Busy Bees Playgroup
GoodBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in Thame for children from birth to 5, open sessions in term time, often mornings. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in November 2024. Open since 2011, with 26 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
OX9 3DHWhat 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, 28 November 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are eager to start their day at this welcoming playgroup. Staff spend time with children and get to know them when they first start. This helps children to settle quickly and form reassuring bonds with staff. Staff provide a calm environment and implement simple routines to create a safe and consistent experience for children. Children are gaining in confidence and behave well.
Children are provided with a broad curriculum that includes a range of interesting activities and experiences. Overall, these suitably capture children's attention and help children make some gains in their learning. Physical development is supported well at the setting. Children enjoy playing in the outside area, running, riding the scooters and balancing carefully on the equipment, such as the age-appropriate climbing frame. Inside, children move and stretch their bodies, for example, as they practice their yoga. Children make marks for a purpose with a range of resources. All children have fun scooping and exploring the coloured water. They use a range of containers and pipettes to transport the water, as they develop use of their hand muscles. Staff join in with children's play in ways that enhances their learning and does not interrupt their fun. For example, in the home corner children pretend to go shopping. Staff respectfully ask children if they can join in with their play, and when invited to do so, show children different ways of using resources, and model the language children need to play purposefully. This helps to increase children's developing vocabulary.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to develop further awareness of their responses to children, such as engaging with children who may be quieter.
- 28 November 2024Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 8 March 2019Outstanding
- 28 January 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Busy Bees Playgroup
- 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.