Little Forest Folk Fulham

Flowers left for others to enjoy, insects watched in their own habitat and overgrown footpaths cleared by children: outdoor learning has a practical purpose at Little Forest Folk Fulham. Based at Fulham Palace House and Gardens, this forest nursery makes the natural world the setting for exploration, conversation and learning to take responsibility.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. The current age range is 24 to 60 months, with capacity for 28 children in total. Children can join the forest after their second birthday.

The central choice for parents is the outdoor approach. In June 2025, children spent most of their day outside, with a camp area prepared by staff and rainbow ribbons marking the boundary. Full-day attendance and holiday camps provide different ways to use the setting.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care; here, play and conversations about nature give children opportunities to develop language, explore their surroundings and practise doing things for themselves. The forest activities sit alongside that framework, rather than replacing it.

In June 2025, children's interests shaped activities. Staff drew on what they knew about each child to encourage them to attempt something unfamiliar. Conversations grew from those interests, giving children a reason to contribute rather than simply answer an adult's questions.

Language work also happened through familiar songs and rhymes. In June 2025, staff paused to let younger children supply the next part, while older children practised exchanging ideas and waiting for another speaker. These are concrete ways of making conversation part of play, with different entry points for children developing at different speeds.

Outdoor and Community Life

Fulham's outdoor experience is nomadic and uses unfenced space. That is a meaningful choice of environment for families: the boundary is an arrangement children learn to recognise, rather than a permanent fence around a playground.

In June 2025, children understood that insects should remain where they lived and that flowers were for everyone to enjoy. Staff used the example of everyone picking a flower to explore the consequences of individual choices. Environmental care became something children could act on.

Litter collection and helping clear overgrown local footpaths gave that learning a community purpose. In June 2025, children recalled their contribution to preparing the ground and used their outdoor experiences to investigate and identify plants. The interest lies in the connection between exploration and responsibility: children were doing useful work as well as discovering nature.

Relationships and Communication

In June 2025, the key-person system was established in daily practice. Information from parents helped staff build relationships, and children separated readily from their families. Familiar adults knew their interests and responded to what they wanted to share.

Communication had several routes in June 2025. An online app held observations of children's progress, while a daily blog and weekly newsletters described their experiences. Handovers and parents' evenings added opportunities for discussion. For parents, this combination connected the account of a particular day with conversations about development over time.

Independence was visible in everyday dressing tasks in June 2025. Children tried putting on shoes and used a jacket-flipping technique, with adults offering encouragement and spoken guidance. Help remained available, but children had room to persevere. Those small tasks gave them something tangible to accomplish for themselves.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND or other additional support needs received effective help through staff working with families and other professionals, with support strategies incorporated into everyday activities. The practical mechanism matters: support was part of the child's day, rather than detached from their play.

Two Teaspoons Cookery supplies the food. Full days include provision of dinner, breakfast and lunch, together with snacks in the morning and afternoon; food and snacks during funded hours are charged separately.

There were also limits to the independence offered in June 2025. In the forest, children did not have opportunities to serve their own meals, and staff did not consistently offer food choices. At times, adults' conversations about practical jobs interrupted their attention to learning and some children lost concentration. Both points matter in an approach that gives children's interests such prominence.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Fulham Palace House and Gardens, Bishops Avenue, London SW6 6EA. Full Days run from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year, with a minimum attendance of two days each week. Closures include bank holidays, inset days and a week at Christmas.

Holiday camps also run from 8am to 6pm during school holidays and are paid for in advance when booked online. This is a separate attendance pattern from the ongoing nursery schedule, even though the daily hours match.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery offers the 15 hours Universal entitlement and the 30 hour Working Parent Entitlement, subject to the relevant eligibility conditions, stretched across 51 weeks. The universal offer applies to three- and four-year-olds; the wider working-parent entitlement does not change Fulham's requirement that children have reached their second birthday before joining the forest.

Funded time is allocated to daily sessions from 10.33am to 2.16pm and from 2.16pm to 6pm. The 15-hour entitlement is stretched to 11.18 hours per week, while the 30-hour entitlement becomes 22.35 hours per week. Access to the full 30-hour entitlement requires a schedule of three full days across the year; a two-day schedule has a lower funded-hours limit.

Additional attendance outside funded hours is charged separately. During funded hours, meals and snacks, non-food consumables such as wipes, nappies and protective creams, and additional forest activities carry separate voluntary charges, with an opt-out route. The entitlement itself is free at delivery. Families should obtain a current written quotation that separates attendance charges from these categories; the funding and fees page explains their structure.

Getting There

Metered parking is on Bishop's Avenue, SW6. Putney Bridge Underground station is on the District Line, giving families a public-transport option alongside driving.

• An unfenced outdoor setting. Fulham uses a nomadic forest approach, and children recognised rainbow-ribbon boundaries in June 2025. On a visit, discuss how boundaries are managed as the group changes location and how the day works for a child who needs rest.
• Independence at meals. In June 2025, self-serving and consistent food choices needed development. Ask how children now participate in forest mealtimes and what has changed in adults' interactions during learning.
• Attendance and funding together. Nursery attendance starts at two days per week, while the full working-parent entitlement requires three full days across the year. Compare the whole schedule and its separate voluntary extras with your family's intended use.

Little Forest Folk Fulham suits families choosing outdoor exploration as the main setting for early learning, whether through regular Full Days or school-holiday camps. Its June 2025 experiences give that choice substance: children cared for local paths, investigated plants and practised independence with familiar adults.

The balance is clear. The Good judgement sits alongside specific improvements needed in forest mealtimes and the consistency of adult attention. For parents comfortable with an unfenced, nomadic approach, the strongest attraction is learning that connects children's interests with practical care for the world around them.