Busy Bees Day Nursery at Northampton Wootton Fields

Brandi Hawthorne

6 months ago

Very disappointed, requested funding placement ONLY, asked for a full day & half day. Explained how previous nursery accommodated according to funding hours. Questioned why child would be attending such long hours (8 - 1) (8-6) found this strange again because previous nursery only allowed child to attend the 15 hours funding as requested. Only once in placement & after questioning yet again - was it explained that the funding is covered in that time frame & anything extra must be paid by parents. This is not an option, it will leave us very low on funds come the end of the month when nursery invoice us. Child has only attended 1x 2 hour settle in session, 2 half days & 1 full day. Have attempted to withdraw placement & been informed to provide 2 months notice. Meaning again we have to pay for another month & child will loose out on other placements which have being researched & who will happily take child for funding hours only. Security is very lax as well and concerning, no one ever appears to be around can just walk in freely, chat and touch other people's children, see them use the toilet which happens unsupervised resulting in some children walking from toilet into class with pant/trousers down. No incident report when child has clear bruise on body only just advised what happened when collect. Overall cleanliness is below average. Love the garden it's amazing but everything else about the building is run down, rug children sleep on doesn't look like it's been washed in a very long time, toys are old, damaged and faded.

Alafiyah zahabi

a year ago

Even though I've heard Busy bees as a chain is good, we were disappointed with this particular Nursery. Wasn't the best experience compared to a previous nursery that my son went to. Was disappointed by the lack of communication. My son was there for 2 months before we pulled him out- 1/ never got his own name tag for his peg even though this was raised 2/they don't have a policy for hand/food and mouth meant children can come in within less than 24 hours - was also only notified by a note on the door and then also someone with chicken pox (turned out it wasn't like 2 days later) but they still could come in? Which meant that it was contagious for other children to get. No email/app updated regarding this 3/ Never once mentioned that my son had been doing any messy painting/drawings until we asked despite having to ask everyday what has he been doing 4/ App was poorly updated, barely any information on activity except that he was happy which is poor and sometimes food was not documented. 5/ did not care or even ask why my son was leaving or ask if we had concerns when we asked to leave. My son ended up with chicken pox so missed the last 2 days of his nursery, and even on this last day over a phone call it was like 'ok' as if they didn't care that he was leaving or not coming back. Probably wouldn't recommend from my experience.

Dipesh Joshi

2 years ago

Update: I emailed the address provided in the reply - No Response. Surprise surprise, let down again - trust me, Busy Bees do not care for customers or the children they take on. Day 1: Not the correct milk available for our child. Everyday sent home with food in his nose and hair. Carers left children to cry while just sitting there. Fed our baby foods he clearly did not like (receptively) and no alternatives provided until after complaining numerous times. Our baby was SGA and food was not fed accordingly. Our child et all his food with us and with our childminder. Cleanliness is poor, had an outbreak of a virus which took weeks to control. Management never available or visible during drop off 8:30 and pick up 5pm. One occasion was left standing at reception while manager was showing her colleague her phone and having a discussion. Poor handovers meant our baby was underfed for a week after the virus breakout. App is updated at the end of each day and completed incorrectly. Hardly any photos other than our last day at the nursery. Management said they will make changes for months, none visible other than our baby’s last day and in anticipation of this review. Overall, childminders are over worked and try their best. Sarah was amazing, but exhausted, she should be coached and trained as a Senior. Sally seems to have the charm when selling the nursery, but does little and is one to sit and watch baby’s cry and do nothing. Management is very poor, hidden away in their office and providing little support. Not visible or interested. Poor availability and number crunches. Overall the nursery is poor value for the premium price. They will tell you that your child has had a brilliant day even if your child has only eaten 1/3 of their food. Smile and nodding is what they do, but there is no substance to busybee’s overview. We chose a private childminder instead who takes our baby out on trips, engages in his development, feeds varieties of healthy food and is at a cost of half the price. Don’t let your child be a number, busybee do not work to a 3:1 ratio, they mix ages together and the staff have very little support. The only time I picked up my child while him being happy was when he was with Sarah, all other times baby's were just constantly crying. Our baby was clearly under fed, was not cleaned properly and would eat like a horse when he got home. I should have know it wasn’t a good idea to send our child to the nursery when I saw one hitting another with an empty tin can, and the staff didn’t respond, stop it or take corrective action until I mentioned it. I could go on, but I’ll leave it there. Our son is happier and better off where he is, relived today was our last day at busybee’s.

Niru Mohey

7 years ago

Great nursery, excellent location, good facilities, caring staff Down side - poor staff retention which does not help stability for the little ones. Busy Bees brand fleece parents with high fees but pay poorly to their staff. No staff incentives either. Busy Bees chain is too commercialized and out of touch!

K Newland

2 years ago

The staff are very polite, caring and lovely people. I would definitely recommend this Nersery. I can see the development in my child daily, she absolutely loves it at Busy Bees.