Two Hands Preschool

A large garden, daily neighbourhood outings and a dedicated children’s cooking area give Two Hands Preschool a character that goes beyond its urban address. Children grow ingredients, make snacks and explore the streets and green spaces around Goldhawk Road. The practical world supplies plenty to learn from.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Two Hands Outstanding overall and across all four areas, finding excellent progress, highly effective support for children with SEND and effective safeguarding. That is a substantial endorsement, backed by observations of children solving problems together, enjoying books and becoming confident conversationalists.

Two Hands has capacity for 48 children and takes children from 18 months until they move to Reception. Its purpose-built premises include age-group learning zones and a garden accessible directly from each classroom. Preschool attendance is organised around four or five full days, with after-school care also offered for older siblings.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children’s learning, development and care: play, conversation, movement and learning to manage feelings belong together. At Two Hands, activities led by adults sit alongside opportunities for children to choose their own play. Communication, physical skills and emotional development receive explicit attention, rather than being treated as preparation that can wait until school.

Independence has a practical expression. Children help prepare snacks, pour drinks, wash bowls and return resources to their places; staff give enough assistance to help them complete a task themselves. Age groups have their own learning zones, with opportunities to mix during the day. This gives children both a familiar group and contact with children at other stages.

Cooking is unusually concrete here. A dedicated children’s cooking area supports a simple recipe at the start of the day, with the results eaten later as a snack. Recipes are revisited until the group is ready for something different, and produce grown in the garden can become an ingredient. Repetition gives children a chance to become familiar with the process rather than encounter each task only once.

In June 2025, younger children practised precise finger movements by arranging seeds into sunflower pictures, while older children drew with increasing detail and worked on writing their names. Stories also served different stages: younger children responded to illustrations, and older children discussed possible endings. These were activities with a clear next step, rather than identical tasks for everyone.

Outdoor and Community Life

Direct garden access makes outdoor play part of the classroom day. Scooters and balance bikes sit alongside opportunities to construct, climb and experiment with sand or water. A vegetable and herb garden adds something slower: children can tend plants as well as use the space for energetic play.

Daily outings reach Ravenscourt Park, Brook Green, Shepherd’s Bush Market and the library, using multi-seat buggies to take children into the neighbourhood. The destinations matter. A market, a park and a library offer different experiences, extending the day beyond the preschool’s own resources.

Forest School activities add learning outdoors with a trained leader, while cultural trips include museums and theatres. In June 2025, community walks included an allotment and a local market, connecting food with the places it comes from. Children also voted on outing destinations and books, practising how to express a preference and accept a group decision.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with a conversation about the individual child. Before the start date, families receive information through Famly, the preschool’s communication software, and a call or home visit helps plan personal settling days. This gives staff a route to discuss routines and needs before preschool becomes part of the child’s week.

Communication continues through everyday conversations, technology and opportunities to meet in person. Six-monthly Spotlight assessments combine close observation, discussion among staff and a parent meeting, followed by an individual written report. Parents therefore receive a fuller account of development as well as day-to-day exchanges about care.

In June 2025, Ofsted found that detailed plans supported children with SEND, with advice and resources shared with parents to help continue learning at home. The value lies in those mechanisms: an individual plan and information shared between adults, rather than a general promise that every child will be supported in the same way.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Rest has its own physical space. Children who nap use a darkened, quiet room with toddler floor beds, and can bring a familiar blanket, toy or comforter. Older children who have stopped napping still have quiet time after lunch. Changes to nap length are made with parents, so the preschool routine can respond to the child’s sleep needs.

Potty training follows the same collaborative principle. Staff can follow a family’s approach or provide advice when parents want help. Predictable routines, with songs and rhymes marking changes of activity, give children familiar cues during the day.

Food comes from Zebedees for lunch and dinner, while breakfast and snacks are prepared at the preschool; staff eat alongside children, who practise serving and clearing up. Dietary preferences, including plant-based meals, can be accommodated, giving families a basis for discussing their child’s requirements.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Unit A, The Tramshed Building, 45a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP. Two Hands opens from 8am to 6pm for 46 weeks each year.

Preschool packages cover four or five full days. The core day runs from 9am to 3.30pm, with care from 8am to 9am and from 3.30pm to 6pm included in the package. Families can use as much of those additional periods as they need on each booked day. That flexibility concerns the length of the day: mornings alone and two- or three-day weeks are not booking options.

Closures fall across Christmas, Easter and summer: two weeks, one week and three weeks respectively. There are also three staff training days and closures for bank holidays during term time. These interruptions need to fit a family’s working calendar despite the broad daily opening window.

Older siblings up to seven can attend the after-school club for play, activities or supervised homework. Collection from nearby schools may be arranged. This is a separate useful option for families managing preschool and school timetables together.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email at hello@twohandspreschool.com or on 020 8132 3294. A secure storage area accommodates buggies, scooters and bikes, useful for families making the journey on foot or by bicycle.

Funding and Paid Extras

Paid full-day packages include meals, snacks, specialist classes and trips. Government-funded entitlement is also offered, with no additional charges for those places. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the fees and FAQs explain the package structure.

Bursaries are separate from government entitlement. One in five preschool places is reserved for children from low-income families, supported by Two Hands Educational Trust. Each bursary covers the whole offer with no costs for the family, making this a meaningful route for qualifying households rather than a discount on the basic package.

Private registration carries a one-off, non-refundable charge; applications solely for funded hours or a bursary are exempt. A deposit secures an offered place and becomes non-refundable six months before the offered start date. Withdrawal at the start of September, January or April requires three months’ notice, so the contract matters well beyond the initial booking.

In July 2024, receiving school staff visited children at Two Hands in familiar surroundings and discussed them with preschool staff. This supported continuity by sharing knowledge of the child before the move to school.

• A substantial weekly commitment. Preschool packages require four or five full days, even when families use only the core period. A tour or stay-and-play session is a useful opportunity to discuss settling into that routine, especially for a child joining at 18 months.
• Closure dates need planning. Christmas, Easter and summer closures sit alongside training days and bank holidays. Compare those breaks with your work commitments before choosing a start date.
• Funding and everyday supplies. Funded places carry no additional costs, while paid packages include food, specialist classes and trips.
• Dietary requirements deserve a detailed conversation. Meals come from an external supplier, with breakfast and snacks prepared on site. Families managing allergies should confirm how their child’s needs will be handled across both arrangements.

Two Hands suits families seeking four or five full days of preschool with included morning and afternoon wraparound care, and those using its after-school club for older siblings. Daily outings, practical cooking, direct garden access and structured Spotlight feedback give the offer substance. The June 2025 Outstanding judgement adds weight to that picture.

The main decision is whether the attendance commitment and closure calendar fit family life. For those they suit, Two Hands brings education, everyday independence and care into a coherent routine, with funded entitlement and full bursaries widening the ways families can access it.