The Village Preschool

A cricket field, woodland and a south-facing garden give The Village Preschool an outdoor character that goes well beyond a patio. Based at Walthamstow Cricket Club, this term-time setting serves children aged two to four, with Forest School providing opportunities to explore and learn through play in natural surroundings. There is room to run, too.

At its September 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Good, while identifying a need for staff to extend children's conversations more consistently so that play develops their thinking and language.

Its attendance choices run from morning and afternoon sessions to a core day, tea-time finish and full day, allowing families to choose different lengths of term-time care within the age-specific minimum booking rules.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering communication, physical development, relationships and the beginnings of literacy and maths. Here, an Individual Learning Plan adds a child-specific layer: practitioners use children's interests to plan activities and identify learning to develop further. Plans are refreshed each half term, with parents encouraged to contribute. This gives home interests a practical route into the preschool day.

Children choose resource trays and prepare them for others after use, practising independence and care for shared materials. Individual and small-group work with adults follows their learning plans.

Indoor play includes construction bricks, imaginative play and a cushioned book area. A dinosaur island or space station gives children material for invented stories; rotating role-play settings include a greengrocer's shop, hospital and puppet theatre. Sand, water and creative activities sit alongside them. Children can follow an interest through several kinds of play rather than having every activity directed by an adult.

Petite Productions adds music and movement through songs and body movements. Practitioners also sing with children and use musical instruments during the day, so music extends beyond the visiting sessions. Weekly cookery, art and messy play bring further opportunities to handle materials and try practical tasks. The curriculum page explains how individual planning and these activities fit together.

Science Week, National Storytelling Week and World Nursery Rhyme Week feature in the events programme. Musicians and artists also visit during the year, while outings take children both locally and further afield.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School uses the preschool's forest area and woodland beside the cricket pitch for child-paced exploration. In September 2025, children listened for birds, compared and sorted collected leaves, climbed small logs and explored seasonal flower growing. These were concrete encounters with counting, patterns, movement and the natural world.

A deck beside the classroom allows children to move between indoor activities and an outdoor classroom. Sports also use a bounded part of the cricket field, giving children space for running beyond the deck. The patio, grounds and tennis court are used throughout the year, with tricycles, scooters and climbing frames among the physical play resources.

Walthamstow Cricket, Tennis and Squash Club supplies another connection: its head tennis coach runs sessions for the children. Tennis lessons take place on the outdoor courts and depend on the season and weather.

Relationships and Communication

A key person helps each child settle and provides a familiar adult to return to as confidence grows. Matching takes account of age, interests, languages, personality and special educational needs. Parents spend time with their child's key workers during settling, creating a relationship with the adults who will help with daily care and comfort.

That role includes toileting, dressing, reassurance and time with stories or other quiet activities. Children receive help while practising tasks for themselves. In September 2025, children washed their hands, put on coats and chose between indoor and outdoor play; these ordinary routines gave them opportunities to manage parts of their day.

Famly, the preschool's secure record system, lets parents log in to follow their child's progress. Individual Learning Plans invite parent input, while the age-two progress check is completed by the child's key worker once they know the child well.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENDCO provides a contact through the preschool office for developmental concerns, can direct families towards local professional services and can make referrals where appropriate. The role also includes arranging reasonable adjustments.

At the September 2025 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support effective, including collaboration with parents and external agencies and the use of picture cards to help children communicate and choose. Those cards provided an alternative to relying entirely on spoken language.

Families provide packed lunches, and children are encouraged to manage their lunch boxes and wash their hands before eating. The optional weekly contribution helps cover breakfast, healthy snacks, baby wipes, extra nappies and celebration activities.

Friends of The Village Preschool gives parents another way to participate. Parents and staff are automatically members, and the group raises funds for equipment, resources and facilities. Helping at an event, baking or sourcing raffle gifts are among the ways families can contribute.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Walthamstow Cricket Club, 48a Greenway Avenue, London, E17 3QN. Care runs during term time, Monday to Friday; school holidays require a separate childcare plan. Contact is through the preschool's enquiry form or office.

Full day runs from 8am to 5.45pm, Tea-time finish from 8am to 4pm, and Core Day from 8am to 2pm. Single morning sessions run from 8am to 11am, with afternoon sessions from 11am to 2pm.

Privately paid extensions cover lunchtime from 11am to noon for children using the 15-hour entitlement, tea time from 2pm to 4pm for all children, and afterschool care from 4pm to 5.45pm for all children. Ad hoc attendance is also offered outside a child's regular booking, with a minimum hourly charge before 4pm and a whole-session charge after that time.

Two-year-olds must attend at least three sessions and may combine mornings and afternoons. For children aged three and above, the minimum is five sessions, including two full days and a mixture of full days, mornings and afternoons.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15-hour entitlement provision, 30 hours for qualifying three-year-olds and funded places for eligible two-year-olds. Delivery is term-time. The funded Core Day runs from 8am to 2pm; the 30-hour pattern consists of five core days, while the 15-hour options include five single sessions or two and a half days. Hours outside the funded allocation are privately charged.

The optional weekly consumables contribution applies to children using funded hours as well as private care. It helps cover breakfast and snacks, baby wipes and extra nappies, plus specified special activities and celebrations.

Specialist enrichment is a separate opt-in package, outside FEEE funding, and children take part only when enrolled. Weekly instructor-led choices include Spanish, sport, dance, creative arts, music and movement, and local outings. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation.

• Conversation during play. The September 2025 improvement point concerned adults extending children's thinking through sustained exchanges. During a visit, look at how staff follow up a child's answer and keep a discussion going.
• Outdoor and indoor visits. Stay & Play sessions last 30 minutes, and two are required before a potential offer. Monday and Wednesday visits are Forest School sessions requiring suitable clothing; pair one with Tuesday or Thursday to see the indoor arrangements too.
• Term-time booking commitments. The minimum rises from three sessions for two-year-olds to five for older children, including two full days. Judge the session menu against the whole weekly pattern and the childcare needed during holidays.
• Choosing enrichment. Specialist activities require enrolment in a separately charged package. Ask how the chosen sessions fit your child's attendance and which activities form part of their ordinary day.

The Village Preschool suits families seeking outdoor exploration alongside individually planned learning, whether they need shorter morning or afternoon sessions within the minimum booking pattern, a core day or care through to the full-day finish. Woodland, a cricket field and tennis courts give movement and nature a substantial place in the week.

The key-person approach, Famly and parent involvement in learning plans offer concrete ways to connect home and preschool. The main quality question is how consistently adults build longer conversations during play. Term-time operation, minimum attendance and opt-in enrichment also need to fit the family routine.