend cakes for their friends and developing their imagination. Staff provide children with a range of activities and experiences to support their understanding of others. Children learn about their friends' needs through puppets and stories to support their wider understanding. They celebrate their friends' cultures and learn about others positively. This means children learn to be very inclusive and to value and respect their friends and their families.
Staff plan an ambitious curriculum based on children's needs, interests and ages.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: - support staff to identify when they can further enhance opportunities for children to do things for themselves to support their developing independence skills n strengthen staff's skills in including all children in planned activities and ensuring that everyone can take an active part.
- 20 February 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
Still missing for Bumble Bees Private Day Nursery School
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Is there a place for my child's age? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.