Starfish Preschool & Holiday Club

In September 2025, slide play, balancing along a trail and everyday jobs gave children at Starfish Preschool & Holiday Club opportunities to practise movement, cooperation and independence. At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good, with learning organised around children's interests and their next steps. The setting has 57 places in total at 1 Ward Street, Oldham, OL9 9EX.

The September 2025 picture covered children aged 2 to 10, with preschool operating in term time and a holiday club during school breaks. These were separate parts of the provision, serving different attendance needs.

In September 2025, children explored the slide and learnt to wait for their turn; older children helped one another along a balancing trail. Physical play involved cooperation as well as movement. Songs and action rhymes gave children another way to join in, using the words and gestures they knew.

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: here, the September 2025 day combined play, language, movement and growing independence. The curriculum set out successive stages of learning, while staff planned activities around individual interests and next steps. Children could influence the pace of their play.

There were limits to that approach. In September 2025, questioning sometimes steered children towards an answer or moved on before they had time to think. Circle-time activities also stretched some younger children beyond their stage of development, and they lost interest. Those are useful points to explore alongside the strengths in child-led play.

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, children progressing well towards individual targets, and effective support through key-person relationships, parent partnership and timely referrals to specialist services. Support involved speech and language therapists alongside the local area's coordinator for special educational needs.

In September 2025, staff took family circumstances and language barriers into account when working with parents. Visual timetables helped children anticipate the next part of the day. Tidying after snacks, cleaning tables and putting coats away made independence part of ordinary routines rather than a separate activity.

Staff also received supervision, appraisal and coaching in September 2025. This provided opportunities to discuss practice and address training needs.

The address is 1 Ward Street, Oldham, OL9 9EX. In September 2025, the preschool opened from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time; the holiday club opened from 8am to 5.30pm during school holidays.

In September 2025, the setting provided funded early education. For families comparing attendance needs, the distinction between the term-time preschool and school-holiday provision matters more than the whole-setting place count.

• Time to think. In September 2025, some questions restricted children's answers or left too little thinking time. On a visit, ask how staff now encourage children to develop their own ideas.
• Younger children in group activities. Some younger children lost interest when activities were too demanding in September 2025. Ask how circle time is adapted to different developmental stages.
• Funded attendance costs. Funded early education formed part of the September 2025 provision. What would your intended attendance pattern include, including meals and consumables?

Starfish suits families considering a term-time preschool or school-holiday childcare, with the September 2025 account offering concrete examples of physical play, independence and close parent communication. The Good judgement supports that picture. The clearest reservations concern how staff pace questions and adapt group activities for younger children, both worth discussing before choosing the setting.