The Bees Knees Day Nursery
GoodTakes funded hours★ 5.0 on GoogleBirth to 5Open for decades
A day nursery in Hemel Hempstead for babies from a few weeks old up to 5 year olds, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. £74.00 a day for bumble Bees and Honey Bees, and they take the funded hours. Rated Good by Ofsted in April 2024. Open since 1993, with 60 places.
What it costs
Prices change without notice. Treat these as what to ask about, not a quote.
Term time only, 38 weeks a year.
| Age | Full day | Session | Weekly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bumble Bees and Honey Bees12m to 2y | £74.008am to 6pm | £37.001pm to 5pm, 4 hrs £38.001pm to 6pm or 8am to 1pm, 5 hrs | £370.00Full-time | |
| Busy Bees Pre-School | £68.008am to 6pm | £34.001pm to 5pm, 4 hrs £35.001pm to 6pm or 8am to 1pm, 5 hrs | £340.00Full-time |
Funded hours
15 hours free nursery education a week for 38 weeks per year, term time only; 30 hours a week free for 38 weeks of the year, term time only; 9 months, 2 year old funding or 3 and 4 year old 15 or 30 hours funding.
Worth knowing. Non term time sessions (14 weeks) - sessions in addition to the funded sessions, meals, extra curriculum and consumables etc are charged pro rota and paid on a weekly/monthly basis in advance. If your child is funded you will be asked to pay a commitment fee which is returned when your child leaves.
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
HP2 5TDWhat 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, 11 April 2024 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
Children are excited to arrive at the nursery. They rush to greet staff and managers before engaging in the many stimulating activities that staff plan. A highly effective key-person system means that children feel settled and secure in the care of the nurturing staff. Babies, in particular, form exceptionally close bonds with staff. They gaze into their faces and giggle and smile, and are soothed by their reassuring presence.
Staff across all rooms make good use of structured group sessions to support children's development. Children in the pre-school room use these sessions to explore the setting's rules and why they are in place. This supports them to develop a good understanding of appropriate behaviour and the need to cooperate with one another during play. Toddlers delight at the energetic song sessions that staff enthusiastically deliver. Staff use them as an opportunity to model new words and extend children's vocabulary.
Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported across all rooms. The dedicated special educational needs coordinator works closely with individual children and their key staff. She uses additional funding appropriately to provide targeted learning opportunities and high-quality one-toone care. This supports all children who attend the nursery to make good progress from their starting points.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- enhance the current methods of coaching and mentoring to ensure that leaders in the toddler room evaluate staff practice effectively, to support them to raise the quality of teaching to a consistently high standard.
- 11 April 2024Good
- 4 June 2018Good
- 24 September 2015Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 3 of the last 3 graded inspections.
Still missing for The Bees Knees Day Nursery
- 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
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 £74.00 a day 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.