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As the early years landscape radically shifts in response to the expansion of the entitlement, local authorities play a pivotal role in maintaining and raising quality standards in baby rooms across nurseries. In Thurrock, a borough with 44 early years settings, most offering provision for children from birth to three, the early years team has taken a proactive and reflective approach to supporting quality improvement in baby rooms.

At the heart of this support is a small but committed team including two Birth to Three Learning and Development Officers who, although originally recruited into one shared post, have since been given additional hours to meet the growing needs of provision for babies and toddlers.

Quality improvement visits

The team’s model of support has focused on termly visits to early years settings, which focus on a collaborative audit of the environment and educator interactions using a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rating document. These assessments are carried out alongside setting staff and are followed by structured feedback sessions with managers to think through next steps. This partnership-led approach has helped to determine the level and type of follow-up support required. It identifies both strengths and areas for development for each individual nursery, including its baby room.

For the last few years, these visits have been limited to new nurseries, those due an Ofsted inspection, or those that achieved less than a ‘Good’ in their last inspection. However, with the expansion of the entitlement, the team have agreed that from Autumn, all nurseries will receive termly audits for their 0-2 year old rooms, focusing on play, curriculum, assessment and care.

Through the visits, support can be carefully tailored and typically focuses on key areas such as settling-in practices, the key person approach, parent partnership, curriculum planning, and children’s learning and development. Importantly, the support doesn’t end at the visit—resources, guidance, and additional input are provided to help settings embed changes.

A responsive professional learning offer

Based on visits, the team has identified several recurring themes. One pressing issue is the decline in open-ended and natural resources in baby room environments post-Covid. Many settings have moved toward closed-ended, plastic resources, and away from materials that inspire awe, wonder, and sensory exploration. The visits often reveal underused treasure baskets and a lack of real-world materials. To address this, the team have incorporated training and discussions around the value of open-ended, natural resources into their forums and visits. The aim is to help practitioners understand how these resources support brain development and curiosity, particularly when contrasted with the often 2D experiences babies may have at home.

Another ongoing challenge, observed through the visits, is the implementation of the key person approach. Too often, caring routines such as nappy changes and mealtimes are allocated based on rota logistics rather than relationship continuity. The team emphasises the concept of “care as curriculum”—where moments of care are also moments of connection and learning—and support settings to reframe the key person role as relational, not merely operational.

In addition to shaping the content of professional learning to observations made during visits, the team are responsive in how they structure and offer CPD. Noticing low attendance at in-person sessions, they have responded with a suit of online and flexible training modules using the Nimble platform.

In addition, birth-to-three forums are held termly to bring together baby and toddler room educators. These in-person sessions blend structured learning with open dialogue, covering topics like speech and language development and initiatives such as “Babbling Babies.” These forums provide space for shared learning and community building among practitioners.

To support setting leadership, the wider early years team also runs a termly manager and leader forum and publishes a regular newsletter. These provide updates, highlight emerging themes, and promote consistency and shared vision across the borough.

Thurrock is also investing in more specialised support. From the Autumn term, and led by Katie Crane, one of the birth to three learning development officers, ten nurseries will take part in a new “Quality for Babies” professional learning programme, inspired by the Baby Room Project led by Sacha Powell and Kathy Goouch in the early 2010s. This year-long CPD initiative, will include three workshops, three tailored visits, and reflective action planning.

An inclusive commitment

Throughout all these efforts, a clear principle runs through Thurrock’s approach: support for quality improvement in the baby room must be available for all nurseries, not just those who seek it out. With a growing cohort of babies entering early education, ensuring high-quality, relational care in baby rooms is not optional—it’s essential.

Thurrock’s early years team offer a thoughtful example of how local authorities can respond to the needs of baby rooms, driving continuous improvement through partnership, reflection, and professional learning.