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Our Preschool

Our Preschool is a warm, vibrant, and friendly environment where every child feels safe, valued, and excited to explore. We believe every child is unique, and our mission is to provide the strongest possible foundation for their school journey.

We are guided by our school's core values—Respect, Resilience, and Responsibility. We help children grow into confident, independent learners who are ready to take on the world.

Our Day

Our day is a carefully balanced blend of child-led discovery and expert-guided learning.

A calm, happy start

Children arrive through our dedicated Preschool entrance on Manford Way. To ensure a smooth transition, parents are welcome inside to help settle their children initially. As their confidence grows, children take the proud step of waving goodbye at the gate, a wonderful milestone in building their independence and self-belief.

Free-Flow Learning

We move seamlessly between indoor and outdoor spaces, offering a mix of:

Child-initiated play to spark curiosity.

Adult-led small groups for focused skills.

High-quality interactions that build vocabulary.

Story & Rhyme time to foster a love of language.

Our learning environment

The indoor and outdoor classroom include;

A cosy library for quiet reading          

Daily exploration in all weathers

Messy play and creative arts zones

A sandpit, mud kitchen, and water play

Construction and "Small World" play           

Bikes, scooters, and climbing trees

Table-top tasks for early maths and writing

Physical challenges like the A-frame.

Outdoor learning is central to our curriculum. It’s where children build physical strength, take managed risks, and develop a deep sense of wellbeing.

What we learn

Our EYFS Curriculum

Manford Preschool follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, building strong foundations through its seven areas of learning. We prioritise the three Prime Areas, essential building blocks for all future learning and development, as they underpin success across the curriculum.

Prime Areas

Communication & Language
Children thrive in a language-rich world filled with daily story times, interactive singing, rhymes, and conversations that spark curiosity. We introduce early phonics through playful sound games and vocabulary building chats, helping every child express themselves confidently.

Physical Development
From mastering fine motor skills like zipping coats, using scissors, or gripping pencils for mark-making, to building gross motor strength by climbing our grassy hill, riding scooters, or balancing on the A-frame. Outdoor play every day strengthens coordination, stamina, and body confidence.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development
We nurture happy, resilient friendships using the Zones of Regulation—a simple colour system to name and manage feelings like "green for calm" or "yellow for wiggly." As a UNICEF Rights Respecting School, children learn they have rights, a voice, and responsibilities, fostering kindness, sharing, and independence.

Specific Areas

Children explore the four Specific Areas through hands-on, joyful activities that connect to their interests:

Literacy
Writing journeys begin with celebrated "squiggles and marks"—that vital first stage where children grip tools, make lines, and tell their stories. We share books daily, from favourites like The Gruffalo to spark imagination and early reading love.

Mathematics
Playful maths comes alive with number hunts, sorting treasures by size or shape, counting during snack time, and comparing lengths in the mud kitchen. We focus on real discovery.

Understanding the World
From planting seeds in our garden to exploring the seasons, animals, and people who help us, children investigate through role play, nature walks, and talking about their own lives and cultures.

Expressive Arts & Design
Creativity flows in messy play, mud kitchen inventions, large-block builds, and music-making, enabling children to express ideas, experiment with colour, and create with joy.

This curriculum ensures every child leaves Preschool as a curious, capable learner, ready to shine in Reception.

Lunch & Growing Independence

For children staying for 30 hours, lunchtime is more than just a meal, it’s a social learning opportunity.

Healthy Habits: Full time children bring a packed lunch, and our staff encourage good table manners and healthy choices. We share a healthy snack of fruit, milk and water daily.

Life Skills: We support children in mastering "big school" tasks: putting on shoes, using the toilet independently, tidying up, and recognising their own name.

Working in Partnership

We believe your child thrives when home and school work together. We keep you at the heart of their journey through:

Digital Updates: Marvellous Me, ParentMail, and Google Classroom, Half-termly parent topic leaflets.

Face-to-Face: Stay-and-play sessions, workshops, and termly parents evenings.

Progress Tracking: We track children’s learning termly through our knowledge and understanding of your child.

The Preschool Essentials

To make sure your child is ready for a day of play, please bring:

A Named School Uniform

A Warm Coat & Wellies (we go out in the rain!)

A Spare Set of Clothes (just in case)

A Book Bag

A Healthy Packed Lunch (for 30-hour sessions)

Get in Touch

We would love to welcome you to our community.

Email: admin.manford@redbridge.gov.uk

Phone: 020 8500 2143

Why choose us?

Manford Preschool stands out by blending nurturing care with purposeful play, ensuring every child thrives.

Our skilled early years teacher and practitioners know each child as an individual, offering tailored support to build confidence and spark joy in learning.

Our Inspiring indoor & outdoor spaces. We have beautifully resourced areas—from a cosy library and creative zones indoors to daily all-weather adventures in our sandpit, mud kitchen, and climbing frame, which all fuel curiosity and growth.

A seamless reception transition, our EYFS curriculum increases independence, early skills, and resilience, so children step confidently into "big school" feeling capable and excited.

Language & communication at heart: We prioritise talk, rhymes, stories, and phonics play to develop fluent speakers who love expressing ideas and listening to others.

Please contact the school office if you would like to visit the preschool or for more information.