Busy Bears (Durham) Ltd
GoodTakes funded hours★ 4.6 on GoogleBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Durham for children from birth to 8+, open 07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They take the funded hours. They do not publish prices, so ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in July 2024. Open since 2017, with 172 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Funded hours
Funded 9 month – 2, 3 and 4Yr old places. All two, three and four year old children are entitled to Early Years funded sessions through the Free Early Years Education grant. There are currently 30 Hours FREE Early Years entitlement per week, across 38 weeks of the year.
Worth knowing. Funded Places – Chargeable Extras.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
DH7 7AAWhat 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.
- 11 April 2024 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 25 July 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children thrive in this high-quality nursery. Leaders plan and create a bespoke curriculum for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff have a secure understanding of children's development from the baby room through to the older pre-school room. This helps them support each child to learn key skills to help them be ready for school.
Children enjoy a wide range of experiences that they are keen to take part in.
Babies are eager to explore the exciting range of wooden and metallic play materials. Toddlers rapidly develop confidence to pour their own drinks and dress themselves as they prepare for toilet training. Older children are highly motivated in their play. For example, they persevere to use scissors to cut sticky tape to make a paper boat.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- maximise learning opportunities throughout routines, to provide children with consistent messages about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, including how to have a healthy diet n improve staff skills to consider the individual needs and development of each child to bring more challenging and enjoyable experiences to extend the learning of each child, in particular for problem-solving and mathematical development.
- 25 July 2024Good
- 25 September 2019Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Busy Bears (Durham) Ltd
- What it costs
- 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
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.
- 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.