ABOUT US
Busy Bees provides activities across all seven areas of learning from within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), (DfE, 2024), both indoors and in the garden.
Our activities are skills-based and flexible, adapting to the child's interest and involvement. Children benefit from a balance of adult-directed and child-led activities. Adults model skills, provide support and extend language, using their judgement about when to observe or intervene, assist with play progression, or let the children explore.
OUR SURROUNDINGS
We operate within the premises of Southwick Methodist Church, which is set in a residential area close to local schools. The building is wheelchair accessible and has an entry phone system for added security.
We occupy the rear hall of the building and have exclusive use of this, the children's toilet area and the garden during session times. The inner doors are kept locked during session times to enable us to be a self contained unit and ensure children's safety.
Our safe, secure garden consists of a large soft-surfaced area, with a large climbing frame which is mostly covered by a canopy, a grass area and a hard-surfaced area containing a mud kitchen. We also have a playhouse, which changes its function depending on the children's interests at the time. The children access the garden at every session through free flow play.
"Our daughter E has recently started at Busy Bees. We are extremely happy with how the transition has gone! The staff are incredible, friendly, nurturing and go above and beyond with the children. Our daughter is shy and we were apprehensive about how she would settle. She settled really well and very quickly thanks to all the staff. E has made a lovely bond with her key worker. E talks about her a lot and is very fond of her.
When I attended Busy Bees during the settling in process, I was blown away by the way the staff interact with the children. They are all so warm, caring and really knew all the children well. They play with the children and help to facilitate play between the children which I thought was brilliant. I really love the atmosphere at Busy Bees, all the children are excited to go in, in the morning and leave happy and smiling at the end of the day.
Busy Bees is great at creating a community, there are many events and opportunities for parents to get involved in, there is a stay and play coming up this week for example. E is really excited for her baby brother and I to come along and see what she gets up to.
The communication from Lorna has always been exceptional. She's been really flexible with us and made us feel so welcome joining Busy Bees.
E looks forward to her time at Busy Bees each week. We will be increasing her sessions in September and are on the waiting list to increase even more. The fact Busy Bees is at full capacity really is testament to what an amazing job they are all doing there.
We are really happy and thankful for the care E receives at Busy Bees."
Current parent M
OUR ETHOS
Our aim is to promote a warm, friendly, caring environment to enable children to grow and be confident and independent.
All team members have good relationships with each other, providing positive role models for the children in their care.
All children are encouraged to be aware of their own needs and those of others by staff responding positively to children helping each other, tidying up, appropriate behaviour, sharing, etc.
Staff take time to talk to the children about their feelings. We also promote independence and caring for our environment.
We strive to provide a calm nurturing environment for the children to be safe and secure. Every child's heritage, linguistic background and faith are celebrated - we actively support the children and their families by using a multi-agency approach.
We are lucky to have a diverse staff team. We offer a fully inclusive environment that welcomes all children.
"Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following instructions"
Alfie Kohn
OUR KEYWORKERS
We have embedded key worker systems at the heart of the children's care and education. Key persons have strong knowledge of, and strong bonds with, their key children. This is achieved through close observation, planning and assessment.
Each child's individual development is recorded through observations and next steps are planned with realistic achievable targets. We liaise with parents continually and parents can view Tapestry our online learning journal provider or talk to staff at any time. We work in partnership with parents as we know external environmental factors can impact on the child's development and learning.