Burstead Bears Day Nursery Limited
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Billericay for babies from 9 months up to school age, open 07:30 to 18:30, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in August 2021, though that is 5 years ago now. Open since 2006, with 37 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
9 month, 2, 3 and 4 year old children; up to 30 hours per week; 15 hours for 3 and 4 year olds; 15 hours for working parents of two year olds from April 2024; 15 hours extended to all children from the age of nine months from September 2024.
Worth knowing. Free entitlement offered over 51 weeks a year, taken in 3 x 7.45 hour sessions per week; minimum daily attendance is 10 hours; optional charges for consumables, food and snacks, additional services and viewing system; parents must complete Parent/Carer Agreement Form each term; eligible child can only take up free entitlement at a maximum of two providers.
What childcare usually costs in Essex
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Essex 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
CM11 2PZWhat 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, 6 August 2021 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are well cared for in a welcoming and homely nursery environment. They develop warm relationships with their key person and the staff team as a whole.
Babies show interest and curiosity, and benefit from staff who engage closely and enthusiastically with them. They show that they feel safe as they smile and snuggle into staff for comfort. Children develop strong bonds with staff, who know their care needs well. Older children enjoy taking part in number games where staff encourage them to find one more and one less than a given number. Toddlers enjoy squashing and kneading play dough with their fingers and using different tools to cut out shapes and make patterns. Staff engage children in discussions about the shapes and colours they are using, to secure their understanding of mathematical concepts.
Children develop good levels of independence. For example, younger children know to throw their tissue away after wiping their nose. Older children learn to dress themselves and attend to their self-care needs. All children develop strong physical skills as they learn to navigate different obstacles in the garden. Staff are always nearby to help when children need their support. Children's behaviour is good.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- review the planning and teaching of group activities to ensure that they consistently support the learning needs of all children as well as possible n use every opportunity to help children hear and use their home language during play and activities, to further support their development of speech.
- 6 August 2021Good
- 30 October 2019Needs improvement
- 27 October 2015Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Burstead Bears Day Nursery Limited
- What it costs
- 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
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? 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.