Butterfly Nursery

In December 2022, puddle jumping, a nature garden and individual sleep routines gave Butterfly Nursery a recognisable character: outdoor exploration alongside attention to younger children's comfort. At its December 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. Those observations provide a dated picture of care, rather than a promise about every child's experience today.

Butterfly Nursery occupies Hove Polyclinic on Nevill Avenue, Hove, BN3 7HY, and has capacity for 46 children. It welcomes children from nine months to school age. The practical appeal includes flexible hours and a choice between term-time and stretched funded attendance for eligible families.

The strongest inspection examples concern children doing things for themselves: reaching activities, choosing resources and exploring outdoors. The qualification matters too. In December 2022, staff sometimes missed opportunities to deepen learning or recognise when a child needed help to participate.

Rooms and Ages

In December 2022, the baby room placed activities at different levels to encourage movement as children learnt to walk. That is a useful physical detail: the arrangement connected play with the movements babies were developing, rather than relying only on activities at floor level.

The wider indoor and outdoor layout also supported independent exploration at that time. Children could reach resources and follow their interests, although some needed more help than staff recognised. Independence worked best when adults noticed the point at which a child needed support.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday experiences contribute to their learning alongside attention to their individual needs. The NHS nursery group's approach combines freely chosen play with some adult-organised learning, giving children both opportunities to explore and a structure to their day.

Makaton is a group-wide communication addition, with nursery managers trained to use it and teach staff so children can communicate and feel understood. Separately, in December 2022, children used signing and visual prompts during activities. Familiar songs and stories supported language, while finding their names when registering offered an everyday opportunity to recognise written words.

Other December 2022 examples were pleasingly concrete. Children kept rebuilding a brick tower after it collapsed and took turns preparing peppers for painting. These activities brought persistence, cooperation and practical hand movements into ordinary play. Support for concentration and fine motor skills also formed part of preparation for the next stage of learning.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor play, whatever the weather, is part of the group-wide offer. Gardens across the NHS nursery group include digging areas, mud kitchens, sensory flower gardens, play equipment and soft flooring. The emphasis is on activity and contact with nature, giving children opportunities beyond indoor play.

Butterfly's December 2022 outdoor experiences make that principle tangible. Children searched for insects in the nature garden, investigated flowers they had planted and used a mud pit. Puddle suits allowed adults and children to join in rainy-weather play. Covered areas offered shelter, and younger children had a separate outdoor area when the garden was busier.

Relationships and Communication

In December 2022, key persons gathered information before children started, then met parents to discuss what children would learn next. Children sought comfort from staff, and babies' sleep arrangements accommodated familiar comforters and individual sounds or music. The practical point is personal continuity: home routines helped shape care during the nursery day.

A lending library of books and resources gave families something concrete to use at home in December 2022. Regular communication with parents complemented those resources. Across the NHS nursery group, the current communication offer includes progress updates and daily information about children's activities and learning, helping parents connect the nursery day with conversations and play at home.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that the special educational needs coordinator worked effectively with other professionals and staff on additional support, and that children made good progress. In December 2022, staff also used bags of resources to help children identify emotions and respond to them with adult help.

The group-wide food offer is vegetarian, with a hot lunch supplied by Little Tums, alongside breakfast, snacks, milk and water. This gives families a clear starting point for understanding the nursery's food arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm. Flexible hours form part of the NHS nursery group's attendance offer, while funded attendance has both term-time and stretched options. The nursery operates across the year, closing for bank holidays and Christmas.

For eligible families using the 30-hour entitlement, the term-time option runs over 38 weeks; the stretched option provides 25 funded hours a week over 45 weeks. Funded attendance is restricted to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That restriction deserves attention when matching childcare with working days.

Holiday attendance can be booked and paid for eight weeks ahead. Applications have a Butterfly Nursery route, and enquiries can be made on 01273 267 558 or by email to sc-tr.nursery@nhs.net.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible children can receive the 15-hour or 30-hour funded entitlement. Hours beyond a family's funded allocation are charged separately, so the attendance pattern and funded allocation need to be considered together. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

During funded hours, food and drinks are charged separately for families who can afford the charge. These include the vegetarian lunch and other refreshments described above. The condition on affordability matters when discussing the overall cost of attendance.

• Funded weekdays. Funded attendance falls on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Families needing Monday or Friday care should account for separately charged hours outside their funded allocation.
• Support during independent play. In December 2022, staff did not consistently notice when children needed help to engage, and sometimes missed chances to extend learning. On a visit, ask how practitioners now recognise those moments and respond.
• Food within funded hours. The food-and-drink consumables charge applies to families who can afford it. Discuss how that condition works alongside your chosen funded attendance pattern.

Butterfly Nursery suits families seeking flexible hours or term-time funded attendance, with a stretched funding option also available. Its practical strengths are the vegetarian food arrangements, communication with parents and an emphasis on outdoor play across the NHS nursery group.

The December 2022 picture adds useful detail: individual baby sleep routines, weather-ready outdoor spaces and resources families could borrow. Balance those examples against the need identified then for more consistent adult support during play. The fit depends as much on the funded weekdays as on the nursery's approach to daily care.