Busy Bees Burwood is an early education and care centre on Burwood Road, Christchurch, that follows the RIE Educaring approach, which is built on respect and trust for the child. The centre has four separate rooms, each for a stage of development, and each room is named after a native bird of the area, chosen for the traits of the children in it. The rooms open onto one another, so older and younger children mix, and each room has its own outdoor play space landscaped with natural features. The centre also uses Storypark for regular learning updates and offers 20 hours of ECE, with a bicultural practice built on whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga and kotahitanga.
Parents say the staff are caring, talkative and welcoming, and that the centre has a high-energy but relaxed feel with lots of outdoor play. One family, whose daughter spent four and a half years there, says every kaiako was caring and a good role model. Another says the centre feels like family, and has had two children there at once. Among the four childcare listings within a kilometre, Busy Bees Burwood has the most Open Locally reviews, and it rates alongside the others that have reviews on the same list.