Nursery policies and procedures: the EYFS guide

What the EYFS actually requires in writing

The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework sets the safeguarding and welfare requirements every registered early years provider in England must meet. It is more prescriptive than the CQC's approach to adult social care: some documents are named outright. A written safeguarding policy and procedure is required, and it must cover the use of mobile phones and cameras on the premises and what happens if an allegation is made against a member of staff.

Beyond that, the framework describes arrangements rather than document titles — but in practice the only way to evidence an arrangement, train staff on it and show it is applied consistently is to write it down. That is what an inspector asks to see.

Which nursery policies and procedures does Ofsted require?

The set below covers the safeguarding and welfare requirements that apply to almost every group setting:

• Safeguarding and child protection, including allegations against staff and the designated safeguarding lead's role
• Mobile phone, camera and electronic device use (a specific EYFS requirement)
• Whistleblowing
• Safer recruitment, suitability checks, DBS and staff disqualification
• Staff induction, supervision, training and paediatric first aid cover
• Staff:child ratios and qualification requirements
• Behaviour management, including a ban on corporal punishment
• Administering medicines, and recording parental consent
• Sickness, infection control and exclusion periods
• Accidents, injuries and reportable incidents (including RIDDOR and Ofsted notifications)
• Missing child, and uncollected child
• Health and safety, risk assessment, premises security and outings
• Food, drink and allergen management
• Intimate care and nappy changing
• Equal opportunities, inclusion and SEND (including the SENCO role)
• Key person arrangements and settling in
• Complaints procedure
• Privacy, data protection and record keeping

Staff:child ratios and qualifications

Ratios are one of the few areas where the framework gives hard numbers, and they differ by age band, by provider type and by the qualifications of the staff on duty. They have also changed in recent years. Rather than restating figures that date, your policy should name the ratios that apply to your setting, state who is responsible for maintaining them during breaks, absence and outings, and point to the current framework as the source.

Inspectors test this by observation as much as by document: they count adults and children in each room. A policy that describes ratios you do not actually maintain is worse than no policy at all.

Complaints: the requirement providers most often miss

Early years providers must have a written complaints procedure, make it available to parents, and investigate written complaints about how the EYFS requirements are met — notifying the complainant of the outcome within 28 days. Providers must also keep a record of complaints and make it available to Ofsted on request.

Two things routinely go wrong here: the 28-day timescale is not written into the policy, and no complaints log exists because there have been no complaints. Keep the log regardless — an empty, dated log is evidence; a missing one is a gap.

Safeguarding is the policy everything else hangs off

Your safeguarding policy needs to name the designated safeguarding lead, set out how concerns are raised and escalated to the local authority designated officer, explain how allegations against staff are handled, and cover the wider curriculum of concerns staff are expected to recognise — neglect, abuse, and issues such as female genital mutilation and extremism that national guidance requires providers to be alert to.

It also has to connect to training records. Staff must be able to explain what they would do, not just confirm they have read a document. See how safeguarding evidence is tested at inspection for how the same principle applies across Ofsted-registered provision.

Nursery, childminder or school-based: what changes

The core safeguarding and welfare requirements are common, but the detail differs. Childminders work to a separate version of the framework and generally operate a lighter documentary set. School-based nurseries can often sit inside the school's existing safeguarding, health and safety and complaints policies — provided those documents genuinely address early years arrangements rather than simply covering the school. Group settings carry the fullest requirements, including named roles such as the SENCO and the designated safeguarding lead.

Keeping the set current

Early years guidance moves — framework editions, ratio changes, safeguarding guidance updates. The failure mode is rarely a missing policy; it is a policy last reviewed three years ago that still cites withdrawn guidance.

• Version, date and owner every policy, with a next-review date
• Review annually as a minimum, and immediately when the framework or statutory guidance changes
• Record staff acknowledgement of each version — that log is your evidence of implementation
• Keep one controlled copy so there is no ambiguity about the current version

How CuraFlow helps

CuraFlow's nursery library gives Ofsted-registered early years providers a complete, version-controlled policy set aligned to the EYFS safeguarding and welfare requirements, auto-filled with your setting's details, with staff acknowledgement tracking and Word and PDF downloads. When a policy is updated you are notified, so the set stays inspection-ready. See pricing and free samples or browse the nursery library.