Nursery Advice
Claim Your Nursery

Little Oaks Capel

Ofsted: Expected standard·
5.0(1 Google review) ·The Old School, Capel Street, Folkestone, CT18 7EY · Kent
Number of places
50 places
Age range
0–4 yrs
Last inspected
Dec 2025
Local authority
Kent

About this day nursery

Little Oaks Capel, a childcare on non-domestic premises in Folkestone, registered with Ofsted in 2024 and serves children aged 0-4 years. Leaders have worked diligently to address issues from a previous inspection, taking swift action to improve the setting.

An inspector observed children happily arriving and confidently engaging in a wide range of activities planned by staff who expertly follow their interests. The day nursery offers a comprehensive settling-in programme, including home visits, and staff effectively use observations and assessments to identify children needing extra support.

The curriculum, incorporating the 'wanderlust' approach, encourages exploration through sensory play and nature. Outdoor spaces have been enhanced, providing daily access to a large area where children learn about seasons, develop physically, and engage in community walks to places like the forest, beach, and local garden centre.

Staff foster children’s independence and help them develop a 'can-do' attitude, ensuring they are well-prepared for school.

Our ethos

Little Oaks Capel has a strong emphasis on outdoor activities and environmental appreciation, utilising its countryside setting for regular woodland sessions. They aim to nurture individual potential and stimulate development beyond the traditional classroom, aligning with the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. Their pedagogical approach focuses on exploration, investigation, and learning through sensory and messy play, supported by experienced woodland and coastal Rangers.

What it's like

Children arrive happy and are confident to leave their parents and carers. They engage with a wide range of activities planned by staff, who follow children's interests to meet individual needs. Children are excited by sensory play, encouraging them to experiment and investigate, while staff introduce new words to describe different textures.

Confident communicatorsSensory playOutdoor learning

Pricing & funding

Fees are structured by age-based rooms, offering options for full days, mid-sessions, and part-time morning or afternoon sessions. Additional hourly rates apply for early starts or late finishes. Funded places are available with options for funded bundles, though voluntary consumable charges may apply.

Funding accepted

15 hours — eligible 2-year-olds15 hours — universal (3–4 yrs)30 hours — working parents (3–4 yrs)Tax-Free Childcare15 hours — working parents (9 months–2 yrs)

Good to know

  • Morning snacks and home-cooked tea are available as optional extras.
  • Parents must provide wet wipes and sun cream, or purchase them from the nursery.
  • Optional consumable charges apply for funded sessions for children aged 2 to 4.
  • Funded bundles and basic sessions are available for eligible families.
  • Forest school and Beach School activities are charged per session.

Key facts

Food

Parents can either pay for home-cooked meals/snacks or provide their own packed lunch/tea for children accessing funded sessions. Morning snack is included in some charged sessions.

Opening hours

8am – 6pm, Monday to Friday

Age range

3 months – 5 years

Term time / All Year

All_year

Registered with Ofsted

2024

Ofsted Inspection — new report card

Expected standard

Last inspected Dec 2025

Headline: Expected standard

Grade summary

Exceptional
—
Strong standard
—
Expected standard
Needs attention
—
Urgent improvement
—

Each dot represents one of the six inspection categories. Headline is the average of the six grades, rounded up.

Category grades

AchievementExpected standard
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routinesExpected standard
Children's welfare and wellbeingExpected standard
Curriculum and teachingExpected standard
InclusionExpected standard
Leadership and governanceExpected standard
Age range
0 to 4
Registers
Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register
Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted report for Little Oaks Capel

Last inspected 10 December 2025 · Jennie Winchcombe

Safeguarding effective

What it's like to attend

Children arrive happy and are confident to leave their parents and carers. They engage with a wide range of activities planned by staff, who follow children's interests to meet individual needs. Children are excited by sensory play, encouraging them to experiment and investigate, while staff introduce new words to describe different textures.

Inspector highlights

  • All children make progress from their starting points and are well prepared for school.
  • Leaders and staff have high expectations for children’s behaviour and explain boundaries clearly.
  • Leaders work with families to support children’s individual needs, sharing information collaboratively.
  • Children develop secure attachments with their key person, and staff know their children well.
  • Leaders have worked hard to address issues from the previous inspection, taking swift action to improve the setting.
  • The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed.
  • Staff ensure that the afternoon is a quiet time for children to relax and reflect. They create a calm environment with dimmed lights and gentle music. Children snuggle down with their comforter in cots or on floor mats and fall asleep with ease. Staff read stories to those children who are awake, while others engage in calm play. These routines promote children’s health and wellbeing.
  • Leaders plan a purposeful and exciting curriculum following a ‘wanderlust’ approach. This allows children to explore through the seasons using sensory play and nature.

Areas to develop

  • 1Leaders should review the curriculum across all ages and support staff to share teaching strategies so that children have access to a wider range of experiences in each room.
  • 2Leaders should develop staff’s knowledge of how to support children’s independence skills consistently so that they develop their growing independence and a ‘can-do’ attitude.
Inspection #10376879 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Leaders work hard to get to know each child and their family before they start, allowing them to respond to individual needs immediately. Staff use observations and assessments to identify when children need more support, and have undertaken training to make timely referrals to outside agencies like speech and language therapy. Leaders involve parents and carers in discussions about how to use additional funding, which positively impacts children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, ensuring they access the full curriculum.

Outdoor space

Leaders have enhanced the outdoor spaces, and children at Little Oaks Capel access a large outside area daily. Staff help children learn about different seasons and support their physical development through climbing, sliding, and playing games. Children also spend time outside the setting, taking walks in the forest, visiting the beach, and exploring the local garden centre.

Google Reviews of Little Oaks Capel

5.0
(1 Google review)

Reviews from Google for Little Oaks Capel. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history
Improved from Requires improvement → Expected standard in 2025

Date: February 2025

  • December 2025Expected standard
  • February 2025Requires improvement

Frequently asked about Little Oaks Capel

Nearby day nurseries in Folkestone

Other Ofsted-registered day nurseries close to Little Oaks Capel.

Are you the owner of this nursery? Claim this listing to manage photos, hours and contact details.

Claim listing

Share this nursery

Send to a partner, friend or family member.

This listing has been compiled from official Ofsted records, the nursery's own website, details provided directly by the nursery where available, and other trusted public sources. We regularly review and update listings to keep the information as accurate as possible. Learn more