Little Forest Folk Chiswick

Sleeping tents, tree climbing and cooking in the woods give Little Forest Folk Chiswick its character. The daily camp at Chiswick House & Gardens is the centre of the experience, with the Hogarth Centre providing an indoor base. Outdoor exploration carries the learning: children count natural objects, build dens and talk through what they have discovered.

There are 20 places in total for children aged two to five. At its April 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that individual support plans and work with external agencies helped children with additional needs progress.

Attendance combines year-round nursery days with a separate school-holiday camp offer. Both use the same indoor-and-forest setting.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for children's learning and care, covering development through play, conversation and practical experiences. Here, the forest adds the materials and space: acorns and feathers become objects for counting, sharing and combining, while mark making and stories sit alongside climbing and construction. The educational day extends beyond physical adventure.

Chiswick House & Gardens hosts the daily camp. Treasure hunts encourage exploration; building dens gives children something to create together. Wild Cooking Fridays, held on most Fridays, introduces food exploration and cooking skills. Its frequency matters: cooking is a recurring part of the week rather than an occasional special event.

In April 2024, children contributed ideas to stories that staff assembled with them, giving conversation a practical purpose. New vocabulary was introduced during play, including discussion of sound in music activities. Guitar-led singing and experimenting with instruments connected language with rhythm, speed and listening.

Outdoor and Community Life

The camp includes tents for sleeping, nappy changes and toileting, plus a hand washing station. These are practical foundations for spending the day in the forest: rest and personal care have their own spaces alongside play.

In April 2024, children investigated insects beneath logs using magnifying pots, while adults discussed treating living creatures carefully. Moving natural materials to make play spaces also exercised physical skills. Cooperation was visible in shared tasks, including carrying a hose and making a waterfall using a mud slide. These examples show how movement, discovery and social learning can happen within the same activity.

Back at the Hogarth Centre later in the day, children discuss what they enjoyed. Those conversations inform the following day's activities, giving their interests a role in planning.

Rest is accommodated within the outdoor day through pop-up sleeping tents. A separate changing tent and toilet tent make personal care part of the camp's arrangement, rather than requiring every routine to happen back at the indoor base. For a child who still needs a daytime sleep or nappies, these details matter as much as the climbing and cooking.

In April 2024, the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator used individual plans, staff referred children for external support when needed, and additional funding supported activities in the setting. These are concrete mechanisms for responding to individual needs. They describe practice at that time, rather than guaranteeing a particular package of support for every child.

Staff development was the improvement priority in April 2024. Supervision meetings, appraisals and weekly team discussions were already taking place, but closer monitoring and support were needed to help every practitioner develop their practice. That distinction is useful: the concern was about strengthening existing arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

Full Days run from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, across 51 weeks of the year. The minimum nursery commitment is two days each week. Closures include bank holidays, staff training days and a week at Christmas, so year-round attendance still requires some alternative childcare planning.

Holiday camps also run from 8am to 6pm during school holidays. They are a separate booking pattern, with payment taken in advance when booked online. The year-round nursery commitment and holiday-only camps serve different attendance needs; the camp timetable should not be mistaken for a shorter nursery session.

Children must have turned two before joining the forest provision. Enrolment enquiries and waiting-list registration use the Chiswick enquiry route, while general questions can be sent to info@littleforestfolk.com.

Getting There

The nursery's address is Piccolo Playcentre, Duke Road, Chiswick, W4 2JR; its indoor base is the Hogarth Centre on Duke Road. Parking outside the centre is for collection and drop-off, rather than leaving a car there throughout the day.

Funding and Paid Extras

The 15 hours Universal entitlement and 30 hour Working Parent Entitlement are offered as stretched funding across 51 weeks. The former becomes 11.18 funded hours each week, while the latter becomes 22.35; working-parent funding depends on eligibility, and the forest's minimum joining age remains two.

Funding is assigned to two daily windows, 10.33am to 2.16pm and 2.16pm to 6pm. Additional attendance outside funded hours is charged separately. Accessing the full stretched 30-hour entitlement requires three full days each week; children attending two days can use 14.9 funded hours weekly.

Breakfast and dinner are eaten at the indoor base, with lunch and snacks taken into the forest; meals and snacks are included in ordinary full-day sessions. During funded hours, food and snacks carry a separate voluntary charge, as do non-food consumables such as wipes, nappies, protective creams and clothing.

Forest activities beyond EYFS also attract a voluntary funded-hours charge. Families may opt out of these additional categories, and the resulting arrangements deserve careful attention when comparing the total attendance package. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the Chiswick fees page explains how funding and additional attendance fit together.

• The weekly commitment. Nursery attendance requires at least two full days, while the full stretched working-parent entitlement requires three. Match the funded windows and privately paid hours to your intended week before accepting an attendance schedule.
• Settling and outdoor rest. Sleeping and changing tents support the forest day. Ask how settling would be organised for your child, including their sleep routine and comfort with the outdoor setting.

Little Forest Folk Chiswick suits families seeking regular year-round nursery attendance or separate school-holiday camp days, with outdoor play central to either pattern. Daily use of Chiswick House & Gardens and recurring Wild Cooking Fridays give the offer a clear identity.

The April 2024 Good judgement supports the educational picture, while the staff-supervision improvement priority deserves weight in the decision. Families should also look carefully at how stretched funding combines with paid hours and voluntary extras.