A complete way of running an early years setting: staff, parents, children, resources and food, not a single approach for one room. I built it in my own childminding setting, graded Outstanding by Ofsted in every area at both its inspections, and it grew with me into a full nursery and preschool with its own Ofsted registration. It is for nurseries, preschools, childminders, local authorities and practitioners.
Choose your way in
Each one is written for you, so you only read what you need: what it is for you, what it costs, and what happens next.
£220 a year, or £22 a month. No joining fee.
£795 joining and £470 a year. The Inclusive Early Years Fund, paid to settings from September 2026, must be spent on setting wide inclusion, which is what the Ecosystem is built for.
10 per cent off each setting, for three or more. Area licences for local authorities are agreed on enquiry.
The first step is a free 15 minute call. We talk about what you already do well and whether this is the right fit. See everything that is included.
Outdoors in all weathers, messy and creative, and calm when they need to be. Every body, every family and every way of moving, hearing, seeing and communicating is ordinary here.
Every part of a setting behaves like a part of the natural world, and each one below is something you can buy, learn and be reviewed against. Together they are the whole model. On their own, each is a resource in its own right, pitched for early years here and for older children and young people through The Freedom Approach.
The climate: shared values and principles. A written, dated ethos in continuous use since 2013, grounded in children's rights, equity and neuro-affirming practice. Every habitat lives under the same weather, so a value held in the staff room is the same value a child meets at lunch.
The paths: policy and procedure. The safe, marked routes through every habitat, so everyone knows the way, especially when things are hard. The whole setting audit reads your values statement, policies and procedures against the six habitats and the current early years framework, and the implementation plan brings them into one line, rather than six separate policies on a shelf. Every accredited setting then learns its policies as a short course with quick checks, and reviews them every quarter with everyone. How the policies work.
01 · The forest
The canopy shapes the light everything grows in. In the moment planning, a holistic curriculum, forest school and outdoor learning every week, run in practice for over a decade, including weekly forest school in a public park from 2013.
What you get: the environment audit, the outdoor learning framework, and Forest School led practice from a Level 3 Forest School leader.
02 · The desert
The plants that survive here have the deepest roots. Recruitment, supervision, three hundred and sixty degree feedback, CPD, permanent contracts and a real living wage, as a values position rather than an afterthought. Nothing above ground survives without this.
What you get: the staff wellbeing structure, the apprenticeship model, with apprentices mentored alongside the local college, and the whole team training that counts towards CPD.
03 · The grassland
The growth point, where the whole system's purpose flowers. Personal, social and emotional development as the key that unlocks every other area of learning, early identification and SEND support on the graduated approach, led by a former early years SENCO with a Distinction level postgraduate qualification in autism.
What you get: MeMap for every child, the Neurodictionary for every adult, and the Holistic Individual Learning Plan where a child needs more.
04 · The sea
The water table reaches every part of the system without being seen moving. Genuine partnership, daily circular communication, and a parent and carer course built to feel like a village rather than a lecture.
What you get: the parent partnership method, the parent and carer course first piloted in 2016, and the communication pattern that keeps families inside the loop.
05 · The tundra
A thin living layer that everything else depends on. Mealtimes as connection and learning, growing, cooking and sharing food together, not nutrition ticked off a form. Food for Life Early Years from the Soil Association, December 2016, then invited to judge its awards. Signed up to Sugar Smart at its local launch in 2017.
What you get: the food and mealtime framework, the menu and growing plan, and the route to Food for Life for your own setting.
06 · The river
The river carries what every other part needs to where it is needed. Budgeting, ratios and sustainable running, so the model survives contact with a real budget. It ran a four room setting with around thirty staff and up to seventy two children a day, and stayed open through the pandemic as keyworker provision.
What you get: the budgeting and ratio model, the funding map including the Inclusive Early Years Fund, and the sustainability review at accreditation.
Practitioner membership £220 a year or £22 a month. Accredited setting £795 joining and £470 a year. Group licence 10 per cent off each setting, for three or more. Everything that is included, and the evidence behind each habitat. Habitat illustrations made for this site.
Take a closer look at the six connected circles, why it works and the evidence, or go straight to how settings join.
Equitable education, neuroinclusion and SEND consultant. A mixed race, disabled and neurodivergent woman, 31 years with children, young people and families.
The Early Years Ecosystem is my model. I built it inside the settings I ran for more than a decade: my childminding setting, graded Outstanding in every area at both its Ofsted inspections, and the nursery and preschool it grew into. I wrote it up afterwards. I am the person you will work with.
Yasmin A Darling Consultancy is rated 5.0 on Google. Every quotation is reproduced exactly as written, with the writer's full name.
Maisie has a warm, friendly and caring approach, and offers a setting that is supportive to children and families. She is an excellent communicator with a real ability and passion for supporting children's emotional needs.
Hilary Wilgress, Childminding Network Co-ordinator, 2015
The judgement of outstanding means that you are exceptional and significant elements of your work are exemplary.
Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, Ofsted, with the Outstanding certificates
With two 'Outstanding' ratings from Ofsted under her belt, Maisie has clearly demonstrated that she is an effective early years practitioner. But what makes Maisie stand out is her desire to share her ideas and expertise with others in an effort to raise standards in the sector and ultimately improve the wellbeing of children.
Victoria Flint, Director of Communications, PACEY, 12 May 2016
Every line here has a certificate, a letter or a published report behind it, held on file and produced on request.
Latest writing
My Substack is where I write about the things I notice: the families who are not at the school gate, the children the system stops seeing, and the spaces I have spent thirty one years creating and curating for us all. You are on The Early Years Ecosystem site. Each new piece lands here as soon as it is published.