Academy · Early Years
Early Years training and professional development, built around inspection reality.
Courses for nurseries, pre-schools and childminding settings — safeguarding and welfare, SEND and inclusion, curriculum and leadership — plus sessions on what Ofsted's renewed inspection approach means for your setting. Delivered online or live remote.
The 2026 inspection changes
What's changing, in plain terms.
Report cards instead of one word
Settings are judged across separate evaluation areas rather than a single overall grade, so strengths and weaknesses are visible side by side.
Inclusion carries real weight
How well children with SEND and disadvantaged children are supported is assessed in its own right, not folded into general quality.
Curriculum you can talk about
Inspectors want to hear what children are learning, in what order and why — from the team, not just the manager.
Leadership and culture
Supervision, workload, professional development and safeguarding culture are all part of the picture.
From 1 September 2026: the EYFS statutory framework has been updated for group providers and childminders, and Ofsted is inspecting against its updated early years toolkit and operating guide. The changes centre on safer sleeping arrangements, safer weaning and eating, and how poor care practice can affect whether safeguarding is judged met. Settings need to meet the relevant EYFS requirements as well as the grading criteria. Sessions cover what this means for your procedures, records and staff briefings.
Courses are awareness training, practical Early Years training or professional development unless a specific external accreditation is stated. “Designed for CPD” describes the learning purpose; it does not mean a course is independently accredited.
Inspection guidance and the EYFS framework continue to be updated. Every session is checked against the guidance published at the time it runs, and we say plainly where something is still to be confirmed. Training supports your preparation; it cannot guarantee an inspection outcome.
28 courses
Inspection readiness & the 2026 framework changes
Sessions built around Ofsted's renewed inspection approach for early years — report cards, the move away from a single overall judgement, and the greater weight given to inclusion, curriculum and leadership. We check every session against the guidance published at the time it runs, and we tell you plainly where something is still to be confirmed.
Ofsted report cards explained
What the new-style report card looks like for an early years setting, how each evaluation area is graded, and what inspectors are looking for in practice rather than paperwork.
90 mins · All staff · Online or live remote
Inclusion as an inspection area
Inclusion now sits front and centre. How to show that children with SEND, EAL and disadvantaged children genuinely get the same quality of experience — with the evidence to back it up.
2 hours · All staff · Online or live remote
Curriculum, sequencing and intent
Building a curriculum you can talk about confidently: what you want children to know, the order you teach it in, and how your team describes it on the day.
2 hours · Room leaders & managers · Online or live remote
Leadership, culture and staff wellbeing
The leadership evidence inspectors ask for — supervision, professional development, workload and how you know the culture in your setting is a safe one.
2 hours · Managers & owners · Online or live remote
Self-evaluation and your improvement plan
A working session where you leave with a written self-evaluation and a short improvement plan you'll actually use — not a document that sits in a drawer.
Half day · Managers & owners · Online or live remote
Mock inspection walkthrough
A rehearsal of the inspection conversation: learning walks, staff questions, safeguarding checks and the leadership discussion, with honest feedback afterwards.
Half day · Whole setting · Online or live remote
Safeguarding & welfare
Practical safeguarding and welfare learning for Early Years teams. Which sessions your team needs depends on roles, ratios, local procedures and your own risk assessments — we help you work that out.
Safeguarding Children in Early Years
Recognising abuse and neglect, recording concerns, thresholds, referrals and what to do when you disagree with a decision. Designed around the safeguarding training criteria set out in Annex C of the current EYFS statutory framework.
3 hours · All staff · Online or live remote
Designated Safeguarding Lead
The DSL role in an early years setting: managing referrals, working with local partners, record-keeping and supporting staff through a live concern.
6 hours · DSL & deputy · Online or live remote
Prevent duty awareness
The Prevent duty in an early years context, recognising vulnerability, and how referrals work.
60 mins · All staff · Online or live remote
Safer recruitment
Advertising, shortlisting, interviewing, references, DBS and right-to-work checks, with safer recruitment and suitability records organised for review.
3 hours · Managers & owners · Online or live remote
Allegations & low-level concerns
Handling a concern about an adult: what counts as low-level, how to record it, when to contact the LADO, and how to manage the person and the team.
2 hours · Managers & DSLs · Online or live remote
Online safety in Early Years
Cameras, phones and tablets in the setting, photo consent, sharing with parents safely and your acceptable-use policy.
60 mins · All staff · Online or live remote
Paediatric first aid awareness
An awareness session covering common childhood emergencies. This is awareness only — it does not meet the full paediatric first aid requirement, and we will point you to an accredited PFA provider for that.
3 hours · All staff · Online or live remote
Food safety & allergen awareness
Safe food handling in a setting, allergen management, choking prevention and mealtime routines.
2 hours · All staff · Online or live remote
SEND & inclusive practice
Development sessions for SENCOs, key persons and whole teams, designed for CPD and shaped around the children you actually have in front of you.
The Early Years SENCO role
What the role covers day to day: graduated approach, SEN support plans, working with parents and outside professionals, and keeping useful records.
Half day · SENCOs · Online or live remote
Assess, plan, do, review in practice
Running the graduated approach so it changes what happens in the room, with plans a key person can follow.
2 hours · SENCOs & key persons · Online or live remote
Building EHCP evidence
Gathering the right evidence over time, writing it up clearly and knowing when to request an assessment.
2 hours · SENCOs · Online or live remote
Speech, language & communication
Spotting delay early, everyday strategies that build language, and when to refer on.
2 hours · All staff · Online or live remote
Autism in Early Years
Understanding autistic children in a group setting: sensory needs, communication, transitions and environment adjustments.
2 hours · All staff · Online or live remote
Supporting children with EAL
Welcoming children and families new to English, valuing home language and tracking progress fairly.
90 mins · All staff · Online or live remote
Practice & professional development
The everyday craft of early years work — how the day runs, how adults talk to children, and how progress is noticed and recorded.
Behaviour & co-regulation
Why behaviour happens, what co-regulation looks like in a busy room, and consistent responses across a team.
2 hours · All staff · Online or live remote
Observation, assessment & planning
Meaningful observation without endless paperwork, and planning that follows the child.
2 hours · All staff · Online or live remote
Communication-friendly environments
Setting up rooms, routines and resources so language happens naturally throughout the day.
90 mins · All staff · Online or live remote
Working with two-year-olds
Development, transitions, the progress check at two, and settling children well.
2 hours · All staff · Online or live remote
Key person & attachment
Making the key person approach real: settling, transitions, and relationships with parents.
90 mins · All staff · Online or live remote
Room leadership
Leading a room and a small team: deployment, standards, feedback and difficult conversations.
Half day · Room leaders · Online or live remote
Supervision & appraisal for managers
Running supervisions that are honest and useful, plus appraisal conversations that lead to development.
Half day · Managers & owners · Online or live remote
Working with parents & carers
Building partnership, sharing progress, handling complaints and holding hard conversations kindly.
90 mins · All staff · Online or live remote
Templates instead?
Ready-made Early Years resources you can download today.
Academy
Tell us what your team needs.
Send an enquiry with your setting size and the areas you want covered, and we'll come back with a training plan, dates and pricing.