Busy Bees Nurseries - Busy Bees at Camberley Reviews 

I am sharing this review following the decision to remove my child from Busy Bees Camberley due to several recent, negative experiences.

The catalyst to leaving the nursery was an incident involving my child being physically restrained by an agency staff member during pick-up. My child was upset and trying to come over to me yet was held back in a way I found completely inappropriate and distressing. This raised immediate concerns about staff training and how children’s emotional needs are managed (especially when a parent is not there).

Inappropriate comments were also made a few months prior about my child’s appearance in front of him, myself and husband (my child wasn’t even 2 yet). A staff member pinched his stomach saying he “needs the gym.” This is entirely unacceptable in any childcare setting. It is not only unprofessional but also risks damaging a young child’s self-esteem.

Following the restraining incident, I contacted the centre director to confirm the notice period for removing my son from nursery, as this is not noted on the website. The response from the centre director focused not on his wellbeing or my concerns, but on administrative matters—specifically noting that the marketing team would need to be contacted to update the website. This further reinforced my impression that priorities were misplaced. I was then asked to give the nursery another chance and noted that this would already be a third chance, following the earlier inappropriate comment about my son’s appearance. The response received was “oh fair enough then” - dismissive and lacking any real accountability.

There has also been a recent incident on site that whilst unavoidable, the communication from the centre director regarding these issues was vague and lacked transparency, leaving me concerned about hygiene standards and the overall safety of the environment. This further confirmed we have made the right decision to leave.

Overall, our recent experience has been disappointing given how our son’s nursery experience started so positively when we first enrolled at Busy Bees Camberley. We had hoped for a safe, nurturing environment for our child, but instead encountered repeated lapses in judgement, communication and care. We would urge the nursery to take these concerns seriously and make significant improvements to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the children remaining in their care.

I rarely post reviews, but I feel strongly that other parents need to be aware of our experience at Busy Bees in Camberley.

Our child cried every day and became extremely anxious about going to nursery. She would even worry before bed, saying she didn’t want to go because she didn’t like it there. This was completely out of character for her, she was previously a very happy, bubbly child.

She told us she was made to lie on the floor for hours after lunch in silence and was shouted at if she spoke, sang, or needed the toilet. They were also made to lie down again after tea, which staff initially denied but was later confirmed by the branch director.

Some staff were consistently unhappy and rude when we asked about our child’s day. I understand childcare is demanding, but as parents we should be able to ask basic questions about our child without feeling like an inconvenience.

The new branch director does seem to be trying to make improvements, but there appears to be a blind eye turned to poor staff behaviour and lack of classroom structure. We also noticed staff frequently eating the children’s food rather than focusing on the children.

One particularly shocking incident: another child was sick onto our child’s meal plate, and at handover we were simply told our child didn’t want to eat after that. I was appalled that this was even allowed to happen and then casually disclosed.

Our child often said the toilets were dirty and had no soap or tissue, and she avoided using them.

Drop-offs and pick-ups felt secretive. We were made to wait outside, blinds were closed, and furniture was repositioned so parents couldn’t see inside. Children looked fearful sitting at tables during collection, and our child said they were not allowed to go to their parents.

We were told about rough handling and shouting over trivial things (such as not handing back a cup).

Temporary staff seemed to outnumber permanent staff, with constant turnover. Language barriers made communication difficult, and our child felt uncomfortable with new unfamiliar staff daily. She described being roughly handled by a perm member of staff.

Overall, this was a deeply distressing experience for our child and for us as parents. Childcare should feel safe, nurturing, and transparent. Sadly, this setting did not meet those standards for us.

I’m sad I let my child down. Our biggest regret is not leaving sooner. I hope these issues are reviewed and investigated thoroughly, as this setting should not be allowed to continue to operate in this state.

My daughter was never happy going to Busy Bees Camberley. I had to remove her after she told me that staff shouted at her and forced her to lay on the floor and lie on a pillow. She cried every day and begged me not to send her there.
She is now attending a different nursery, and she has been happy from the first week. I decided to write this comment because it is now clear to me that something was wrong at that place.

Hi,
Camberley Busy bees , and I want to share my experience there
Children and staff are treated like just another number by higher management and the head office. The facility is hugely understaffed, and nothing is being done about it. The workload is unfair. I would advise avoiding Busy Bees in Camberley if you care about your child. They treat babies, children, and staff very badly, which is why they can’t retain permanent staff.

In the baby room, there's a practitioner named F. I’ve worked with her a few times in the baby room, and each time a baby is crying, she aggressively grabs the baby and forces them to sit on the floor, hitting their bottom on the ground.

She shouts at the babies in a horrible way. She is always rude to staff, and the way she talks to them is unacceptable. I don’t understand how these people are working with babies when they always look so moody and unhappy. They are rough with the babies when they grab them. I was shocked by the way they treated the babies there.

I would strongly advise removing your babies from there. I witnessed bad treatment of these babies by her.
Parents place significant trust in this setting and pay substantial fees, believing their children are being cared for in a safe and nurturing environment. Unfortunately, many parents may be unaware of the manner in which their children are being treated.
I witnessed concerning behaviour by members of staff that does not align with acceptable early years practice. In the 2–3 years room, an early years practitioner named A shouted at children in an aggressive manner and physically handled them roughly by sitting them down forcefully on the floor and embarrassed him in front of his peers.
The behaviour described above was inappropriate, distressing, and raises serious concerns regarding safeguarding and the emotional wellbeing of the children in their care.

The energy in that place is really bad. I’ve worked in many settings, and I’ve never experienced working with such rude people and management. They’re also very low on resources. The beds where the children sleep are in bad condition, and there are poor resources overall.

Preschool room is very sad. Poor resources, kids are being shouting all the time and treated rough. The whole room is a messed and very desorganized. Chair and tables where they eat are very dirty cover on dry old food. Staff eats children food while they should be supervising children meals. There is a practitioner “s” she is very moody, unhappy and rude. She is always eating and ask other staff to supervise food while she eats.

They are serving food children with hands. Your kids are not well supervise there. Kids are left in toilets many times in their own without support. I seen children walking on wee or poo. Toilets are always dirty. Children are generally scare of the staff as they shout all the time. SEN children are left most of the day unsupervised and on their own.

That’s not a safe place to send your children. Avoid avoid that place if you love your children. Management in office are rude and poor management. They just care about numbers and money £££. Get away from this horrible place.

I genuinely do not understand how this setting is still allowed to operate.
There are many serious red flags within this setting. In my years of experience working in childcare, I have never witnessed this type of treatment towards children or staff. This is the first formal complaint I have ever made, and I am doing so solely to protect the children involved.
I am writing to raise these concerns and formally submit a complaint in the hope that appropriate action will be taken. I believe it is essential that these matters are investigated thoroughly, as the practices I have observed are unacceptable and raise serious safeguarding concerns.

R.

They're amazing with my daughter, friendly and always caring. She likes attending nursery.

Would not recommend for your little one. My child cried every time she had to attend Busy Bees Camberley, I eventually took her out after an alarming number of staff leaving abruptly. In the time she was there she never came home with anything. There didn’t seem like there was any routine or structure. My child is much more happier at her new setting and has lots to show me and tell me at pick up now.

Busy Bee has a lot of potential to improve. Based on my child’s experience, the environment felt a bit boring and lacked excitement or a magical touch. However, the food is really well-prepared and clearly made with care — children seem to love food! Some staff members are truly lovely, but a few could be more welcoming that they are not. There are many opportunities to improve the quality of services and engagement for children, which would make a big difference overall.

Fabulous team

The staff at this nursery are amazing. They truly do put the work in to provide the best care, it’s always daunting when sending your child to nursery but they really are the best and work so hard. My son loves going there.

Very bad experience!

We visited the nursery for a tour(sometime around May 2024) and they asked me to fill the application form to put my daughters name on the waiting list. I also opted ONLY for government funded sessions. Out of nowhere, they sent my an invoice asking me to pay more than 1000 pounds as my daughter's monthly fee for half day session each day. When I reached out to them explaining that my daughter already started her nursery somewhere else and I did not agree anything with BusyBee, the management responded saying that I need to give them 1 month notice and I should pay the fee. Firstly, they did not even consult with me regarding the start date, secondly, they did not even ask me how I wish to pay. The invoice email totally upset the whole family, especially if you are a single parent £1300 is not a small amount.

Personally, I had VERY bad experience with the management handling my daughters application( the nursery atmosphere is good and the actual staffs were friendly during my visit) !

Be careful while giving your details to them!

Great experience-
Good childcare and in safe hands
Updates on parentzone app as well is good.