Busy bees Quedgeley - any views or reviews?

[jerseygal78]

Just that really. Thinking of putting my dd (2) into Busy Bees Day Nursery in Quedgeley but can't find any reviews online. Do any parents / staff or ex-parents / ex- staff have any experience of it they could share please. Thanks!

[TiggyD]

Busy Bees vary a bit due to them being several chains that have been taken over recently. They're now run by a pension company. They are also run on a shoestring and tend not to have many toys. They're also extremely tight with food.
I was at one for lunch recently. The children had a starter and a main with no pudding. The starter was garlic bread. It was thick, good quality bread and tasty, but it was a slice the size of about one quarter of a standard slice. The children were served it with their pasta and then asked for pudding. The staff all had to tell the children that there was no pudding and that what they had was all they were getting. The pasta wasn't popular so half the children in the room only had a quarter of a slice of bread between snack at 10 and tea at 4.
The toys were sparse and most looked like they were bought from a car boot sale. The 'home corner' consisted of the usual cooking furniture, but was accessorised with a food mixer, 3 or 4 bowls and plates, 1 spoon, and one plastic lettuce leaf. The few boxes of toys were brought out again and again and few held the children's interest, so the children were restless/bored/disruptive, playing running and throwing games indoors.
The staff were pretty good, apart from one, who described a seemingly fairly pleasant child as a "nasty piece of work".

I don't see any sign of them trying to improve other than nagging their staff to be better. I really would advise people to avoid them.

[puntasticusername]

I know a family who use that nursery - I believe they're happy with it, don't know any details though, sorry.