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Day nursery in Bury St Edmunds

Busy Bees Day Nursery at Bury St Edmunds

Good★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades

A day nursery in Bury St Edmunds for children from birth to 5, open 07:30 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 May 2024. Open since 2010, with 96 places.

Call 01284 829980Their website

Cost

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 Suffolk

£6.33an hour, typical for a 2 years old
£6.00an hour, typical for a 3 and 4 years old

This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Suffolk from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.

The basics

Places, hours and the day

Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.

Who they can take
Birth to 5Registered from birth. Whether there is a baby room is a question for the call.
When it's open
07:30 to 18:00, 5 days a weekFrom their Google listing
Funded hours
Not published, so ask them
Google rating
5.0 out of 5From 13 Google reviews. NurseryWise has none of its own.
How many children
96 placesLarge for England
How long open
16 yearsOpen for decades
Address
Macmillan Way, Off Hardwick Lane, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 2GJ

Where it is

IP33 2GJ
Ofsted URN EY407654On the register since 30 June 2010
Ofsted

What 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 has looked into a concern about this setting. That means something was raised and Ofsted acted on it. It does not by itself say what was found — the document does.

Ofsted inspector, 17 May 2024 · read the full report

What it is like to attend

Children happily enter the nursery and are welcomed by nurturing staff. Staff work closely with parents to make sure they know babies' routines at home and follow these to help them settle quickly. As a result, babies have strong attachments with their key person, which promotes their emotional well-being.

Staff plan an effective curriculum to help children make good progress and be ready for the next stage in their learning. The environment for babies is planned well to enable them to develop their core muscles as they pull to stand on low-level furniture. Children take part in small group activities where they enjoy songs and dance. Staff read familiar stories to children and encourage children to recall familiar phrases. Children show positive attitudes towards their learning and play, and they generally behave well.

Children enjoy being physically active in the outdoor environment. Young children develop their hand-to-eye coordination as they scoop mud, leaves and twigs into bowls to make mud pies. Staff teach children to be resilient learners. For example, when they pour their mixture from one bowl to another and it spills on the floor, they encourage children to try again. This supports children to work hard to achieve and gives them a sense of pride in what they can do for themselves.

What Ofsted told them to improve

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:

- support staff to maintain the quality of interaction with children throughout the day, especially at times of transition n help staff working with younger children to build on behaviour management strategies to help children understand what is expected of them and how their behaviour affects others.

  • 17 May 2024Good
  • 15 August 2019Good
  • 24 September 2018Needs improvement

Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.

Still missing for Busy Bees Day Nursery at Bury St Edmunds

  • 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.

Before you ring

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.
Compare

Day nurseries within a couple of miles

This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.

Colourbox@Redwoods

Day nursery · Nowton Park Centre, Bury Road, Bury St. Edmunds, IP29 5BD

OutstandingBirth to 8+08:00 to 17:15, 5 days a week30 placesOpen a few years
1.0 mi
19 min walk
07981396417Their website

Little Angels Day Care

Day nursery · St Edmundsbury Primary School, Grove Road, Bury St. Edmunds, IP33 3BJ

GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 8+Babies from 9 months08:00 to 17:30, 5 days a week38 placesLong established
1.4 mi
4 min drive
07572065165Their website

Pick two or three to compare.

Everything here comes from Ofsted's published childcare register, under the Open Government Licence. Ratings are quoted exactly as Ofsted gave them, with their dates. Read the full Ofsted reports · How we put this together.

All childcare in Bury St Edmunds