Montessori by Busy Bees Alderley Day Nursery

Montessori by Busy Bees Alderley Day Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): 2841208 Address: Alderley Day Nursery, Congleton Road, Nether Alderley, Macclesfield, SK10 4TD Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 04/04/2025 Registers: EYR Registered person: Busy Bees Nurseries Limited

p.1

Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

p.1

Achievement Expected standard

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who may face barriers to their learning, including those who speak English as an additional language, make progress from their starting points at the nursery across all areas of learning.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

Children enjoy sharing stories with staff and with their peers. They learn about emotions and talk these through with staff. Children are kind and caring towards their friends and show respect to the staff team. They develop strong independence skills, such as making choices, tidying up and following nursery rules. This helps to prepare them for their transition to school. All children engage in play opportunities using real-life resources, learning to use the equipment provided safely.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

Children show curiosity while exploring and making gloop from scratch. They follow instructions and make predictions about what will happen next. Children show a great sense of pride when they make the green gloop, commenting, 'It's light green.' They then safely grasp their hands together like a 'hedgehog' to walk to the bathroom to wash their hands.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children behave well and respond positively when staff intervene to manage any negative behaviour. They demonstrate that they feel safe and secure within the setting and show respect for staff. Children use their manners well. Staff praise children for their efforts and talk to them about how they are feeling to support their emotional development. Staff carefully select story books that reinforce this learning and help to extend children's understanding further.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders and staff promote a welcoming environment for all children. Children follow the daily routines well and understand expectations and boundaries. They follow rules consistently, such as not running indoors and walking safely when carrying a drink to the table. Children are mainly kind to one another, use their manners well and learn to play cooperatively alongside their peers. On the rare instances of unwanted behaviour, staff recognise the support children need to help them learn how to regulate themselves and use more appropriate behaviours.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders and staff monitor children's attendance carefully. They work in partnership with parents and carers to promote regular attendance, helping to support children's early education and establish positive habits and routines that prepare them well for school.

p.2

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders and staff plan the curriculum to meet the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who may face barriers to learning, including children who speak English as an additional language. However, not all staff have a secure understanding of children's individual abilities. This means they are unable to plan consistently and effectively for children's next steps across all areas of learning.

p.2

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders and staff place a strong focus on developing children's language and communication skills. Babies happily use babbling and single words during singing sessions. During these times, they learn to share and take turns, supporting their personal, social and emotional development. Staff introduce new vocabulary, such as 'centipede,' 'prickly' and 'spiky'. Staff give children time to respond to questions and engage in conversations, which supports their language and communication skills well.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff use baseline assessments to identify next steps for each child and adapt practice for those with SEND or those who face barriers to learning through the use of targeted individual plans. Children's early mathematical development is promoted throughout the nursery. Babies learn to count during singing sessions. Toddlers explore filling and pouring while making lemon meringue pies, enjoying making them big and small by adding more mixture. Older children enthusiastically engage in problem-solving.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

All children enjoy outdoor play, where their physical development is supported well by staff. Babies enjoy using the swing and exploring the outdoor spaces. Older children ride around the bicycle track with increasing control and confidence. Encouraged by staff, older children practise balancing skills. They use their imagination as they move around the space making potions and turning staff into 'frogs' and 'butterflies'. Children also enjoy planting and learn how to care for living things. Looking after the environment and sustainability form part of the nursery's ethos.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff follow a clear process of early identification and assessment. This includes assessing all children through language and communication programmes to identify any gaps in learning at the earliest opportunity. Leaders and staff act swiftly when concerns are identified. For example, prompt referrals are made to speech and language therapists where appropriate. This has had a positive impact on children's language and communication development.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or those who face barriers to their learning, benefit from individual support plans that meet their specific needs. This enables them to make progress from their starting points. Parents report that they feel included and value the partnership working in place to ensure their children receive the support needed to make the progress they are capable of.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders use additional funding effectively to support children's needs, including supporting their emotional wellbeing, which has had a positive impact on children's self-regulation. Leaders and staff monitor the impact of additional funding carefully to ensure it is being used beneficially.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders assess training needs to ensure staff have the appropriate skills to follow children's individual plans. However, when key workers are not available, leaders recognise that

p.3

Needs attention

further training is needed to continue strengthening staff's professional development and ensure consistency of support across the team.

p.4

Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

Overall, leaders and staff are committed to promoting children's safety and wellbeing. However, on occasion, staff deployment during some activities, such as outdoor play and mealtimes, is not fully effective. At these times, staff supervision of children is not as vigilant as intended, and this inconsistency does not support leaders in their aims to minimise all risks to children. Hygiene practices are not consistently followed. For example, younger children's hands are not routinely washed before eating, and staff do not always wipe children's noses promptly.

p.4

Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

Staff are kind and caring towards children and interact warmly at children's level. Children seek comfort from staff readily, cuddling into them when needed, demonstrating that they feel safe and secure in the nursery. Leaders and staff provide children with a range of opportunities to develop life skills and to understand how to keep themselves safe. For example, children know to freeze immediately if something breaks so that staff can remove hazards safely. Children respond well to instructions and work cooperatively alongside their peers to complete tasks.

p.4

Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

Staff follow safe sleep procedures effectively. Children have opportunities to rest when needed and are monitored closely while sleeping. Leaders work in partnership with parents and carers effectively around the use of dummies to help promote children's communication and language development.

p.4

Children's welfare and wellbeing Needs attention

The nursery provides children with nutritious, home-cooked meals and healthy snacks, which help to promote healthy lifestyles and positive eating habits. Children with allergies are catered for well.

p.4

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders have identified some weaknesses and are putting in place support for staff to help ensure that policies and procedures are implemented consistently. However, planned improvements are not currently embedded well enough to have a notable impact. For example, there are inconsistencies in the effectiveness of staff deployment and in the implementation of hygiene policies. Leaders do not always deal with complaints in line with the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage. This does not help to ensure positive engagement with all parents.

p.4

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders oversee the nursery curriculum sufficiently. This helps them to evaluate the quality of education provided. Staff wellbeing is supported through supervision meetings, where leaders implement targeted training plans to strengthen daily practice. However, leaders do not adequately ensure that all staff have a secure understanding of children's individual abilities so they can consistently plan effectively for children's next steps in learning. Leaders work well with most parents. For instance, during children's room transitions and when they are preparing to move on to school, leaders help to ensure continuity in children's care and learning. Leaders also work in partnership with local schools to support smooth transitions. Safe recruitment procedures are followed, with leaders ensuring all appropriate suitability checks are completed before staff begin working at the nursery.

p.4

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Home-learning ideas are shared with parents to help extend children's learning and embed skills further at home. The parent committee at the nursery has had a positive impact, enabling parents to share ideas with leaders and contribute to nursery development. This strengthens partnerships with families. Leaders also provide advice to parents and carers about children accessing online platforms at home, helping them understand associated risks and promote safe online practice.

p.5

What it's like to be a child at this setting

The supervision of children is not always effective. This is because staff have not received the training they need to consistently implement the staff deployment policy. There are times when children do not have the level of supervision needed to meet their needs and ensure their safety. For example, although mealtimes are sociable occasions that children enjoy, staff do not always effectively deploy themselves to directly supervise children as they eat. This does not adequately protect children from the risk of choking. In addition, at other times in the day, such as during outdoor play, there are occasions when staff leave children unattended for short periods of time. Leaders have identified this weakness and have plans in place to improve staff practice.

p.5

What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children arrive happy and settle quickly. They are greeted by the friendly staff team members, who encourage them to engage in play. Leaders and staff plan their curriculum to meet the needs of all children. This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and children who may face barriers to their learning, such as those who speak English as an additional language. There is a strong focus on language and communication skills. This helps to prepare children to become ready for school. Children engage in an array of back-and-forth interactions with staff and enjoy opportunities to promote their independence skills from when they start at the nursery. Babies learn to feed themselves and drink from open cups, and toddlers pour their own drinks and put on their own coats. Older children self-serve meals, pour their own drinks and learn to get changed into their sports kits. This helps children to master skills they will need when they transition

p.5

What it's like to be a child at this setting

to school. Children enjoy learning at the nursery. They show high levels of confidence as they get involved with their friends. For example, younger children enjoy marking marks on small and large scales in preparation for early writing. Older children are keen to become illustrators and authors in the mark-making area, inspired by their focus on books. Children learn to be kind and caring. They respond to instructions and any minor disagreements are resolved quickly. Children's behaviour is generally positive. They smile when they are praised for their actions. Children follow the nursery routine and follow the golden rules, such as using 'walking feet indoors'. Leaders and staff provide most parents with regular feedback about their child's progress through parents' evenings, observations and daily feedback. On occasion, leaders' engagement with some parents is limited. The nursery has a parent voice

p.5

What it's like to be a child at this setting

to allow parents to share feedback and ideas. This helps to support the typically positive partnership between home and nursery.

p.6

Next steps

To meet the requirements of the Early years foundation stage the provider must take the following actions by the assigned date:

p.6

Action Completion Date

ensure that policies are implemented effectively to maintain staffing arrangements that always meet the needs of children and ensure their safety 10/06/2026

p.6

Action Completion Date

ensure that all staff follow safer eating procedures during all mealtimes to ensure children are appropriately supervised 10/04/2026

p.6

Action Completion Date

provide staff with the training and support they require to be able to fulfil their jobs roles and continuously improve the quality of care and education 10/06/2026

p.6

Action Completion Date

manage complaints in line with the requirements of the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage. 10/06/2026

p.6

About this inspection

The inspection started on 27 March 2026. Inspectors returned on 26 May 2026 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

p.6

About this inspection

We carried out this inspection as a result of a risk assessment, following information we received about the provider. The provider will be able to give parents further information about this.

p.6

Address:

Alderley Day Nursery Congleton Road, Nether Alderley Macclesfield SK10 4TD

p.7

Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

p.7

Address:

Registered person: Busy Bees Nurseries Limited

p.7

Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00

p.7

Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

p.7

Age range of children at the time of inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, parents and children during the inspection.

p.7

Age range of children at the time of inspection

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

p.7

Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

p.8

Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

p.8

Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

p.8

Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

p.8

Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

p.8

Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

p.8

Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.8

Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9