Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive

31 South Drive, Harrogate HG2 8AT
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9.9 66 Reviews
  • Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive, Harrogate
Busy Bees Harrogate, South Drive offers the ideal nursery environment for children to play, learn and explore whilst being provided the best start in life. From a well designed array of activities to the experienced and welcoming team, Busy Bees Harrogate is a great option for families in the local community.

The enthusiastic team ensures that every child’s nursery experience is fun, enjoyable, and safe with a range of fun-filled activities tailored to suit every child’s interest’s and needs. The fun does not stop inside, with a refreshing outdoor area where your child can explore and take safe risks whilst supervised by staff. So, whether your child enjoys the indoors or outdoors, be rest assured they will enjoy every moment during their stay at nursery.

Busy Bees follow the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) framework to help support your child so that they are prepared when making the leap to school. The experienced team select resources and activities in line with the EYFS framework, aimed to engage your child and promote development in all areas.   

You can continue the fun at home by using the ‘UP!’ App. The app is especially for parents of Busy Bees and holds an extensive amount of activity inspiration, experiences or advice and information for you and your child to enjoy.
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Type of Service

  • Day Nursery
  • Open all year
  • Full Day Care

Group/Owner

Person in Charge

  • Samantha Crichton (Manager)

Number of Childcare Staff

  • 15

Total Places for Children

  • 52

Age Range

  • from 0 years 3 months
  • to 5 years 0 months

Opening Times

  • Monday 07:30-18:00
    Tuesday 07:30-18:00
    Wednesday 07:30-18:00
    Thursday 07:30-18:00
    Friday 07:30-18:00

When Closed

  • Bank Holidays

Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive Reviews (66)

9.9

Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive has a Review Score of 9.9 (9.892) out of 10, based on 17 reviews in the last 2 years.
Over all time Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive has 66 reviews.

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Total of 66, showing 41-60
Review from Connor H (Father of Child) published on 3 March 2021 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son attends South Drive and absolutely loves it. They use iconnect to inform us on how his day has been which means we get told throughout the day how he is doing which is brilliant. The communication is brilliant. They have done so many different activities with him like visiting different places
compared to his last nursery. The staff are lovely and so caring. We trust them so much and know that our son is in safe hands with them. The nursery, in general, is small- but this is what we love, it is more homely! My son has learnt so much since being here and that’s all thanks to the girls. The manager has been fantastic and helpful since he started there 2 years ago.
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Review from Hayley H (Mother of Child) published on 3 March 2021 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
My child attends here and has come on leaps and bounds since he started. He has built good relationships with both staff and other children so thank you to all the girls. He has become so confident just from going there. I can not thank the girls enough for the support they have given us with situations
that have arisen, they really have been superstars!
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Review from James (Father of Child) published on 24 September 2019 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My son had a fantastic time whilst here. The family feel around the place helps the kids feel happy and confident. The staff are incredibly warm and welcoming and they make a real effort to get to know each and every child and help them in their development. Can't recommend it highly enough.
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Review from Steve H (Father of Child) published on 18 June 2019 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Brilliant staff, very friendly. I would recommend this nursery to all my friends and family. My son loves the place and gets excited every time he goes.


Thanks to all the staff.


Can't wait for sports day, it was magnificent last year.


Cheers to the manager and all staff.

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Review from Claire (Mother of Child) published on 5 March 2019 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Excellent nursery. My daughter is very happy here and is well cared for.
Lots of outdoor play and activities like trips to the library, singing songs at nursing home and playing games on the stray.
The staff do an amazing job and are super friendly, caring and approachable and give regular feedback.
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Review from Rebecca M (Mother of Child) published on 14 November 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The core staff are amazing, particularly the manager who has done everything she can to accommodate the needs of all of my daughters. We have been using South Drive for 8 years and have been thoroughly impressed by all the elements that make up the nursery. 100% recommended by us.
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Review from Katie F (Mother of Child) published on 13 November 2018 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
This nursery goes an extra mile for me. The manager is so accommodating and supportive. The rest of the staff are so friendly and helpful. Most importantly my little boy is happy and I feel he's in safe hands. I'm very pleased with how much my little boy has come on since attending this wonderful nursery.
I highly recommend this nursery.
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Review from H R (Mother of Child) published on 13 November 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our daughter has attended South Drive nursery for over a year now, since she was 12 months old. She is very happy and settled and has a great relationship with the staff, describing them as her ‘friends’!


We chose South Drive as we felt it was important to have an intimate, homely environment for

our daughter, with good facilities and friendly staff - and we haven’t been disappointed. The staff have always demonstrated excellent care for our little girl’s wellbeing and we have been very impressed at how attentive they are. In particular, the team put in a lot of time and effort encouraging her with her walking, which was delayed and required some support, which was invaluable.


We are very happy that our little girl has a safe, loving environment within which she can develop and flourish and would highly recommend the nursery to other parents.

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Review from Neil C (Father of Child) published on 7 November 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Kindercare South Drive have looked after (and still do) our first Child and now number two. They are friendly, caring and have excellent staff and management. At times we have really needed flexibility and they have been very accommodating.


Facilities are great and there is always a smile on their

faces even when I’m sure little one has been a pain! Both children have developed great relationships and the first child was very sad to say goodbye to them.
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Review from Natalie B (Mother of Child) published on 7 November 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Our daughter has attended Kindercare, South Drive for the past two years and we have been consistently impressed with the work the manager and the team do. The care, attention and focus on learning is absolutely fantastic and from the first day, we knew we'd made the right decision. It was important
to us to find a caring, homely environment for our daughter and that is absolutely delivered in spades. The team are so warm, friendly and demonstrably care about the work they do.


Our daughter is happy, confident and developing extremely well in all aspects of her early years learning and we feel supported as parents by the team. I honestly couldn't recommend them highly enough!

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Review from Helen R (Mother of Child) published on 7 November 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The staff really do make the nursery so fantastic. They are all so friendly and create a very welcoming and homely environment for the children. I am familiar with every single member of staff and they all know my child very well, and that is the benefit of a smaller nursery. I like how the children
are frequently outside playing and the different age groups are sometimes mixed together.
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Review from Jodie G (Mother of Child) published on 7 November 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 4.0 out of 5
I am extremely happy with the care of my little boy, he’s been attending the nursery since he was 5 months old and now at 19 months, it is clear he very much enjoys going. He has built strong relationships with both the staff members and the other children and it is a huge relief to know that he is
in safe and caring hands while I’m at work. I feel everyone genuinely cares for the children and it is clear they have created a safe and loving environment. Thank you.
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Review from Katie S (Mother of Child) published on 7 November 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
The nursery came highly recommended to me and so when the time came to go back to work, I went to see the manager and the team and loved what I saw. My little boy has been at the nursery for nearly a year now (he's nearly 2) and I remain delighted with the team. He seems so happy and settled and it's
amazing to see the skills he comes home with, including the lovely manners he has been taught (such as covering his mouth when coughing) - simple things, but I think they'll help him develop into a lovely child and young man.
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Review from K W (Mother of Child) published on 11 June 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter has been attending the South Drive Nursery for over 3 years and loves going to see her friends and her teachers. She goes three days a week and often asks to go on the other days too! She talks a lot about the things that they do during the day and the variety of activities is great.


The

staff have always been very attentive and friendly and this has been maintained through a number of ownership and staff changes over the last 3 years.


My daughter also seems to love the food, which is varied and nutritious. I am sure she eats things at nursery which she wouldn't touch at home!
I would definitely recommend this nursery to anyone looking for a safe and happy place for their child.

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Review from Ashleigh (Mother of Child) published on 25 May 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
I am very happy with South Drive nursery. All the staff have been extremely welcoming and caring towards my daughter. She talks about nursery and staff at home and she is very happy to go each morning. My daughter has come on leaps and bounds since starting. The manager is amazing, she has a fantastic
way with the children and is so warm and loving as are all the staff. I couldn’t be happier to drop my daughter off in the morning knowing she is well looked after and most importantly she is very happy! Thank you, ladies, you are all fantastic!
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Review from C C (Mother of Child) published on 25 May 2018 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My daughter started in Feb in the tweenies room and after a couple of days of not being sure she settled in perfectly and looks forward to going to nursery every day. The staff are very friendly, helpful and considerate of every child's needs.
My daughter has come on leaps and bounds in both her speech
and confidence since joining the nursery, she loves the food and loves to play outside in their fully equipped garden.
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Review from Samantha G (Mother of Child) published on 17 May 2018 Submitted via Postal Card • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Busy Bees South Drive is a fabulous nursery in every way! Not only does it have great facilities and outdoor area but the staff are incredible. No matter what time of day it is you are greated with a smile and a friendly consistent face. Since our child has been going to South Drive the staff (his key
workers) have remained the same. (In a year and a half.) He has built up a strong bond with them and their care for him is genuine. The staff are well informed with any changes within the company and it is filtered down to us, the parents, professionally and with clarity.
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Review from Katie H (Mother of Child) published on 6 December 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My little girl has been at South Drive since April 2017, although there have been staff changes since then, the team have handled this really well, this hasn't affected my little girl being settled.
The team are really friendly and I always feel welcome, and like my little girl is really cared for.
Any issues or questions I've ever had, have always been dealt with quickly and made me feel listened to.
I can't thank the team enough for such a lovely start to nursery.
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Review from Jon B (Father of Child) published on 24 May 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
Excellent nursery which our daughter has attended for the last 3 1/2 years. minimal staff changes have lead to consistency throughout this time and it has been a great start for her.
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Review from Rebecca C (Mother of Child) published on 23 May 2017 Submitted via Website • Report
Overall Experience 5.0 out of 5
My eldest daughter has attended Kindercare - South Drive for 2.5 years and my youngest started in tinies 2 months ago. Both are extremely settled and considering my youngest is just 1 and has been there for 2 months, it is a testament to the staff at Kindercare that she has settled so quickly. My eldest
is a confident and polite little girl. She has a lot of friends and is always happy to be going to nursery. For me, it is the staff that have made our experience with nursery so positive - they are always happy, very informative (particularly about the learning activities my eldest is involved with as she starts school soon) and I always look forward to catching up with them at the end of the day. It is extremely hard for any parent to have children in a nursery but my experience with Kindercare - South Drive has made it all very worthwhile.
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Current Review Score: 9.9 (9.892)

Overview of Review Score

The Review Score of 9.9 (9.892) out of 10 for Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive is based on a) the Average Rating and b) the number of positive Reviews.

  1. The Average Rating is 4.9 out of 5 from 17 Reviews in the last 24 months.
  2. The score for the number of positive Reviews is 5.0 out of 5 from 17 positive Reviews in the last 24 months.

Detailed Breakdown of Review Score

The maximum Review Score for a Day Nursery is 10, which is made up from the Average Rating of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) and the Number of Reviews (maximum of 5 points) in the last 24 months:

  1. 5 Points are available for the Average Rating from all Reviews in the last 24 months. The Average Rating of 4.892 for Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive is calculated as follows: ( (181 Excellents x 5) + (22 Goods x 4) ) ÷ 203 Ratings = 4.892
  2. 5 Points are available for the number of Positive Reviews in the last 24 months. A Positive Review is defined as any Review with an 'Overall Experience' of '4' or '5' (out of a max rating '5'). The 5 Points relating to the number of positive Reviews for Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive is based on 17 positive Reviews in the last 24 months and is calculated as per below:

    The 5 points available are broken down as follows:

    1. 4 points are available for the first 10 Positive Reviews in the last 24 months; 3 points for the first Positive Review, and then 0.125 Points for each of the next four Positive Reviews and then 0.1 Points for the next five Positive Reviews. (1st = 3.000, 2nd = 0.125, 3rd = 0.125, 4th = 0.125, 5th = 0.125, 6th = 0.100, 7th = 0.100, 8th = 0.100, 9th = 0.100, 10th = 0.100) 3 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.125 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 = 4
    2. 1 point is available for the number of Positive Reviews reaching 20% of the number of registered child places in the last 24 months. If this number is partially reached, then that proportion of 1 point is given. eg a Day Nursery registered for a maximum of 50 child places has to reach 10 Positive Reviews to receive 1 point, if it has 7 reviews it will receive 0.7 points. 20% of the 52 number of registered child places is 10.4, which has been reached with 17 Positive reviews. Points = 1
  3. When a Review is submitted by someone who has previously submitted a Review, only the latest Review will count towards the Review Score.
  4. If a Day Nursery does not have a review in the last 24 months, then it will not have a Review Score.

Child Vacancies

Please contact us for latest vacancies.

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Awards / Recognitions (1)

Meet the Team (1)

Samantha

Samantha Crichton

Job Title: Centre Director Joined: 2012

I started working at Busy Bees in 2009, completing my NVQ, in 2010 I started my family and re-joined after my maternity leave at Busy Bees South Drive. I worked hard to develop my career here progressing to Room Lead, Senior Room Lead then Assistant Centre Director. I was asked to step into the Centre Director role in February 2025 officially securing the role in March 2025. I have a strong passion in providing a safe, homely feeling nursery whilst still offering the best opportunities for children in our care. After spending many years as support SEND I have a big interest in supporting families and children that have SEND needs and thoroughly enjoy watching all children develop and grow into young children ready for their big move to school.
Having my own family really allows me to ensure the care provided is what you would look for as a parent and really understand and support families to settle into nursery life. Having worked with Under 5's for over 15 years I have a great knowledge of child development and love that Busy Bees gives me the opportunities and support to enable great outcomes for all children

Information on this page is displayed without responsibility for its accuracy on the part of daynurseries.co.uk. Please contact Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive to verify any information. View our terms and conditions. Busy Bees Harrogate South Drive has an Enhanced Service - more info.