Play Place Busy Bees
GoodTakes funded hoursBirth to 5Open for decades
A pre-school in South Croydon for babies from 9 months up to 5 year olds, open 09:00 to 15:00, 5 days a week. £10.00 an hour for under 2 years, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in October 2022. Open since 2009, with 24 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
| Age | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|
| Under 2 yearsbirth to 2y | £10.00Under 2 years | |
| Ages 2–3 years2y to 3y | £8.00Ages 2–3 years | |
| Ages 3–4 years3y to 4y | £7.00Ages 3–4 years |
Extras
Charged on top of the session rate.
- £1.00 a session elective snack chargeincludes two servings of nutritious snacks each day
- £2.00 a day Lunch at Wayside Nursery
Where this came from
The outlined line is the one the price was taken from.
Funded hours
All government-funded places for children aged over 9 months.
What childcare usually costs in Croydon
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Croydon 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
CR2 6EJWhat 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, 12 October 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are greeted warmly by staff, which enables them to settle quickly. They follow routines independently and organise their belongings upon arrival. For example, they hang coats on pegs and place their own water bottles on the water table. This promotes children's independence and self-awareness to look after their belongings.
Children are comfortable trying new activities that include the use of their favourite toys. For example, children race cars down pipes to compare and adjust speeds.
This engages children to try new activities and begins to build their understanding of trial and error.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- develop further staff interaction with children to ensure children are continuously challenged n ensure strategies used to support children that find it more difficult to regulate their behaviour are fully effective.
- 12 October 2022Good
- 17 October 2016Good
- 11 December 2012Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for Play Place Busy Bees
- 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 £10.00 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.
Pre-schools within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.