Busy Bees have pledged a commitment to training and development, utilising our in-house training team and continuously updating the programmes we offer to our employees.

Busy Bees nurseries are regularly introducing new child development initiatives, as developed by our specialist Childcare and Curriculum team. Childcare professionals working within our nurseries are fully trained to carry out these initiatives, ensuring each child gains as much as they can from the child development programmes.
It is the government’s aspiration that by 2015 all early years services will be graduate-led, with a requirement for all staff to have a minimum level 3 qualification. As Busy Bees works towards reaching these new Government development targets ahead of schedule, our Training team offer a number of recognised courses to Busy Bees nursery employees.
One of the courses available is the City and Guilds Higher Professional Diploma in Early Years. This course increases understanding of children's health and development, and covers areas such as ‘Safeguarding the health and safety of children,’ ‘Supporting children's development and learning,’ and ‘Working with families in the Early Years sector.’

Busy Bees also offers a NVQ programme, which has an exceptionally high pass rate. An NVQ aims to provide people with experience but no formal qualification the opportunity to achieve a recognised qualification. NVQ's are assessed within the nursery, where childcare workers are required to prove they have achieved a certain level of competence and capability. To qualify, learners have to pass a number of modules, which can take up to two years to complete.

Bespoke online training packages have also been created especially for Busy Bees, covering key procedures such as mealtimes, allergies, cross infection, fire safety, administration of medicine, sleep times and communication with parents. E-learning means that all staff have access to training and they can fit it conveniently around their day-to-day activities.

Busy Bees are always looking to introduce new, valuable childcare qualifications to enhance a child’s nursery experience, so the City and Guilds Certificate and Diploma for the Children and Young People’s Workforce has recently become available to Busy Bees employees. This qualification covers a range of abilities from Nursery Assistants to aspiring Nursery Managers, and covers the core areas in childcare, such as communication, development, protecting and promoting the welfare of the child, and supporting transitions.

As well as in-house training, Busy Bees funds external training programmes. Busy Bees recently engaged 36 of its directors and managers on a pioneering leadership and management training programme, following a need for improvement in leadership and management skills in the UK.

Clare Phizacklea, HR and Training Director at Busy Bees, is committed to providing quality training to Busy Bees employees, “To earn qualifications through programmes that have been designed with our company objectives at the forefront and are directly linked to the tasks we perform day in day out is a great benefit to our employees and builds on the existing knowledge of our nursery practitioners, producing the best possible care and development for children attending our nurseries.”