Leanne: Manager / Pre School & Buttercup Room Leader

Leanne works as part of the Management team but also the Preschool room. She has over 15 years experience working within the early years. Leanne began working as part of the Butterflies family in 2011 and has been here ever since. Leanne has a Bachelor in Arts Degree in Young Childcare and Education. She has a passion for teaching the children about the world around them. She loves nothing more than getting the children involved in growing their own sunflowers, tomatoes and wildflowers. 
Leanne believes the children should be given the opportunity to explore in an environment in which they feel safe & secure with adults who    believe in them and give them the space they need to be care free and unique. Leanne feels so lucky to be a part of the children's journey   at Butterflies, especially the final leg of the journey, getting them ready for school is a pleasure and a privelage. 

Cara: Manager 

Cara is one of our longest serving staff members, joining Butterflies in 2009. Cara began her Butterflies journey in our Pre-school room, working her way up to deputy manager and then nursery manager. Cara is office based, however can often be found giving a helping hand as / when needed, across any of the rooms. 
Cara is highly qualified, with Early Years Professional Status and a BA Honours Degree in Early Childhood Studies. Cara is a very calming, friendly face for the children and she is always up for a cuddle! 
Cara has 3 boys of her own so between being a mum and a manager, she isn't left with much 'spare time'! But in her down time, she can often be found somwhere rugby related!

Alisha: Deputy Manager / Daisy Room Leader 

Alisha joined the butterflies team at the age of 16 as a college student and has worked her way up to the role of deputy manager. Alisha went to do a few summer seasons abroad to have fun in the sun and experience life as a children's rep but always made her way back to Butterflies where she has been ever since - she really is part of the furniture!
One of Alisha's main passions here is ensuring that each and every child has a home from home experience whilst in the setting, she wants them to be happy, loved and settled. Alisha loves and cares for each child asif they were her own!

Another passion of Alisha's is partnership with parents. Alisha knows how important it is to make sure that not only are the children settled, but their parents too. Building positive relationships with parents is a must for Alisha.

Alisha certainly has a crazy side and is good at getting the children up dancing, singing and letting them express themselves in many ways. She loves to have lots of fun throughout the day!

Leah: Poppy Room Leader

Leah works within our Poppy room with our Butterflies babies, where your child’s journey begins.

Leah has a Masters degree, a BA (Honours) degree, a Foundation Degree & Cache Level 3, all in Early Childhood studies. She is also qualified as a baby massage instructor and tummy time practitioner, having experience running her own baby classes.
Leah started working with us in September 2023, just as she finished her maternity leave.

We are really lucky to have Leah as part of our team; she is such a passionate practitioner who has a passion for working with the babies.

Leah feels it is such an honour and a privilege to be able to be that first person who welcomes you to the setting and helps you and your baby as you settle into your nursery journey.

April: Early Years Educator 

April works within the Poppy Room (0-18 months) April is inviting and engaging with all children she comes into contact with.

She has worked at Butterflies for over 10 years and those 10 years have been filled, full of fun, excitement and lots of hugs. April has spent the majority of her years with our babies. She has worked closely with our new parents, helping them with the huge transition of leaving their precious babies and getting back to work.

The children in the Poppy room thrive off April’s enthusiasm during play. She promotes respect, kindness and care through role play with the children in the Poppy room. Don’t ever change April, we all love you!

Angela: Early Years Assistant

Angela has been with us since July 2021 and supports all of our nursery rooms; caring for all of our children here at Butterflies and seeing them through their nursery journey.

She loves being around the children, supporting them with their everyday needs, she has a very calming nature; the children thrive off her kindness and patience.

Angela is a wonderful addition to our Butterflies family and we are very lucky to have her!

Jess works within the daisy room and has been at Butterflies since 2022. Jess returned from maternity leave in April 2026 after her little boy was born in the previous June.

Jess is a wonderful lady who the children adore being with, she is fun and loves being with the children. She puts her heart and soul into creating engaging and exciting environments for the children to play and learn in.

She loves quiet story times with the children; she gets them engaged with the story by asking questions to get their imaginations flowing.

Alisha S: Early Years Educator

Alisha works within the Daisy Room with children aged 2-3 years, she loves being in the Daisy room.
Alisha always enjoys coming into work to seeing all the children smiling and always wants to make sure they are happy too.
She has just recently finished her level 4 in young children’s learning and development and is going to be starting her level 5 in September
Alisha started with us as a student in February 2024 before joining our staff team in summer 2025.

Kerry: Early Years Educator

Kerry has worked at Butterflies for over 16 years and is a huge part of our setting.

She previously worked in Pre-school as room leader, where she worked for the majority of her 12 years, but now she works 3 days a week with our youngest children in the Poppy room.

Kerry loves her job and the children she cares for, she loves getting them outdoors for some well needed fresh air and a run around to let off all that extra energy.

She also enjoys getting the children involved in crafts and messy play, making and creating, encouraging the children to use their imaginations! She is a fabulous artist and loves to draw, the pre-school children always loved asking her to draw them their favourite things.

Karen: Early Years Educator

Karen is a much loved member of our team, she has worked with us for around 7 years and over those years Karen has been an amazing support across the whole of our nursery. Karen is qualified as a level 3 Early years educator.  Karen originally started with us as lunch cover where she supported all of our children over lunch times. Karen quickly fell in love with the Early years after previously working as a teaching assistant in schools, she then began working with Pre-school where she worked for 3 years.

Karen is now working as a support member of staff where she supports all of our children across the nursery. Karen's passion is supporting children with SEN, she has previously supported many of our children with SEN over the years she has worked at Butterflies. She believes it is vitally important that all children are included and given the same opportunities.

Karen is a lovely warm character, she is bubbly and fun. She enjoys having time to sit and read stories with a snuggle from time to time which the children love too! 

Jean: Nursery Cook

Jean is our wonderful nursery cook who has been with us now for over 3 years. The children love seeing her when she pops into their rooms to collect dishes from meal times.

Jean has come from working in a school kitchen which she did for over 22 years, it was a job she loved. She equally loves her job with us which is just on a smaller, more relaxed scale. Jean also loves to bake; all our puddings and treats are made freshly here in our own kitchen.

Jean cooks our children’s meals freshly every day, she can and does cater for a wide range of food allergies and intolerances, adapting our meals to suit all children. Apart from her love of cooking and baking, Jean also loves to knit; she will often knit beautiful cardigans for our pregnant ladies.    

Tish: Early Years Assistant 

Tish works within the Buttercup room and has worked at Butterflies for 14 years. Over the 14 years Tish has worked as lunch cover for around a year where she then gradually built up her hours until she became full time in the Pre-school room. Tish now works 3 days a week with our younger preschool children.

Tish enjoys nothing more than getting out the messy and creative things and letting the children explore and be creative. Tish also loves to bake so is an excellent play dough maker.

Tish is a huge part of our nursery and is loved by all our children and staff members! 

Fiona: Early Years Teacher

Fiona works within our Pre-school room alongside Leanne and Lisa.  She started with us in June 2023 and has settled in like a duck to water. The children love her and we do too. 
After gaining her Bachelor of Education degree with honours, Fiona taught in a primary school in London for four years, then had a lovely long career break to look after her own children. After returning to work, Fiona worked as a primary teacher in a local school for over 20 years, initially with KS1 children, then spending the last 11 years of this working within the Foundation Stage.
Fiona is such a calming influence in the nursery. She has a great passion for children's literature, owning hundreds of books herself! Story telling is one of her favourite things to do; she is so captivating when she tells a story and she really knows how to capture the children's imaginations. As well as telling stories, Fiona loves being creative and getting messy. The more glitter the better, eh Fiona?!
A mum to three grown up children herself and a step mum, she's now a proud "nanny Fee" to her two little granddaughters and a little grandson. She spends much of her free time in airport lounges, travelling over to France to visit her granddaughters. Fiona absoloutley loves being a nanny and says it's the best job she ever had! (As well as working at Butterflies, of course!)

Chloe: Early Years Assistant

Chloe joined Butterflies in March 2025, she is currently working towards her level 3 in Childcare.
Chloe works in the Buttercup room.
Chloe absolutely loves working with young children, she finds it so rewarding to watch them develop new skills, grow in confidence and see their unique personalities blossom.
One of Chloe's favourite parts of the job is positively affirming the children and watching their self-belief shine. She also loves to see them form bonds with eachother, watching friendships develop. This is such a special part of the early years.
Outside of nursery, Chloe enjoys baking and painting, as well as keeping active and spending as much time as she can with her wonderful nieces and nephews.

Lisa: Senco / Early Years Educator

Lisa is a highly qualified and much-loved member of our team. Since joining us in June 2023, she has served as a dedicated Early Years Educator and has recently embraced increased responsibility as a SENCO assistant. Her passion lies in Special Educational Needs (SEN) and she currently works primarily with children in our Pre-school room. Her personality is as vibrant as her work; you'll often hear her loud and infectious laugh before she walks through the door!

Lisa brings a wealth of academic knowledge to her role, backed by;
Postgraduate Diploma (Level 7) in Special Educational Needs, Inclusion and Disabilities
BA Hons (Level 6) in Primary Teaching
Foundation Degree (Level 5) in Primary Teaching
To further her specialisms, Lisa is currently working towards an in-depth Early Years qualification and a specialised SENCO qualification, due fror completion July 2026.

Lisa's educational philosophy centres on helping children develop and understand the world. She believes that building positive relationships is the crucial foundation for supporting their whole development. She also has a passion for art, which makes her embrace creative and messy play, the more hands on the better; helping children learn through active play!
Outside of work, Lisa cherishes spending time with her family, including her 2 teenage boys and her dog, Lu-Lu. She also enjoys long walks along the sea front.