Early years blog

Purposeful planning in early years

Find out all about purposeful planning, so you can plan effectively for children’s learning and development in your nursery.

Maths in early years: Making maths matter

Maths in early years is an important area of learning for all children and embedding a good foundation in maths is essential for developing life skills.

Maths in early years - child doing maths at nursery

Managing your nursery operations

Effective nursery leadership and management skills are crucial to running a successful early years settings. If a nursery is strong in this area, it will lead to a happy and high performing team, good inspection outcomes, and most importantly, better outcomes for the children.

Transition to school

Moving from nursery to school is a significant milestone for young children. Every child experiences this transition differently, so it’s important to observe and respond to their emotions, acknowledging their individual needs. Offering personalised support can help make the process smoother and more positive. Here are some helpful tips to guide the transition.

Early years activity: Smoothing Transitions

Moving from nursery to school is a big step for young children—and their parents. It’s an exciting time, but it can also bring challenges. By creating a supportive environment and encouraging open conversations, practitioners can help ease worries, answer questions, and provide practical guidance. This activity is designed to make the transition to school smoother and more reassuring for everyone

Respectful intimate care in nurseries

Find out about best practice surrounding intimate care routines in nurseries and how to turn them into meaningful learning opportunities.

respectful intimate care routines baby in nappy

Top tips: Messy moments

Messy play should be considered an essential part of early childhood. When children’s curiosity is invited and encouraged and if they are given the freedom to explore and discover, then play can certainly get messy.

Early years activity: Making, shaping and exploring dough

This is an easy, accessible activity that encourages creativity, sensory exploration and expands vocabulary. In this activity children create their own dough and get to explore its properties by mixing, rolling, stretching and shaping it into various forms.

Inclusion in early years

Everyone has the right to be treated equally without prejudice or discrimination. So how can you support inclusion in early years?

Top tips: Differentiation for children with SEND

Providing equality of opportunity for all children, may incorporate differentiating aspects of your curriculum or provision to provide meaningful learning opportunities for children with SEND. Review our top tips on differentiation against your own daily practice.

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