Tandridge Village Pre-School

Woodland learning gives this village-hall pre-school its character. Forest School runs through the seasons for the older Oaks group, while a secure outdoor play space and access to a school field and trim trail give children several ways to get moving. The indoor base is a large, airy hall. This is a setting where outdoor clothing earns its keep.

Tandridge Village Pre-School accepts children aged 2 to 5 at Tandridge Village Hall, Surrey. At its April 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and found safeguarding effective. The strengths included practical independence, mathematical learning and relationships with families; the improvement priorities concerned teaching the youngest children and making more of opportunities to develop language and thinking.

Morning, afternoon and whole-day attendance sit within a term-time timetable running Tuesday to Friday. That makes the pre-school relevant to families building childcare around shorter sessions as well as those needing a whole preschool day.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS framework shapes learning, development and care, with play and adult-guided activities helping children develop communication, physical skills and independence. Here, children's interests influence what comes next. Staff start with what a child can already do and introduce further challenges, rather than expecting everyone to follow the same activity in the same way.

Two approaches help explain the teaching. Froebel informs the emphasis on children initiating play and making connections between different kinds of learning. Reggio Emilia informs opportunities to express ideas through movement, drawing, imaginative play and music, with adults contributing suggestions. These sit alongside the EYFS requirements. Adult-guided activities also address health and self-care, while group gatherings and shared mealtimes provide a predictable rhythm.

In April 2024, mathematics appeared in ordinary tasks: younger children compared sizes and sorted objects, while older children measured one another with a tape. Counting songs supplied another route into number. These examples matter because mathematical language becomes something children use during play, rather than a separate exercise detached from their interests.

Stories supply material for talking about feelings as well as practising language. In September 2025, children used props with the Colour Monster story to retell events and discuss emotions. Another activity that month followed apples from a walk back to the pre-school, where children prepared and cooked them into puree. Handling ingredients gives a concrete sequence to talk through, from finding food to changing it through cooking.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School means exploration and child-directed learning in a natural setting, with opportunities to make choices and try manageable risks. For the older Oaks group, each half-term block contains six sessions, inviting no more than eight children. That is the woodland session limit, rather than the size of a room or the whole pre-school. Waterproofs can be borrowed, helping children take part comfortably across the seasons.

Access to St Peter’s School playground, field and trim trail is conditional on those spaces being unused by the school. Alongside the pre-school's own outdoor area, these spaces give children room for active play. Outdoor sessions continue in wet or cold weather unless conditions are severe, so weather-ready clothing is part of the everyday arrangement.

In September 2025, an adventure walk combined pictures made from natural materials, uneven ground and wildlife spotting. Village surroundings brought observation and movement into the same activity.

There is practical purpose behind the outdoor emphasis. In April 2024, children practised dressing themselves before going outside and used scooters, bicycles and balancing resources. Older children could explain the woodland boundaries and safety expectations. Physical activity was therefore paired with taking responsibility for belongings and understanding limits, rather than simply spending time away from the hall.

Relationships and Communication

Tapestry, the online learning journal, connects observations with assessment and planning. Parents can log in securely to see their child's learning updates, and discussions with the key person follow assessments. Meetings can also be arranged at other times. This gives families both an ongoing picture of the day and a route into a fuller conversation about development.

At age two, a development assessment is completed with the family and added to the journal. Staff track assessments and adjust support or provision in response. For parents, the useful distinction is between receiving photographs and understanding what staff are planning next: the journal is intended to connect those two parts.

New starters receive an information leaflet and welcome pack to support settling. Families can use these to become familiar with the pre-school's arrangements before attendance begins. The parent-volunteer committee provides another form of involvement, managing finances and administration while practitioners organise children's care and learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that staff supported children with SEND through collaboration with families and other professionals, using additional funding for individual resources or extra staffing. The current team includes a SENCO and designated safeguarding lead, with deputy safeguarding cover and a Forest School leader.

Toilet training is not an entry requirement. Children can join while using nappies, and changing facilities support them during attendance.

For afternoon attendance, parents supply a cold packed lunch, with an assistant supporting each small table group; the pre-school's policy excludes nuts and asks for cut grapes and a freezer block. Woodland lunches also come from home, making lunch preparation part of the family's routine.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Tandridge Village Hall, Tandridge, Oxted, Surrey RH8 9NN. Attendance is term-time, Tuesday to Friday, with school-holiday closures. The timetable offers mornings from 9am to noon and afternoons from 12.15pm to 3.15pm. Whole-day attendance runs from 9am to 3.15pm and depends on space within the setting.

Early drop-off runs from 8.30am to 9am, Tuesday to Friday. Late collection runs from 3.15pm to 4.15pm, Tuesday to Thursday. Friday therefore has a different collection limit. These extensions can help at either end of a session, but the timetable still needs to fit the family's working week.

Admission enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or by telephone, and an admissions form is provided. Families can express a morning or afternoon preference, although that preference is conditional on the booking options the pre-school can offer.

Funding and Paid Extras

The pre-school accepts Funded Early Education for 2 years olds (FEET), the 15-hour universal entitlement and the 30-hour extended working-parent entitlement. Funding can be used on fixed sessions; ad hoc attendance is charged privately. This distinction matters if a family needs a regular pattern with occasional additions, because the additional booking is treated differently.

Afternoon and woodland packed lunches are supplied by parents. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the funding and admissions page sets out the entitlement options. Early Years Pupil Premium may provide additional support where a child meets its criteria; families who qualify indicate this on the termly funding declaration.

• Teaching the youngest children. In April 2024, staff needed a firmer understanding of how to teach the youngest age group, whose attention sometimes drifted. During a visit, ask how activities now hold younger children's interest and how staff extend conversation during play.
• Woodland participation. Forest School is offered to the older Oaks group in six-session blocks, with a maximum of eight children invited. Ask how those blocks fit your child's attendance and how the transition into the older group works.
• Lunch and personal supplies. Afternoon attendance requires a packed lunch, and the pre-school has a no-nuts policy. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice; ask what nappies or other personal supplies your child needs to bring.
• The working week. Sessions run Tuesday to Friday in term time, and late collection extends only Tuesday to Thursday. Families needing Monday care, holiday provision or a later Friday finish will need to plan around those boundaries.

Tandridge Village Pre-School suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions, as well as whole-day preschool attendance, within a term-time week. The hall, outdoor spaces and older children's woodland blocks give it a clear practical identity. Tapestry and key-person discussions provide a structured connection between home and learning.

The balance is favourable, with a Good inspection outcome and concrete examples of independence and hands-on learning. The teaching priorities for younger children and language development deserve a direct conversation. Families who value outdoor exploration and can work with the Tuesday-to-Friday timetable have clear reasons to consider it.