I’ve been thinking a lot about the latest Ofsted report, Getting it right from the start, and what it means for nursery managers like you.

The first 1000 days are an amazing window of opportunity. After all, it’s the time the brain is developing faster than at any other time in life, and what we do in this period from conception to two sets the foundation for a lifetime of learning – so the stakes are super high!

But also it’s an amazing opportunity! This is our chance to make a real difference that lasts a life time and to become early years settings that truly stand out.

Ofsted’s report, what it highlights and why it matters to you

1. Experience is everything

The report makes it clear – experienced practitioners understand child development better than those at the beginning of their career. But be careful with this one! Experience doesn’t just mean the number of hours or years someone has been doing the job, it’s far more about the depth of understanding a person has. It’s about knowing how to connect those tiny moments of exploration, movement, and interaction to real brain growth. It’s about team members really understanding child development and play for development, and putting it into action every day.  If you want your team to stand out, you need focus not just on qualifications but also their mindset and ongoing development.

2. Physical development is foundational

For this we need to go beyond gross motor control. We need to understand how physical development lays the foundations for fine motor skills, language, and even emotional regulation. Crawling, reaching, rolling are so much more than milestones to watch for – they are all brain-building activities. Helping your team understand the importance of physical development in the baby room will transform the playful learning adventures you offer. If you’re looking for a way to really differentiate your setting, this is it. In the report, Ofsted called this out as an area that’s lacking in most settings.

3. Babies are learners from day one

Interestingly the research team found that some people still think babies are too young to be ‘taught’. And yes, we certainly shouldn’t be sitting babies down to teach them their 'abc’s and their '1,2,3’s but if you think babies aren’t learning right from the very start, it’s time to think again! The more we learn about these amazing tiny people, the more phenomenal they become in my opinion!

Babies are learning from even before they are born and it isn't just about what they take in, but how they interact with the world and the experiences they are offered. Every coo, gaze and grasp is a learning moment, building the neural pathways that will shape their future learning.

And these interactions are so much deeper than they might seem on the surface. Cooing isn’t just cute, it’s the start of language development, early vocal play and social communication. The deep eye contact only a tiny baby can achieve isn’t just fabulous for bonding, it’s also building the neural circuits for joint attention, emotional connection, and visual processing and the foundations for reading, social skills and visual cues. And that tiny grasp? It’s the foundation for fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and even problem-solving. These seemingly tiny moments are actually the building blocks for everything that follows. I’m all about the tiny moments – and this is why! There’s so much learning in those tiny moments when you know what to look for.

4. Parents are partners, not just customers

Parent partnerships – it’s so easy to say and so hard to make happen meaningfully! The report stresses the importance of building these parental relationships. And it’s so much more than just keeping parents informed, it’s about making them part of the child’s learning journey, right from the start.

Building meaningful parent partnerships makes our job so much easier too, because when parents understand what we’re trying to do in the nursery and why it matters, they become our biggest advocates. It’s about building trust from the first look around your setting and understanding that you might quite possibly be the first consistent professional they have had contact with since becoming parents. Approaching the parent partnership from this angle helps them see the value in what you do, and builds trust and loyalty. It helps you understand them more too.

So what you can do today in your setting to implement the recommendations from the report?

Develop your team’s skills

Don’t just train for the sake of it. Train with purpose, particularly for those working with the under 2s. If your staff don’t understand the science behind what they’re doing, they’re missing the bigger picture. Make sure they know why those tiny moments matter and how to make the most of them. Consider tools like the Oliiki app, which breaks down the science behind every tiny interaction, making it easy for practitioners to connect theory to practice.

Focus on the physical

Get your team thinking about physical development from the start. This isn’t just about meeting EYFS standards, it’s about truly understanding the link between movement and brain growth. Babies need to move, to explore, to push their limits, and your setting needs to support that. And while you’re focusing on the physical side, don’t neglect the other areas of development!

Involve parents from day one

Don’t wait until a parent has a concern to start talking about their child’s learning. Use those daily interactions to share insights, give tips, and encourage parents to keep the learning going at home. The more they understand what you’re doing, the more they’ll value your work. But in order to do that, your staff need to understand the development behind the play they do and be able to articulate that to the parents

Plan for the future

With the expansion of the funded places on the horizon, now’s the time to think about how you’ll handle the increased demand. Are your rooms set up for this? Is your team ready for the challenge? Are our baby rooms places of playful adventure that support development through appropriate play and daily routines? Are you creating environments that truly support brain development right from the start?

Getting it right from the start is the name of the Osted report. It’s a great name – one we can use as our a mission, a rallying cry to help us work to create the best learning environments for our tiniest people, who have so much development happening in SUCH a short space of time, that we can.

The more we upskill staff, not with big training days, but rather with tiny moments of development that help them put theory into practice, the more our babies will gain from the time they spend with us. When we get the first 1000 days right, we build foundations that last a lifetime. What a legacy – and that legacy lives in your baby rooms. The question is, is your baby room creating a legacy to be proud of?

If you haven’t read the full Ofsted report, you can find it here: Getting it right from the start – Ofsted

Book your free ticket for Nursery Management Show on 27 June to hear more from Clare in the session Working with Babies.