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EnglishWhat Is the Bee Curious Curriculum at Busy Bees Nurseries?
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Bee Curious is the early years curriculum used across Busy Bees nurseries. According to Busy Bees, it was created by leading early years experts and is described as the UK's only independently evaluated early years curriculum. Its stated aim is to inspire curiosity and a lifelong love of learning, and it runs through the everyday activities and care at each nursery rather than sitting apart from them. If you are choosing a nursery and want to know what your child will actually do all day, Bee Curious is the framework to look at.
What Bee Curious is
Busy Bees presents Bee Curious as a curriculum built specifically for early years settings, not a general teaching method borrowed from schools. Two claims in the site's own wording are worth noting:
- Created by early years experts — the curriculum was designed by specialists in early childhood rather than adapted from a primary or secondary model.
- Independently evaluated — Busy Bees states it is the UK's only independently evaluated early years curriculum. If independent evaluation matters to you, ask the nursery which body carried it out and what the findings were, since the website does not name the evaluator.
The curriculum is not a separate class or add-on. It is delivered through the normal nursery day — activities, care routines and interactions — so what you observe on a tour is the curriculum in practice.
What it is trying to achieve
The goal stated by Busy Bees is curiosity and a long-term love of learning, rather than early academic drilling. In practice, that usually means:
- Activities built around what children are already interested in
- Adults asking questions and extending play rather than instructing
- Learning spread across the whole day, including meals, outdoor time and transitions
One parent review on the site describes staff who "create activities around things our son loves," which is the kind of day-to-day signal to look for if you want to see whether the curriculum is genuinely being followed at a specific nursery.
How to see it for yourself
Because Bee Curious is delivered locally, the useful next step is to check it at the nursery you are actually considering:
- Book an open day. Busy Bees runs open days where you can visit a local nursery; the site has a booking route for this.
- Ask how the curriculum shows up in the room. Ask staff to point to a recent activity and explain how it followed a child's interest.
- Ask about the independent evaluation. Request the name of the evaluating organisation and any summary findings.
- Watch a handover. Reviews on the site repeatedly mention communication at handover, which is where you can judge how well staff know individual children.
- Read the curriculum page. Busy Bees has a dedicated "Bee Curious" section on its site for more detail before you visit.
What the site does and does not tell you
| Question | What the site provides |
|---|---|
| Who designed it | Says early years experts; no names given |
| Independent evaluation | States it is the only independently evaluated early years curriculum; evaluator not named |
| Daily delivery | Described as part of nursery activities and care |
| Fees or funded hours | Separate pages cover government-funded childcare (up to 30 funded hours in England, Scotland and Wales) and a funding and fees calculator |
| Specific activities per age group | Not detailed on the pages reviewed |
Fees, session times and age-group specifics are not set out in the material reviewed here, so treat those as questions for the individual nursery rather than assumptions from the website.
Who this matters to
Bee Curious is most relevant if you are comparing nurseries and want to know whether there is a defined educational approach behind the care, rather than childcare alone. It is less useful if you have already chosen a setting and simply want practical information like hours and fees — those sit on separate Busy Bees pages.
If the curriculum is a deciding factor, the open day visit plus a direct question about the independent evaluation will tell you more than the website copy can.