Busy Bees Day Nursery at Reading Woodley
Good★ 4.9 on GoogleBirth to 8+Open for decades
A day nursery in Reading for children from birth to 8+, 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 They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask.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 February 2023. Open since 2004, with 112 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 Wokingham
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Wokingham 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
RG5 4ULWhat 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.
- 18 June 2026 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
- 7 April 2025 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
- 10 May 2024 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 17 February 2023 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children arrive excited and eager to start their day. They respond with smiles to the warm and friendly greetings from staff. Children are motivated to learn and swiftly engage in the exciting activities on offer. They enjoy joining in with friends and readily invite them into their play. Children welcome new people and keenly engage with them. For example, babies share a photo album of their family with the inspector and beam with pride. This affirms that children feel safe and comfortable at the setting.
Children learn to be independent from the outset. They are given ample opportunities to practise and manage their self-care skills, which they do with increasing success. For instance, babies take tissues to clean their noses. Toddlers learn to use a knife and fork at mealtimes. Older children organise plates and cutlery in the dining room and self-serve their meals.
Children behave very well and show respect, such as when they move from one routine to the next in a calm manner. Staff use prompts to help them understand and follow the rules, such as to use 'walking feet' indoors. Children's emotional development is supported well. They learn to recognise different emotions in an age-appropriate way. For instance, older children identify how they are feeling by accessing an emotions display board.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- strengthen monitoring of staff's practice to identify their individual training needs more precisely and help raise the quality of teaching to a consistently high level n build on staff's teaching strategies even further to allow all children sufficient time to respond more thoughtfully to questions in their own time n support individual staff to plan activities based on their knowledge of what children know already and can achieve next to ensure that children reach their full potential.
- 17 February 2023Good
- 2 June 2017Good
- 2 April 2013Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Busy Bees Day Nursery at Reading Woodley
- 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.