Butterflies

Language, imaginative play and a college-campus setting give Butterflies its character. Based at Oldham College in Oldham, it accepts children from 6 months to 5 years and has 62 places in total. Its nursery building sits beside the campus’s main building, while a large outdoor play area gives children space for active play alongside indoor activities.

At its 11 November 2025 inspection, Ofsted awarded Strong standard judgements for achievement, inclusion, and leadership and governance, and Expected standard judgements for curriculum and teaching, behaviour and routines, and welfare and wellbeing, with safeguarding standards met. That is a differentiated picture rather than a single overall grade. The practical concern was how the busiest parts of the day worked for younger children, especially around lunch and sleep.

Attendance is term-time only, with morning, afternoon and full-day bookings. The campus setting also has a financial advantage for eligible learners: childcare support through the Oldham College Bursary is subject to assessment and available funding.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play: children explore materials, practise communication and develop skills through everyday activities. At Butterflies, this includes water and sand play, creative work, music and stories. Free play sits alongside these experiences, giving children opportunities to choose what interests them.

In November 2025, language development shaped teaching because most children attending spoke English as an additional language. Staff valued children’s home languages while building their English speaking and listening skills. For a family using another language at home, the important combination is recognition of that language alongside opportunities to practise English.

The November 2025 day included toddlers pretending to prepare dinners in the play kitchen and acting out jobs with tools. These activities gave them reasons to communicate as well as use their imagination. Preschool children practised mathematical ideas, tried new vocabulary and recalled parts of familiar stories; babies explored books independently. Learning took different forms at different stages.

Rooms and Ages

In November 2025, babies could crawl into an adjoining sensory room while their key person remained close. That physical arrangement connected exploration with familiar adult support. Toddlers used role play to express ideas, while older children made choices and shared their opinions.

The youngest children’s experience deserves attention alongside the activities. During that same month, younger toddlers sometimes waited too long for lunch and became unsettled. Sleep routines also needed refinement. These are everyday care issues that matter directly to a child who is hungry or tired.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large, well-equipped outdoor play area forms part of the current offer. It gives outdoor play a physical place within the nursery day, rather than leaving the experience entirely indoors. Alongside creative activities, stories and music, it broadens the ways children can spend their time.

Relationships and Communication

At the November 2025 inspection, Ofsted found substantial progress, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and highlighted effective key-person relationships, early responses to individual needs and strong partnerships with parents. For families, those findings connect the quality judgement to specific mechanisms: familiar adults, attention to each child’s development and working relationships with home.

In November 2025, children sought reassurance from other familiar staff as well as their key person. Babies turned to adults with whom they had formed bonds, and toddlers used cuddles or comfort objects when feelings became overwhelming. Care therefore involved both an individual relationship and familiarity with the wider room team.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The Colour Monster, a book used with matching teddies to help children express feelings, featured in preschool practice in November 2025. Children used the teddies to show friends how they felt. This gave them a concrete way to communicate an emotion that might otherwise be difficult to explain.

During November 2025, staff also responded to children’s non-verbal signals and helped them recognise emotions. The remaining concern was consistency during care routines: some staff did not sustain the same learning expectations when attending to children’s care needs. Better organisation at these times was needed alongside the positive relationships.

The nursery’s Childcare Development Manager has a designated safeguarding support role within the college’s arrangements. This establishes a responsibility for concerns affecting the nursery; the dated inspection judgement supplies the assessment of safeguarding effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

Butterflies operates during term time. Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, and afternoon sessions are given as 1pm to 5.30pm; full-day bookings are also offered. Opening hours are 8am to 5.30pm from Monday to Thursday, with a 5pm finish on Friday. The Friday afternoon timing needs clarification before a family builds its weekly schedule around it.

Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The nursery accepts enquiries from learners, college staff and private families, so its campus location does not make it a learner-only service.

Getting There

The address is Oldham College, Rochdale Road, Oldham, OL9 6AA. Butterflies occupies its own nursery building beside the main campus building, making the location directly relevant to parents studying or working at the college.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education hours are offered, alongside paid childcare. For funded attendance, meals and snacks sit outside the funding: parents can choose to contribute towards these costs, and those contributions are optional rather than a condition of taking a funded place. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

Eligible learners using Butterflies may receive help with childcare costs through the Oldham College Bursary, subject to assessment and available funding. This is separate from funded early education hours. Learners seeking childcare bursary support must complete both a bursary application and a childcare bursary form, and approval of the application and supporting documents is required before childcare use begins under those terms.

• Toddler lunch and sleep. In November 2025, lunch delays unsettled some younger children and sleep routines needed strengthening. During a visit, ask how the toddler day now handles these busy periods and individual rest needs.
• Friday afternoon timing. Afternoon sessions finish at 5.30pm, while Friday opening ends at 5pm. Confirm the Friday booking arrangement before matching care to a course or work timetable.
• Term-time attendance. Butterflies operates in term time only. Families needing care through school holidays will need an arrangement that covers those breaks.
• Learner funding. Childcare bursary support depends on assessment, available funding and an approved application. Build those conditions into the budget rather than treating support as automatic.

Butterflies suits families seeking morning, afternoon or full-day care during term time, especially those whose study or work connects with Oldham College. Language development, imaginative play and attention to individual children give it a clear educational character; the sensory room and outdoor play area add useful physical spaces.

The November 2025 picture also contains a practical qualification. Toddler mealtimes, sleep and the organisation of busy care periods deserve as much attention as the activities. For eligible learners, assessed bursary support may strengthen the fit, while the term-time calendar remains central to the decision.