Ladybird Forest Pre-School was founded in January 1990, and was located at the Ampthill Methodist Church. The Pre-School grew steadily and opened for four morning sessions and one afternoon session per week.

In September 2005 we relocated to a purpose-built modular building in the grounds of Russell Lower School, where we are very fortunate to be able to take advantage of the extensive facilities and infrastructure of the school as well as our own specially designed facilities.  Initially, Ladybird Forest Pre-School opened five morning sessions and 5 afternoon sessions a week. In September 2006, Ladybird started a Lunch Club, allowing children the opportunity to stay all day.

In July 2008, we introduced a Holiday Club for children aged 3 to 7 years. The Holiday Clubs run for 6 weeks per year –  during the October half-term week, the February half-term week, the first week of the Easter holidays and the first three (full) weeks of the summer holidays.

In Sept 2013 we introduced our Forest School to all children who attend our pre-school. This is a new initiative to encourage children’s learning through interaction with the outdoors. Children whittle, saw, learn about their natural environment, learn about nature and also how to work as part of a team. We are currently the only pre-school in Ampthill to offer a dedicated weekly 1 hr group Forest School session per child.

In September 2015 we introduced our ‘After Pre-School Club’ offering our parents/carers wrap-around care until 6.00pm every day and serving a hot tea at 4.15pm.

In September 2017, we introduced a ‘Breakfast Club’, which runs from 7.45am till the start of the morning session at 8.50am.

Ladybird Forest Pre-School continues to thrive and is always looking for ways to grow and expand.   
We are a fully independent pre-school and children attending Ladybirds will continue to feed into BOTH Russell Lower and the Firs Lower schools in Ampthill as well as Maulden Lower and other Lower schools in the area.