Early Tree Nursery Management System
A modern, end-to-end nursery operating system that brings together everything you need to run your setting—child records, staff management, attendance, observations, activities, parent communications, and compliance—all in one place that actually makes sense.
Built for how nurseries actually work
Most nursery software feels like it was designed by people who've never spent a morning in an early years setting. We're building something different.
Save staff time
Reduce the admin burden so practitioners can focus on children, not paperwork.
Improve compliance
Safeguarding-ready records, audit trails, and governance features built in from the start.
Better parent comms
Keep parents informed and involved without creating extra work for your team.
What the system covers
Everything you need to run your setting, designed to work together seamlessly.
Child profiles & safeguarding-ready records
Every child's information in one secure place. Key details, emergency contacts, medical needs, dietary requirements, permissions, and notes—with a complete audit trail for safeguarding and compliance.
- Comprehensive child profiles with all essential information
- Medical conditions, allergies, and dietary requirements clearly visible
- Emergency contacts and authorised collection people
- Document uploads for permissions and consents
- Full audit trail for all changes
Rooms, groups, staff rotas, and capacity visibility
See your setting at a glance. Know your ratios, plan shifts confidently, and reduce the last-minute scramble when someone calls in sick.
- Visual room and group management
- Real-time ratio calculations and alerts
- Staff shift planning and rota management
- Capacity forecasting by room and session
- Qualification tracking for ratio requirements
Attendance, check-in/out, daily logs
Designed for speed on busy mornings. Quick check-in, reliable records, and a historical log you can trust when questions come up.
- Fast, intuitive check-in and check-out
- Session-based or flexible attendance tracking
- Daily log entries with timestamps
- Absence tracking and reporting
- Historical attendance records for billing and compliance
Parent/guardian experience
Give parents visibility without creating extra work for your team. Two-way communications, digital consent collection, and access to their child's journey.
- Parent portal with child's daily updates
- Two-way messaging with read receipts
- Digital consent and declaration collection
- Photo and observation sharing (with permissions)
- Downloadable records and reports
Observations & learning journey
Capture observations quickly, on any device. Link to EYFS development areas without the friction. Build a genuine picture of each child's progress.
- Mobile-friendly observation capture
- Photo and video attachments
- Link observations to EYFS areas automatically
- Track progress against development matters
- Generate learning journey summaries
Activity management linked to EYFS
Plan and track activities with clear links to learning outcomes. Sand tray, water play, messy play, story time—all mapped to the areas of learning.
- Activity library with EYFS mappings
- Plan activities by room, group, or child
- Link activities to all seven areas of learning
- PSED, Mathematics, Communication & Language
- Physical Development, Literacy, Understanding the World, Expressive Arts & Design
Framework support at organisation level
Choose Development Matters, Birth to Five Matters, or define your own custom framework. Apply frameworks at organisation, setting, or group level.
- Support for Development Matters 2024
- Support for Birth to Five Matters
- Custom framework definition
- Apply frameworks at different levels
- Map observations and activities to your chosen framework
Reporting & exports
Clean exports for audits, staff planning, occupancy insights, and governance. Get the data out in formats that work for you.
- Occupancy and capacity reports
- Attendance summaries and registers
- Staff hour and ratio reports
- Child development progress exports
- Compliance-ready documentation packs
Security & governance
Role-based access control, comprehensive audit logs, and strong authentication patterns. Your data stays secure and you can demonstrate compliance.
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- Complete audit trail for all actions
- OAuth2/OIDC with Authorization Code + PKCE
- Secure-by-default configuration
- GDPR-compliant data handling
Modern architecture
Built on modern .NET with pragmatic cloud-ready patterns. Designed to integrate with other systems when you need it.
- Built on .NET for reliability and performance
- Cloud-ready architecture
- API-first design for integrations
- Regular updates and improvements
- UK-hosted data
Built around EYFS and UK early years reality
This isn't a generic childcare system with EYFS bolted on as an afterthought. We've built the Early Years Foundation Stage into the core of how observations, activities, and child development tracking work.
- All seven areas of learning: PSED, Communication & Language, Physical Development, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, Expressive Arts & Design
- Support for Development Matters 2024 and Birth to Five Matters
- Define custom frameworks at organisation, setting, or group level
- Observations and activities link naturally to your chosen framework
We work with real nurseries to understand how practitioners actually use these frameworks day-to-day, and we design accordingly.
Activities mapped to EYFS
Create and manage activities like sand tray, water play, messy play, and story time—each mapped to the areas of learning they support.
How it works
Getting started is straightforward. We guide you through every step.
Request an invite
Tell us about your setting and join our beta waiting list.
Guided onboarding
We help you set up your rooms, import children, and configure your framework.
Start using it
Your team starts recording attendance, observations, and activities.
Give feedback
We iterate based on what you tell us. Your input shapes the product.
Grow with us
As we add features, your setting benefits first.
Simple, transparent pricing
Choose the plan that fits your setting. All plans include our core features with no hidden fees. During beta, pricing may be discounted.
Basic
Childminders & micro settings
Perfect for childminders and micro settings just getting started.
- Child & staff management
- Registers & attendance tracking
- Basic invoicing
- Standard reports
- Mobile-friendly interface
Standard
Single nurseries
Everything a single nursery needs to run efficiently.
- Everything in Basic, plus:
- Parent portal access
- UK funding engine
- Payment gateway integration
- Observations & learning journeys
- EYFS framework support
- Two-Year Progress Checks
Premium
Small groups (2-10 nurseries)
For growing groups that need multi-setting oversight.
- Everything in Standard, plus:
- Multi-setting dashboards
- Custom report builder
- AI-powered insights
- Advanced automation workflows
- Open banking integration
- Priority email support
Enterprise
Large groups
Tailored solutions for large nursery groups with complex needs.
- Everything in Premium, plus:
- B2B API access
- SAML SSO integration
- HR/Payroll connectors
- Dedicated account manager
- Custom integrations
- Priority support
All prices exclude VAT. Annual billing available with discount. Contact us for volume discounts.
Built for the full nursery lifecycle
From child enrolment to development tracking, billing to parent communications—every capability designed with early years practitioners in mind.
Child Development & EYFS
Track every child's learning journey with comprehensive development tools built around the Early Years Foundation Stage.
- • Observations with photo and video attachments
- • AI-assisted observation writing suggestions
- • Automatic EYFS area linking
- • Development Matters & Birth to Five Matters support
- • Custom learning framework definition
- • Two-Year Progress Check generation
- • Development snapshots and progress tracking
- • Learning journals for parents
Children of the Forest Mascots
Seven woodland mascot characters that make learning areas engaging for children and help practitioners explain development to parents.
- • Oliver Owl - Communication & Language
- • Harmony Hare - Personal, Social & Emotional
- • Felix Fox - Physical Development
- • Luna Ladybird - Literacy
- • Mason Mouse - Mathematics
- • Willow Woodpecker - Understanding the World
- • Bella Badger - Expressive Arts & Design
Billing & Financial Management
Comprehensive billing tools that handle the complexity of nursery invoicing, funding, and payments.
- • Automated invoice generation from bookings
- • UK government funding scheme support
- • Flexible billing cycles (weekly, fortnightly, monthly)
- • Payment gateway integration
- • Open banking reconciliation
- • Aged debt tracking
- • Parent account statements
- • Financial reporting and exports
Automation & Workflows
Reduce manual work with intelligent automation that handles routine tasks and keeps things moving.
- • Automated payment reminders
- • Document expiry notifications
- • Training renewal alerts
- • Custom workflow triggers
- • Task assignment with SLA tracking
- • Scheduled report generation
- • Email and SMS notifications
- • Escalation rules
Mobile Apps & Accessibility
Work from anywhere with apps designed for busy hands and varied environments.
- • Parent app for updates and messaging
- • Staff app for attendance and observations
- • Tablet app for room-based registers
- • Offline capability with sync
- • Large touch targets for busy hands
- • Works on any modern device
- • Responsive web interface
Integrations & APIs
Connect Early Tree with your existing systems through our integration capabilities.
- • HR/Payroll system connectors (Enterprise)
- • B2B API for external systems (Enterprise)
- • Webhook notifications
- • Data export in multiple formats
- • SAML SSO support (Enterprise)
- • Microsoft 365 email integration
What "invitation-only beta" means
We're building this system carefully, with real nurseries guiding our decisions at every step. During the beta period:
- Limited settings onboarded – we work closely with a small number of nurseries
- Rapid iteration – your feedback directly shapes what we build next
- Strong support – guided onboarding and direct access to our team
- Quality focus – we want to get it right before opening more widely
If you're interested in joining the beta, request an invite and tell us about your setting.
What's on the roadmap
We're actively developing new features based on what beta partners tell us they need. Here's a taste of what's coming:
- Additional parent-facing features and mobile apps
- Richer analytics and progress reporting
- Integrations with other systems you use
- More automation to reduce repetitive tasks
- Billing and invoicing capabilities
A note on architecture
The Early Tree Nursery Management System is built on modern .NET with pragmatic, cloud-ready patterns. It's designed to be reliable, secure, and capable of integrating with other systems when you need it. We host data in the UK and follow secure-by-default principles throughout.
Interested in joining the beta?
Request an invite and tell us about your setting. We'd love to hear from you.