Work with us

How settings work with the Ecosystem

There are three ways in: for one practitioner, for one setting, or for a group of settings. Prices are below, and the steps are under them. I built this as a childminder before it was a nursery, so it runs for a solo childminder or home childcare provider exactly as it runs for a full setting, not scaled down from one.

Practitioner

For individual educators, childminders and home childcare providers.

No joining fee · £220 a year, or £22 a month

Full training library access, in depth training that counts towards your CPD
Neurodictionary and MeMap tools
Ongoing course content

Accredited setting

For any early years setting: a single nursery, preschool, childminder or home childcare provider.

£795 joining fee · £470 a year renewal

Councils pay the Inclusive Early Years Fund to settings as a single lump sum from September 2026, to be spent on setting wide inclusion. The Department for Education recommends a minimum of about £1,000 a setting, so the joining fee can fit within it.

Structured implementation programme
Coaching through the process
Resource vault access
Whole staff team training
The full policy and procedure set for your type of setting, with the policy course and quizzes
Listed as an Accredited Early Years Ecosystem setting

Group licence

For multi site nursery groups and chains.

10 per cent off each setting, for three or more settings

Train the trainer delivery
Full implementation roadmap
Ongoing support across every setting

I write to every early years setting as a colleague, not a competitor. Raising the standard anywhere raises it everywhere children are cared for. You are joining a shared standard, not being sold something against another provider.

Book a free 15 minute call Book a scoping session

The process

What actually happens, step by step

Written for a director or manager who wants to know what they are agreeing to before they agree to it.

Step 1, discovery call. A free 15 minute conversation, not a sales pitch. What your setting already does well, where the six circles sit today, whether this is the right fit at all. If you want a longer conversation before deciding, a one hour scoping session is £150, credited against your joining fee if you join within sixty days.

Step 2, whole setting audit. A structured look across all six circles: environment and pedagogy, staff, children, parents and carers, food, resources and finance. You get a written picture of where you stand, not just where you fall short.

Step 3, implementation plan. A sequenced plan for your setting specifically, built around your existing platform, whether that is Famly, Tapestry or another system, so staff are not learning a second way of working.

Step 4, whole staff training. Delivered to your team, in depth training that counts towards your team's CPD, covering the PSED Key, Team Around the Child, and the practical use of MeMap and the Neurodictionary where relevant.

Step 5, coaching through the process. Ongoing support while the plan is actually put into practice, not a folder handed over and left.

Step 6, accreditation review and listing. A review against the six circles, then listed as an Accredited Early Years Ecosystem setting once it holds up in practice, not on paper. No setting is accredited on the reviewer’s word alone: an independent moderator, who is not employed by us and has not advised your setting, checks every decision. Not every setting passes first time, you can appeal any decision, and every accredited setting will be listed on a public register on this site that anyone can check. Accreditation is awarded by Yasmin A Darling Consultancy Ltd and is not a government scheme or an Ofsted judgement. We hold no children’s records: your records stay in your own systems.

Time beyond what is included. Each tier lists what it includes. Anything beyond that, such as an extra visit, a written report, a meeting with a commissioner or help with a funding bid, is consultancy at £150 an hour with a two hour minimum, or at the published day rates. Nothing is done unpaid.

The paths

Policies people live, not policies people file

Running my own settings taught me that a policy read once and signed is soon forgotten. Policies only keep children safe when the people using them understand them, remember them and believe in them. So every accredited setting receives a complete, up to date set of policies and procedures, and learns it as a course, not a pile of paper.

How the policies are written, taught and reviewed

One set, five versions

Written for the EYFS from September 2026, Working Together 2026, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, the SEND Code of Practice, food and health and safety law, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. There are versions for nurseries, preschools and playgroups, childminders, school nurseries and reception, and nannies.

Matched to where you are

Safeguarding is run locally. Every set starts by matching the policies to your own local safeguarding partnership and local authority, with every local contact filled in. Where local procedures differ, local procedures win.

Learned in paid time

Each policy is taught with a plain summary, a picture, a real example and a quick check, with a short quiz at the end of each part and a final check of real situations. New staff complete it during induction, in paid working time, before working unsupervised.

Kept fresh every week

A 5 minute quiz at every team meeting, a path of the week, one policy question in every supervision, and real drills for fire, missing children, allergies and choking. Families get short visual versions of the policies that matter most to them.

Reviewed with everyone

Every policy is checked every quarter, straight away after any incident or change in the law, and fully every year. Everyone takes part, not only leaders: staff at every level, the kitchen, families and children.

Accessible to all

Plain English, dyslexia friendly layout, pictures, and learning in the way that suits each person: read aloud, with extra time, with a reader, or in their first language. Checks test understanding, not memory of exact wording.