Busy Bees Nurseries - Busy Bees at Colton Mill Reviews 

AVOID!!!!

Former employee here, from what I have witnessed and dealt with this is by far the worse run nursery I have ever seen!! The higher up senior managers give zero support to the CD. Staff are well, just treated as numbers nothing more. Seems to be more agency than actual staff majority of the time. Certain incidents that happen in rooms with the children aren’t recorded properly, and parents even notified on what actually happened. People suspended over incidents then staff mysteriously retracting multiple statements so that person gets to continue working. Probably because they our low on level 3 child practitioners. So it’s almost like we’ll bend the rules to suit our agenda. Most days what parents see is 99% an act and the place isn’t sunshine and rainbows. I’ve seen countless staff crying their eyes out or having mental breakdowns due to the stress and having to work long shifts and overtime without a heads up. Most days there just told to get back in there room and deal with it. I’ve walked into rooms to find one member of staff and 20 children in there!! I know this as Ive stood and counted them myself. You’ll be promised pay rise to make you stay and 6months down the line it never comes. More bullsh*t basically to keep you where you are. Rooms are constantly split up daily due to lack of staff and can’t cover the ratio’s. This also includes children with dietary and allergies that shouldn’t be moved what so ever!! There currently closed because staff got that fed up they took it among themselves to phone ofsted. Regardless of what busy bees tells you it wasnt there decision, just another lie they chose to tell parents. Since then that management they’ve sent to “sort it” I wouldn’t trust to run me a bath never mind a nursery. They also try to punish staff that leave by saying you owe them money in pay or taking your holiday pay from you. This is by far the most corrupt company I’ve ever come across. I am not surprised that when searched they are near enough 1 billion in debt! No wonder they have to rob there hard working staff, meanwhile senior managers drive around in range rovers collecting 80k a year for doing sweet FA!! Place is to put as clear as I can a bad joke!! That said the staff in the rooms are lovely. It’s just a shame management can’t seem to pull there heads from there behinds and get on board! Oh and for the parents who received letters about Ofsted there was no “vigorous” training. The training was e-learning online videos which took a day then staff were sent to other sites to cover so they could save on agency costs. So staff were inadequate of doing there jobs apparently and needed “vigorous training”, yet were fit enough to then be shipped out to look after other people’s children. Then left miles away from there homes and forced to find there own way back to Leeds some how. Again absolutely disgusting!!! And from what I’ve seen and heard from other sites Colton isn’t even the worse one. Typical money hungry company that care more about lining there pockets than they do there staff and the children’s welfare. Oh after the little Ofsted visit the first time they said they wouldn’t be splitting rooms anymore, guess what it lasted all of two hours the first day we reopened! And they were going to do it again until someone notified a manager ofsted had just walked through the door, then guess what they didn’t! Hmm I wonder why?! Corruption of the highest form! Good riddance!!

Our child was at this nursery from 9 months until when the nursery closed the first time in June. Until February this year, we had a wonderful experience with Busy Bees, we had fabulous key workers, Maddie, Laura, Kirra and Kirsty. However, since February, our child would not have known her keyworker, she became incredibly upset getting ready for nursery, not wanting to go, asking to stay at home. Since the nursery closed the first time, I have been been made aware that due to so many different staff, the children were moved between rooms multiple times a day, moved roughly by staff. Also, the children were told off for having accidents and for our child, this had a significant impact on a sense of panic whenever the toilet was needed and we hadnt realised why. We didn't return when they re-opened and would not return due to the negative impact had on our child.

Lovley staff in bombos 2 however the senior management team ain't a clue how to run the nursey. The area manager telling everyone at 5 on Friday they have no childcare for 6 weeks. Loosing your registration isn't done for no reason and how it's been handled by busy bees is appalling

Hudson will miss Emily Kim and the others in the room they was all so nice and helped him thrive so thank you for that

would not recommend this nursery.

The nursery has been closed by Ofsted with immediate effect for the second time, leaving parents with very little information and causing unnecessary stress and uncertainty for families.

The biggest positive has been the staff. They have worked incredibly hard to provide a safe, caring, and nurturing environment for the children despite the challenges they have faced. They deserve recognition for their professionalism, dedication, and commitment.

A special thank you to Kim, who has been amazing throughout, and to Maya, who has such a wonderful rapport with the children. Your patience, kindness, and genuine care are clear to see, and you both deserve so much credit for everything you’ve done. Maya, you have a very bright future ahead of you, and you’ll be greatly missed by the children and families who have had the pleasure of knowing you.

In my opinion, the problems lie with the management rather than the staff. It’s heartbreaking to see such dedicated employees affected by poor leadership. My thoughts are with the children, parents, and staff who have all been let down by this situation.

We will be removing our son permanently from this setting. An organisation of this size should not be relying on a handful of amazing staff to carry them.

The ONLY reason we returned after the initial re opening was due to staff members namely Karen, Macey , Laura and Kim. The staff who returned after the closure and worked tirelessly to rebuild the confidence parents had understandably lost should have been nurtured, valued and recognised in order to retain the only saving grace this company had!

It seems positive feedback hasn’t been passed on which is really sad and actually quite baffling!

The children, parents and staff all deserved better. Busy Bees should be ashamed of themselves.

Closed down again- this time suspended by Ofsted. Let us know on the app after 5pm on a Friday that we have no childcare! I actually found out from another parent. They obviously don’t care about the families. I’m so angry with the way they are treating us. I stuck by them after the first closure as I was assured things were better but they obviously aren’t. The staff are amazing though. They are the reason we stayed after the first closure. Busy bees as a company though -awful.

Do not send your child here! In the early days when my daughter was in the baby room, Karen was fantastic. However it has quickly gone down hill, and been closed not once but twice by ofsted in a 2 month period. Higher management have no clue how to efficiently run a nursery which is a huge concern given they are a national nursery. Leaving us with no childcare, the night before the closures. Not good enough.

Very disappointing experience – unfortunately, the nursery has become a shambles.

Our son attended from the age of 1 until he left at 4. Our experience over this time has been extremely disappointing:

- *Children's needs*: Provision has been removed despite clear need, with staffing issues seemingly based around the nursery’s inability to keep staff or have contingency plans in place for sickness or otherwise. This has had a direct negative impact children's individual needs. The constant changes and lack of consistency have contributed to an increase in our son's anxiety, which has been incredibly upsetting to witness as parents.

- *Management*: In our experience, senior management are dismissive and patronising, often speaking to parents as though we are children rather than people, and more importantly customers, raising legitimate concerns about our own children. We repeatedly heard "we're recruiting" and "we'll look into it", but little meaningfully changed.

- *Communication*: There has been a lack
of transparency around wider concerns, Ofsted updates and management changes, with information often shared late and vaguely. Despite promises that communication would improve, we feel it has actually become worse.

- *Staffing*: There is a high reliance on agency staff and significant staff turnover, resulting in a lack of consistency. This is particularly concerning for young children and those with additional needs.

- *Financial* priorities: Invoicing and charges have often been confusing, while it has felt as though financial priorities, such as additional charges for early drop-off, have received more attention than the serious issues affecting the children.

The biggest frustration is that there are some genuinely exceptional staff. The new SENCO is great, and many permanent staff genuinely care about and advocate for the children. They are the reason we sent our son back after the nursery reopened. Sadly, in our experience, these staff are continually undermined by senior management and wider organisational decisions.

As parents, it has been exhausting to constantly advocate for our son and fight for what we believe should be reasonable support.

We are incredibly grateful to the staff who genuinely cared for our son, but based on our overall experience, we would not recommend this nursery.

Our son deserved better, and so did the dedicated staff who worked so hard to support him.

Busy Bees Colton Mill - Allows staff member to return to the setting after force feeding a child. The incident caused distress to staff and children who witnessed the event, yet no action has been taken against the staff member, instead they have been allowed to return! The company is a disgrace and parents deserve to know the truth about higher management, dealing with the nursery and how they process decision making after the nursery recently reopened.

Operationally the nursery could do better, communication has been poor due to closure following an Ofsted report. Last minute communication resulting in many parents struggling for child care unless were willing to travel 10+ miles to another nursery, lots of agency staff due to poor senior management.

The main reason we have not removed our child is due to the actual staff in the nursery, mainly Laura & Macey who have been wonderful with Jasper, following a great experience with Karen in the baby room. I'm sure that they have others who are also great but if it would not have been for them we would have looked to move nurseries.

Terrible nursery with safeguarding issues. Closed down by ofsted. I took my very upset child out but wish I would have done it sooner. Do not send your child here

Unfortunately this nursery has really gone downhill the past year. Many longstanding members of staff have left and now temp staff seem to outnumber the permanent staff. This leaves children upset and confused about who is caring for them. Children are moved from room to room during the day due to staff shortages, causing disruption and stress. Children rarely go outside if the weather is cold, leaving them stuck indoors for a full day. I have witnessed staff trying to move a group of very young children, some still babies, down the corridor to a different room - during which the children were grabbed roughly and staff carrying three at a time trying to move them across. Another staff member dealt far too roughly with a toddler and grabbed him using excessive force to pull him away from another child. Pick ups and drop offs are chaotic, with staff often not knowing what the child has done during the day. On one occasion staff were so distracted that they didn’t notice another child take my hand and try to walk me out of the building. I had to bring this child back outside where his key workers should have been looking after him. My child has been left in soiled and/or wet underwear on numerous occasions and I’ve turned up to find a crying child who is embarrassed and in pain, sometimes to the point where they’ve needed nappy cream for several days afterwards to help heal the sores. I am removing my child asap due to these safeguarding concerns. There are one or two staff who are fantastic, and it’s such a shame for them that the nursery has gone so downhill.

I cannot recommend this nursery due to severe operational, staffing, and management issues. Over a prolonged period, there have been systemic failures that impact both the safety and education of the children.
The rooms are routinely chaotic and lack structure. The staff struggle to maintain order, creating an overwhelming environment that causes unnecessary distress to children who otherwise behave well in structured settings.
The rate of staff turnover is exceptionally high, leading to zero consistency and safe environment for children. Furthermore, the setting is completely unprepared for staff absences. Parents have been turned away at the morning drop-off due to short-staffing caused by sickness.
The nursery is poorly equipped to handle seasonal weather. Children are kept indoors during cold weather solely because staff refuse to go outside. Conversely, during periods of extreme heat, the nursery simply closed and sent children home an extreme measure demonstrating a severe lack of contingency planning.
There is a distinct lack of properly planned educational play, with very little structure to support early years development.
Most alarmingly, an incident occurred where a staff member physically pushed a child. Following an investigation, that staff member was permitted to return to the nursery, raising serious questions about there commitment to child safety vs staff shortages what’s more important?

All of the staff are super friendly, helpful and supportive.
My child has been attending here for 6months now and has enjoyed every minute.

The staff go above and beyond to ensure babies and toddlers are in a safe controlled environment and the curriculum is delivered the best way possible. We've seen a massive development and growth spur since joining, health food menu complements nicely the food at home and our son is growing up bilingual. What else could we ask for?

What an AMAZING nursery! A great big shout out to each and every one of you, be very proud of yourselves for putting your heart and soul into making my GREAT granddaugter Macie happy! She loved every single day! THANK YOU!!!!

Our little one absolutely loves going to nursery. The staff are all so lovely, we’re kept well informed of how they’re getting on and we feel they are safe when they’re there.

Fantastic staff, very friendly