Busy Bees Preschool
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Salisbury for from 2 years up to 5 year olds, open 08:30 to 16:00, 5 days a week. £6.50 an hour, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2022. Open since 2009, with 44 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
For families paying for childcare and children attending beyond their funded hours the hourly rate is only £6.50.
One published rate. What you pay depends on the days you need and the funded hours you can claim.
Funded hours
Children eligible for 2 year funding, and 15 & 30 hour funding for 3 & 4 year olds.
Worth knowing. Your child's funding covers all sessions, including the 8.30 service and 4 o'clock club. Charges apply only for hours beyond your child's eligible hours or for Hot Meals which are provided by Manor Fields School.
What childcare usually costs in Wiltshire
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Wiltshire 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
SP2 7EJWhat 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, 27 January 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children soon settle on arrival and are inquisitive to start exploring the activities and resources. For example, they help to make the play dough, commenting on whether they need more water and strengthening their hands and fingers ready for writing, as they manipulate the dough. The effective key-person system enables children to feel secure and want to explore the well-planned environment. Staff notice when children who are new to the setting want to join whole-group activities but are unsure. They provide sensitive support, enabling children to feel confident to have a go and take part. This empowers all children to make the most of the activities and resources. Staff help children to work collaboratively. For example, together they manage to carry large objects and consider ways to solve a problem.
Parents stopped entering the premises at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and most continue to pick up and drop off their children at the door, where they have daily opportunities to share important information. This new practice has had a positive impact on children by providing a calmer environment, where they settle quickly. Parents confirm how well staff work in partnership with them, especially when children have special educational needs. Parents refer to staff as 'nurturing'
and say their children have better social and speaking skills since attending the pre-school.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff further in helping children to resolve conflicts and understand how their behaviour impacts on others - strengthen the engagement with other settings children attend to more accurately identify and plan for children's development as soon as they start.
- 27 January 2022Good
- 10 November 2015Outstanding
- 14 January 2010Outstanding
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Busy Bees Preschool
- 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
Some of this is above, from the setting or from parents, and it can go out of date. The rest is in no dataset anywhere. Either way it is worth ten minutes on the phone.
- Is £6.50 an hour still the rate? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- How do you apply my funded hours? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Do you have a place for a child of my age now? 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.