Busy Bees Day Nursery at Bicester
Good★ 4.9 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Bicester for children from birth to 8+, 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 July 2023. Open since 2000, with 139 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 Oxfordshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Oxfordshire 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
OX26 3HAWhat 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, 17 July 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are happy, confident, friendly and have superb bonds with staff. They show they feel safe and secure as they happily play alongside staff and seek them out for support when needed. Children respond positively to staff as they are supported to share and take turns. For example, children cooperate well as they create and build tunnels to roll balls through and catch at the bottom.
Children show high levels of engagement and have a positive attitude towards their learning. For example, children enjoy using construction blocks to build towers, thinking about how tall they can make them. Staff ask questions to promote children's critical thinking and introduce mathematical concepts of size. They ask children to estimate how many blocks they would need to make a tower as tall as themselves. Children thoroughly enjoy exploring the inviting garden area. Staff encourage children to consider and manage risks as they challenge themselves while climbing on the apparatus in the garden.
Staff provide an ongoing dialogue that supports children's communication and language development. Children learn about letter sounds as they explore finger paint to form the letters in their names. This supports their early literacy skills.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- enhance the arrangements to coordinate the planning and support for children who are waiting for assessments from outside agencies.
- 17 July 2023Good
- 30 August 2019Good
- 12 May 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Busy Bees Day Nursery at Bicester
- 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.