First Learners' Nursery
GoodBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Folkestone for children from birth to 8+, open 08:30 to 17:30, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in July 2025. Open since 2016, with 20 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Kent
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Kent from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
CT19 4DEWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 16 July 2025 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
All children are happy, confident and settled during their time at the inviting and friendly pre-school. Staff have a good understanding of their chosen curriculum and how to implement it effectively. They challenge children and engage them in their learning successfully. Staff build on children's interests well, and children learn about the world around them. For instance, when they explore how to 'free' frozen dinosaurs from ice, staff teach them different facts. This includes children learning the meaning of concepts such as evaporation and melting. Children are confident to discuss that ice can only freeze in temperatures below zero degrees.
Staff teach children about the importance of following good hygiene routines.
Children are independent at washing their hands and understand the benefits of doing so. Staff provide all children with good opportunities to develop their physical skills. This is demonstrated when children build and negotiate their own obstacles safely, such as balancing on crates and planks of wood. All staff are positive role models. Children are polite and behave well. Children share and take turns with good levels of maturity. For example, they independently use sand timers to indicate when their time is up with a resource and kindly pass it to their friend.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to consistently provide children with opportunities to freely express their own creative ideas n extend children's knowledge and understanding of other people's similarities and differences outside of their own communities and experiences.
- 16 July 2025Good Safeguarding: Yes
- 10 September 2024Needs improvement
- 17 April 2024Inadequate
- 11 October 2018Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 4 graded inspections.
Still missing for First Learners' Nursery
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Is there a place for my child's age? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.