Little Nursery, Big Target
Your IT & cyber security toolkit, laid out step by step.
Thanks for scanning. You just sat through 30 minutes that were never going to be enough to fix your nursery’s cyber security on their own, and that was the point.
The talk gave you the mental model: People, Passwords, Permissions. This page is where you actually do the work. Everything below is written for nursery owners and managers, in plain English, with the steps spelled out. Nothing here is a sales pitch. Take what’s useful, work at your own pace, and come back when you’re ready for the next bit.
Most nurseries can move from red to amber to green over about three months. You don’t have to do any of it today.
If you remember nothing else from today, remember three words. Almost every cyber attack on a nursery comes through one of them, and each one is something you can personally do something about.
1. People
Your staff are the front door. Phishing, fake supplier calls, voice cloning.
2. Passwords
The first lock. Length over complexity, 2FA, and where everyone's heading next: passkeys.
3. Permissions
Limiting the damage when a lock fails. Digital, credentials, physical, network.
1. People
Your staff are the front door. Start here.
Spotting phishing emails
The exact giveaways to look for, with real examples pulled apart line by line. The single guide to share with your whole team.
What to do if you've been hacked
The calm, ordered checklist for the worst morning. What do to first, who to tell, and how to limit the damage before it spreads.
The £0 cyber checklist
Everything you can lock down this month without spending a penny, including the physical security audit. Print it, tick it off.
2. Passwords
The first lock on the door, and what comes after it.
Two-factor authentication on Microsoft 365
The five-minute change that blocks over 99% of account attacks. If you only do one thing this week, do this.
Strong Windows Passwords
Why length beats complexity, why reuse is the real danger, and how a password manager makes all of it easier, not harder.
Passkeys for nurseries
Where everyone is heading: no password to remember, steal or be tricked into typing. The plain-English guide, including the lost phone question.
3. Permissions
Nobody should have access to everything. And access means more than files.
Leavers: the complete checklist
What to switch off, change and collect when someone leaves, including the shared passwords everyone forgets.
With downloadable starter, leaver and role-change forms.
Access control for nurseries
Why the door code everyone knows isn't really security, and what proper per-person access looks like — the safeguarding angle Ofsted and CIW actually check.
Your annual IT calendar
The handful of small jobs that keep a nursery safe, spread across the year. Pin it up, tick them off, and the whole year looks after itself.
iPad management for nurseries
How to manage the iPads holding children's photos and records, so a lost one is a logistics problem, not a data breach.
10 questions to ask your IT supplier
The ten questions that do the judging for you, with what a good answer sounds like and what should give you pause. Bring it to the conversation.
A bit more
The nursery IT jargon-buster
Plain-English translations of the IT terms suppliers throw around, so nothing gets to baffle you into nodding along.
The complete guide pack
Every guide in the toolkit, plus more we couldn't fit on the day, gathered into one printable pack.