Opening hours
Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 18:30
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Norwich Hospital
Ofsted: Strong standard·
3.8(19 parent reviews)
·Colney Lane, Colney, NR4 7UX · Norfolk
Number of places
114 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Jan 2026
Local authority
Norfolk
About this day nursery
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Norwich Hospital, established in 2005, provides high-quality childcare for children aged 0-4 years. Located in Colney, Norwich, the nursery operates Monday to Friday from 7:00 AM to 6:30 PM, all year round.
The setting embraces the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum, tailoring it to meet the unique needs of each child. The dedicated staff, with their expert understanding of child development, ensure all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or those who speak English as an additional language (EAL), make excellent progress from their individual starting points.
The nursery proactively supports children with SEND through thoughtfully designed calm spaces and targeted support plans developed in partnership with parents and external professionals. For EAL children, the nursery celebrates diverse cultural backgrounds and provides staff with targeted training, including sign language, to strengthen communication support.
Children enjoy rich outdoor learning opportunities, fostering physical development and curiosity about the natural world. The nursery prides itself on creating a warm, inclusive, and supportive environment where children flourish, eager to learn and develop into confident, articulate, and resilient individuals.
What it's like
Children flourish in this warm and supportive nursery, eager to learn and quickly immersing themselves in activities. The inclusive environment and thoughtful curriculum adaptation ensure that all children, including those with barriers to learning, thrive and make excellent progress, building secure relationships with staff.
Strong standardInclusive environmentExcellent progressOutdoor learningEffective SEND supportEnthusiastic learners
Key facts
Term time / All Year
All_year
Established
2005
Ofsted Inspection — new report card
Strong standard
Last inspected Jan 2026
Grade summary
Exceptional
—
Strong standard
Expected standard
—
Needs attention
—
Urgent improvement
—
Each dot represents one of the six inspection categories. Headline is the average of the six grades, rounded up.
Category grades
AchievementStrong standard
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routinesStrong standard
Children's welfare and wellbeingStrong standard
Curriculum and teachingStrong standard
InclusionStrong standard
Leadership and governanceStrong standard
Age range
0 to 4
Registers
Early Years Register
Ofsted Inspection
Ofsted rating for Busy Bees Day Nursery at Norwich Hospital
Last inspected 26 January 2026
What it's like to attend
Children flourish in this warm and supportive nursery, eager to learn and quickly immersing themselves in activities. The inclusive environment and thoughtful curriculum adaptation ensure that all children, including those with barriers to learning, thrive and make excellent progress, building secure relationships with staff.
Inspector highlights
- All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make excellent progress from their starting points.
- Staff focus on developing children's communication and language skills, and children become confident and articulate communicators.
- Children's welfare and wellbeing are prioritised, and they form secure attachments, demonstrating excellent behaviour.
- Rich opportunities for children to learn outdoors promote physical development and curiosity about the natural world.
- Leaders design an ambitious curriculum responsive to individual needs, with staff consistently adapting teaching for inclusivity and expert knowledge of child development.
Areas to develop
- 1Leaders and those responsible for governance should sustain their work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of those who may face barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.
Inspection #10210806 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report
Inclusion & environment
How they support every child
SEND provision
All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make excellent progress from their starting points. Leaders use additional funding effectively to create thoughtfully designed calm spaces where children can relax and regulate their emotions and behaviour. Staff are dedicated to their roles and work proactively with leaders and special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinators to identify and assess children's needs and identify emerging developmental concerns at the earliest opportunity. Leaders establish purposeful partnerships with parents and carers and external professionals to implement precisely targeted support plans.
Outdoor space
Rich opportunities for children to learn outdoors promote physical development. Children explore the outdoor environment with enthusiasm and show curiosity about the natural world. They assess risk and make safe, informed choices in their play.
EAL / language support
The nursery proactively promotes the diverse cultural backgrounds of children who speak English as an additional language to share their culture and experiences. Leaders focus on professional development to ensure staff are well equipped with targeted training, including in sign language, to strengthen their ability to support communication and language development.
Parent Reviews of Busy Bees Day Nursery at Norwich Hospital
3.8
(19)
Shaun
11 months ago
Son has been going for 8 months now and has been developing very well. The staff know him well, send us pictures via a secure app and he loves attending. Sensible use of paracetamol with parental consent and every effort taken by the staff to keep him in nursery rather than send him home for minor illnesses which is hugely appreciated! He gets a good diet and the daily menus are clearly visible. We've even had handmade cards from staff members who have cared for him when he's transitioned to his next room!
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Jennifer Price
a year ago
Our little boy loves all the staff and is always happy when we pick him up. They seem to go out of their way to get to know your child and genuinely care about their happiness and wellbeing. I love the daily updates and the opportunities to do messy play and other Montessori type activities.
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Lindsay Jamieson
a year ago
Such a lovely nursery, the staff go out of their way to ensure excellent child care, the devotion the have to learning is amazing. My daughter has learned and developed so much with her time there.
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Afnan Khalifa
2 years ago
The nursery staff are fantastic and all friendly. They helped my son to settle so quickly. The management now so bad and they don’t know how to deal ethically with parents. They don’t try to solve problems, when even something goes wrong instead of feeling sorry and solving issues they just distress parents. They have done something completely unethically due to sticking to terms and condition. I don’t recommend this nursery to anyone. When Linda was there she was fantastic at managing the nursery even kids loved her so much. But manager there now doesn’t even have good communications skills and how to deal with parents enquiries. She spoke very rudely and in provocative way.
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Nina Fitz
2 years ago
The worst place and staff I have ever seen. There is always something wrong with thier staff. The managerial is so down, they do not manage the place properly. They are actually staff work in there and they obviously do not like children! I have seen it with my own eyes, mistreatment of children by manager and staff. I think government should introduce mentall health check for people who work around children because if someone is not happy in their own lief, they can not be happy around other people and seeing successful people cause them jealousy and more anxiety. Putting my child busy bees is one of my biggest regret ever. There is something seriously wrong with the staff! Also, they always refuse to Collaborate with parents regarding potty training and etc. They just care about money.
Read on GoogleReviews from Google for Busy Bees Day Nursery at Norwich Hospital. See all on Google Maps
Inspection history
Date: June 2013
The most recent inspection point has been hidden because the parsed entry didn't match the headline Ofsted rating (Good). We're re-checking it against the original report.
- November 2021Good
- September 2019Good
- August 2016Good
- September 2014Good
- June 2013Outstanding
Frequently asked about Busy Bees Day Nursery at Norwich Hospital
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