Full-day nursery in Northgate, Kent
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury
Riverside Childrens Centre, Kingsmead Road, CANTERBURY, CT2 7PH · Getting there
Is it good?
Read the Ofsted reportOfsted inspection, before November 2025
Good
- Quality of educationGood
- Behaviour and attitudesGood
- Personal developmentGood
- Leadership and managementGood
- SafeguardingEffective
What does this mean?
This grade is from before November 2025, when Ofsted replaced single grades with report cards. The nursery's next inspection will give a report card, with a separate grade for each area instead of one overall grade.
Official records
- Ofsted registrationRegistered since June 2006Reference EY333589Ofsted · checked 30 June 2026
- Inspections on record1 inspectionlatest 10 October 2023Ofsted · checked 30 June 2026
- Registered places80 placesthe most children it may care for at onceOfsted · checked 30 June 2026
- Food hygiene rating5 (Very good)inspected 23 July 2026Food Standards Agency · checked 13 November 2026
Fees
Fees, hours and ages: not published yet
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Estimate a monthly cost with the council area's typical day rate
Hours and ages
Opening hours and ages: not published yet.
Getting there
Riverside Childrens Centre, Kingsmead Road, CANTERBURY, CT2 7PH · More nurseries in CT2
Stations
- Canterbury West9 min walk · 0.4 miles
- Canterbury East21 min walk · 0.9 miles
Buses
11 bus stops within 400 m, including Leisure Centre, Sainsbury's and Malthouse Road.
Parks and playgrounds
- Beverley Meadow6 min walk
- Westgate Gardens11 min walk
- north holmes campus12 min walk
- Franciscan Garden & Greyfriars Chapel12 min walk
- Kingsmead Recreation Ground playground2 min walk
- Playground5 min walk
NaPTAN, Department for Transport, checked 13 November 2026 · © OpenStreetMap contributors, checked 13 November 2026. Walking times are rough, from straight-line distance.
Places and next steps
Spaces: not published yet. Nurseries often fill months ahead, so ask early.
In Kent there are about 3.2 children under 5 for every registered nursery place. Places are how many children nurseries may care for, not free spaces, so this is a guide to demand. Source: ONS Census 2021.
What parents say
Reviews on Toddly
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Write a reviewAbout Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury is a full-day nursery at Riverside Childrens Centre, Kingsmead Road, CANTERBURY, CT2 7PH, in Northgate, Kent. It is registered for 80 children. Ofsted rated it Good at its inspection in October 2023, before report cards replaced single grades in November 2025. It has a Google rating of 4.8 from 16 reviews (October 2026). It is run by Busy Bees Nurseries Limited.
Run by Busy Bees Nurseries Limited (company), which runs 300 nurseries.
Compare nurseries nearby
| Nursery | Ofsted | Full day from | Hours | Ages | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Busy Bees Day Nursery at CanterburyThis nursery | Good | not shared yet | not shared yet | not shared yet | This nursery |
| Bluebells Kindergarten CanterburyFull-day nursery | Not yet inspected | not shared yet | not shared yet | not shared yet | 0.1 miles |
| Canterbury Day Nursery, Holiday Playscheme and ASCFull-day nursery | Good | not shared yet | not shared yet | not shared yet | 0.4 miles |
| Squirrels Pre-School CIOFull-day nursery | Good | not shared yet | not shared yet | not shared yet | 0.4 miles |
| Lilliput Pre-schoolSessional pre-school | Good | not shared yet | not shared yet | not shared yet | 0.5 miles |
| Bovan CreekFull-day nursery | Good | not shared yet | not shared yet | not shared yet | 0.5 miles |
| The Nursery At Canterbury CollegeFull-day nursery | Good | not shared yet | not shared yet | not shared yet | 0.7 miles |
A dash means the nursery hasn't published it yet. Distances are in a straight line.
Nearby areas
Schools nearby
- St Johns Church of England Primary School Primaryages 2–11has a nursery classOfsted: Goodinspected January 2024 0.1 miles
- St Thomas' Catholic Primary School, Canterbury Primaryages 5–11Ofsted: Goodinspected April 2023 0.3 miles
- St Stephen's Infant School Primaryages 5–7Ofsted: Goodinspected January 2024 0.4 miles
- St Stephen's Junior School Primaryages 7–11Ofsted: School remains Goodinspected March 2023 0.5 miles
- St Peter's Methodist Primary School Primaryages 4–11Ofsted: Standards maintainedinspected November 2024 0.5 miles
- Parkside Community Foundation Primary School Primaryages 4–11Ofsted: Goodinspected April 2023 1.0 miles
- St Nicholas' School ages 4–19Ofsted: School remains Goodinspected February 2024 1.1 miles
- St Edmund's School Canterbury ages 3–19has a nursery class 1.1 miles
Straight-line distances. Places depend on each school's admissions rules. From the Department for Education and Ofsted.
Questions parents ask
Got a question? Ask and get an answer straight away.
What is Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury Good at its inspection on 10 October 2023, before report cards replaced single grades in November 2025.
How many children can Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury take?
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury is registered with Ofsted for up to 80 children at any one time.
Who runs Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury?
Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury is run by Busy Bees Nurseries Limited, which runs 300 nurseries.
What is the nearest station to Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury?
Canterbury West is the nearest station we know of, 0.4 miles away in a straight line.
How do I contact Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury?
You can call 01227 479036 and visit www.busybeeschildcare.co.uk.
Tools for parents in Kent
- Childcare cost calculatorMonthly cost with funded hours
- Funded hours checkerWhich schemes you qualify for
- Funded hours start dateWhen your child's hours begin
- Tax-Free Childcare calculatorThe 20% top-up on your bill
- Visit checklist for this nurseryPrintable questions, pre-filled
- Cost of nursery in KentFees by age in Kent
About this information
- Registration and inspections: Ofsted · 30 June 2026
- Rating and review themes: Google · 30 October 2026
- Schools: DfE Get Information about Schools · 4 November 2026
- Contains Ofsted data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Contains Department for Education data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Contains Ofsted data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right; contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right.
- Contains Department for Transport NaPTAN data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Food hygiene rating from the Food Standards Agency, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Source: Office for National Statistics, Census 2021, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Read reviews on Google
Last checked 30 October 2026 · Ofsted URN EY333589 · Plain-text version · Report a mistake
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