Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using any of Early Tree's services — including our websites, web applications, mobile applications, APIs, and any associated services (collectively, the "Services") — you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms") and our Privacy Policy.

If you are accessing the Services on behalf of an organisation, you represent and warrant that you have authority to bind that organisation to these Terms, and all references to "you" shall refer to that organisation. If you do not have such authority, or if you do not agree with these Terms, you must not use the Services.

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated Terms on this page, updating the "Last updated" date, and where appropriate, sending a notification via email or within the app. Your continued use of the Services after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

2. Description of Services

Early Tree provides software solutions for the early years education sector, delivered through web and mobile platforms. Our current Services include:

• Early Tree Nursery Management System: A comprehensive nursery operating platform for managing children's registrations, attendance, key person assignments, observations and learning journeys, EYFS progress tracking, staff rotas and ratios, safeguarding records, parent communications, and compliance documentation. Available via web browser and our mobile apps for iOS and Android.
• Inspector Who: An Ofsted inspection intelligence and analytics platform providing insights derived from published Ofsted inspection data, benchmarking tools, and sector trend analysis. Available via web browser.
• Early Years Funding Portal: A portal enabling nurseries and early years settings to manage government-funded childcare hours claims, headcount submissions, and funding administration. Available via web browser and mobile apps for iOS and Android.

The specific features available to you will depend on your subscription plan and the terms of any Order Form or agreement between you and Early Tree. We may add, modify, or discontinue features from time to time, subject to the notice provisions in these Terms.

3. User Accounts

3.1 Account Creation

To access most features of our Services, you must create an account. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to keep this information up to date. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts where information is found to be inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading.

3.2 Account Security

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You must:

• Choose a strong, unique password and not share it with others
• Enable two-factor authentication where available and recommended
• Notify us immediately at hello@earlytree.co.uk if you suspect any unauthorised access to your account
• Not allow others to use your account credentials
• Log out from your account at the end of each session, especially on shared devices

We are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from your failure to comply with these account security obligations.

3.3 Mobile App Accounts

When you access our Services through our mobile applications, the same account credentials and security obligations apply. Our mobile apps may offer biometric authentication (such as Face ID or fingerprint authentication) as a convenient alternative to password entry. Biometric data is processed entirely by your device's operating system and is not transmitted to or stored by Early Tree.

3.4 Team and Multi-User Access

Administrators may create user accounts for team members within your organisation. Administrators are responsible for managing access permissions appropriately, removing access promptly when a user leaves the organisation, and ensuring all users under their account comply with these Terms.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree to use our Services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. The following prohibited uses apply to both our web and mobile platforms:

• Violating any applicable local, national, or international law or regulation
• Using the Services for any purpose that is harmful, fraudulent, deceptive, or malicious
• Attempting to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Services, our servers, or any systems or networks connected to the Services
• Uploading or transmitting viruses, malware, ransomware, spyware, or any other malicious code
• Reverse engineering, decompiling, disassembling, or attempting to derive the source code of any part of the Services
• Scraping, crawling, or using automated tools to extract data from the Services without our prior written permission
• Interfering with or disrupting the integrity or performance of the Services, or the data contained therein
• Attempting to circumvent any security features, access controls, rate limits, or usage restrictions
• Using the Services to store, process, or transmit content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, or that infringes third-party intellectual property rights
• Using the Services to collect or harvest personal data about other users without their consent
• Impersonating any person or entity, or misrepresenting your affiliation with any person or entity
• Using the Services in a way that could damage our reputation or that of Early Tree's partners

We reserve the right to investigate any suspected breach of this section and to take appropriate action, including suspending or terminating your account and referring matters to law enforcement.

5. Mobile Applications

5.1 App Store Terms

Our mobile applications are distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Your use of our mobile apps is also subject to the terms of service of the relevant app store. In the event of a conflict between these Terms and the app store terms, the app store terms will prevail only with respect to your relationship with the app store provider. As between you and Early Tree, these Terms govern.

5.2 Device Requirements

Our mobile applications require a compatible device and operating system. We support the current and two previous major versions of iOS and Android. We cannot guarantee performance on older operating system versions, and some features may not function as intended.

5.3 Updates

We may release updates to our mobile applications from time to time to add features, fix bugs, or address security vulnerabilities. We recommend enabling automatic updates to ensure you are running the latest version. Some updates may be mandatory; continued use of the app will require you to install these updates. Failure to install mandatory updates may limit your access to certain features or the Services generally.

5.4 Offline Functionality

Certain features of our mobile apps may be available offline. Data created or modified offline will be synced with our servers when a connection is restored. We are not responsible for data loss arising from device failure, app deletion, or failure to sync before termination of your subscription.

5.5 Push Notifications

Our mobile apps may send push notifications for service-related purposes, such as task reminders, compliance alerts, and important account updates. You may control push notification preferences through your device settings. Disabling notifications may mean you miss important service communications.

6. Intellectual Property

6.1 Our Intellectual Property

The Services and all content within them — including software code, algorithms, databases, user interfaces, logos, brand assets, documentation, and all other materials — are owned by or licensed to Early Tree and are protected by copyright, database rights, trademarks, and other intellectual property laws of the United Kingdom and internationally. Nothing in these Terms transfers any intellectual property rights in the Services to you.

You may not copy, modify, create derivative works of, distribute, sell, sublicense, reverse engineer, or otherwise exploit any part of the Services without our prior written consent.

6.2 Your Content and Customer Data

You retain full ownership of all data, content, and materials you submit, upload, or input into the Services ("Customer Data"). By submitting Customer Data, you grant Early Tree a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, process, and use that data solely as necessary to provide the Services to you, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and any applicable Data Processing Agreement.

You are responsible for ensuring that any Customer Data you upload does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party and that you have all necessary rights and consents to share it with us.

6.3 Feedback

If you provide us with feedback, suggestions, or ideas about our Services ("Feedback"), you grant Early Tree a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free licence to use that Feedback for any purpose, including incorporating it into our Services, without any obligation to you.

7. Third-Party Services and Integrations

Our Services may integrate with or link to third-party services and platforms (such as local authority systems, accounting software, or communication tools). Any use of third-party services is subject to their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, security, or practices of any third-party services. We make no warranties or representations about third-party services, and your use of them is at your own risk.

8. Beta and Preview Features

From time to time, we may make beta, preview, or experimental features available to you, clearly labelled as such. These features are provided "as is" for evaluation purposes only. They may be unstable, incomplete, or subject to change without notice. We do not make any warranty or representation regarding beta features and our standard service level commitments do not apply to them. We may discontinue beta features at any time without notice.

9. Data Protection

Your use of our Services is governed by our Privacy Policy, which describes in detail how we collect, use, and protect your personal data across web and mobile platforms. By using our Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy.

If you use our Services to process personal data about children, parents, or staff members, you are responsible for ensuring that such processing complies with the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and any other applicable data protection laws. Where you are processing personal data as a data controller using our Services, you must enter into our Data Processing Agreement with us before commencing such processing.

10. Disclaimers

Our Services are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not warrant that:

• The Services will meet your specific requirements
• The Services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free
• The results obtained from the use of the Services will be accurate, complete, or reliable
• Any errors or defects in the Services will be corrected

Inspector Who specifically: The data and analytics provided through Inspector Who are derived from publicly available Ofsted inspection reports and data sources. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, currency, or fitness for any particular purpose of this data. The insights provided are not official Ofsted statistics and should not be relied upon as definitive or authoritative. Any decisions made based on this data are made at your own risk.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Early Tree shall not be liable for:

• Any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages
• Any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or business opportunities
• Any loss or damage arising from your inability to access or use the Services, or any unauthorised access to your account
• Any loss or corruption of data
• Any actions or content of third parties

Where our liability cannot be excluded by law, our total aggregate liability to you arising out of or in connection with your use of the Services (whether in contract, tort, or otherwise) shall not exceed the greater of: (a) the total fees paid by you to Early Tree in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim; or (b) £100.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for: death or personal injury caused by our negligence; fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded by applicable law.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Early Tree and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with: (a) your use of the Services in violation of these Terms; (b) your Customer Data or content; (c) your violation of any applicable law; or (d) your infringement of any third-party rights.

13. Force Majeure

We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations under these Terms where such failure or delay results from any cause beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, pandemic or epidemic, government actions, war, terrorism, civil unrest, labour disputes, failure of third-party service providers or infrastructure, or internet or telecommunications failures. We will notify you as soon as practicable of any force majeure event and will use reasonable endeavours to minimise its impact.

14. Termination

14.1 Termination by You

You may terminate your account and cease using the Services at any time by contacting us. Termination will take effect at the end of your current billing period unless otherwise agreed. You will not receive a refund for any prepaid subscription fees unless required by law.

14.2 Termination by Us

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Services immediately and without notice if we reasonably believe you have materially breached these Terms, engaged in fraudulent activity, or if we are required to do so by law. We may also terminate your account with 30 days' notice for any other reason, in which case we will refund any prepaid fees for the unused portion of your subscription.

14.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination of your account: (a) your right to access and use the Services will immediately cease; (b) we will make your Customer Data available for export for up to 30 days following termination, after which we will delete or anonymise it in accordance with our Privacy Policy; and (c) provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, limitation of liability, indemnification, and governing law) will continue to apply.

15. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms, or the breach, termination, or validity thereof, shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, unless otherwise required by mandatory local law.

Before commencing any legal proceedings, you agree to contact us and attempt to resolve any dispute in good faith through direct negotiation.

16. General Provisions

• Entire agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any applicable Order Form or Data Processing Agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and Early Tree relating to the Services and supersede all prior agreements and understandings
• Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or severed if modification is not possible. The remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect
• Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that right or provision
• Assignment: You may not assign or transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms without restriction
• No partnership: Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship between you and Early Tree
• Notices: Any notices to Early Tree under these Terms should be sent to hello@earlytree.co.uk. We may send notices to the email address associated with your account

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

Email: hello@earlytree.co.uk
Contact form: earlytree.co.uk/contact