Busy Bees Day Nursery at Stevenage Great Ashby
Good★ 4.6 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Stevenage for children from birth to 5, open 07:30 to 18:30, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2025. Open since 2002, 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 Hertfordshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Hertfordshire 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
SG1 6NHWhat 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.
- 27 March 2024 — Concern: actions taken what Ofsted published
Ofsted inspector, 7 January 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Management and staff warmly welcome children on their arrival. Settling-in procedures are effective. This supports all children to develop a sense of belonging and enables them to quickly establish relationships with their designated key person. Staff are responsive to the children's care needs and actively support their development. For example, staff working with the younger children show them how to prepare 'food' at the pretend cooker. Children copy, become engaged in their play and eagerly proceed to prepare and serve food for their friends. Staff provide a good range of opportunities for children to practise their small muscle and coordination skills in readiness for early writing. For example, during string painting activities, staff show younger children how to use their pincer grip to hold the string before dipping it into the paint.
Staff offer children daily opportunities to implement and practise the skills and knowledge they have been learning. For example, older children draw around their feet and count the number of feet, comparing this to the number of children in the room. Additionally, children further demonstrate their knowledge of size by finding smaller and larger objects. Staff support children to be active in the fresh air, making obstacle courses, which enhances children's physical skills. Younger children practise their developing climbing skills as they learn to climb the steps of the wooden bridge. They are praised for their achievements, which encourages them to persist.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to consistently use their interactions with the children to promote the children's development to the highest level n offer a wider range of play and learning opportunities in the outdoor environment to support children who prefer to learn outdoors.
- 7 January 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 17 January 2024Needs improvement
- 28 September 2018Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Busy Bees Day Nursery at Stevenage Great Ashby
- 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.