Busy Bees response to Save the Children Report

Busy Bees ensures all childcare practitioners are highly skilled and fully trained by its own in-house training academy who provide an ongoing training programme of short courses to supplement the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum framework. Preparing children for school with learning enhancements outside of the curriculum and meaningful planned activities tailored to the individual needs and interests of every child in their care ensures all children are ready and prepared for the next stage in their development.

To further children’s language and communication skills, Busy Bees childcare team has developed an enhancement, Babble to Chatter, for their staff, designed to link theory to practice; the how and the why behind the development of language. The programme focuses upon the core building blocks of language development, which includes attention and listening, play and interaction, understanding language, expressive language and speech. It encourages staff and parents to seize every possible opportunity to support and encourage children by providing practical activities and measurements that can be weaved into day-to-day nursery life.

Every child in nursery is assigned a key person who enables a strong understanding of their individual needs and abilities. Staff also work in close partnerships with parents and, if needs be, outside agencies such as Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs), health visitors, speech and language therapists, and provide daily feedback.  At every opportunity parents are encouraged to provide home observations of their child involved in a special event or an activity ensuring the key person can build upon their key child’s interests from home and nursery, this gives the child the foundations of their care and education development plan.   Preparing children for school or their next milestone will ensure they have the confidence and self-esteem to meet any challenge. 

Lisa Snell, director of early years at Busy Bees, who has been instrumental in the development of Babble to Chatter, explains the driving force behind the launch:

“Effective communication skills are the foundations upon which all other learning rests so we want to make sure our children are given the tools they need to navigate their way through the rest of their lives successfully and happily.”

For more information, please visit: www.busybeeschildcare.co.uk