The Nursery Induction Toolkit 2026: Building Confident Starts for Families & staff

The week before a new term sets the tone for everything that follows, for the families walking in on day one and for the new team members finding their feet. In this session, Early Years Leader and Education Strategist Lara Hudson joined Purva Goyal, Co-Founder and CPO of illumine, to look at induction for both groups: what it should cover, the moments families remember, how to communicate in a way that builds trust, and the quick wins worth making before Monday. This is the written recap. The full recording is at the top of this page.

Key takeaways

Where nurseries stand going into the new term

Lara opened the session four days before the new term began, a week she described as the one that decides everything: the tone you set, the expectations you share and the way you bring people in. She also reminded attendees that induction is not only for September. Families and staff join throughout the year, and they deserve the same start.

In the first poll, nearly half of attendees said they had a structured induction in place for both families and staff, and nearly as many had one for staff only. Nobody had a process for families alone, and a few had nothing formal yet.

A second poll asked where the biggest gap was: communication, documentation, team alignment or time. Half of attendees said time. Lara recognized the pattern. Leaders spend their days firefighting because there is no process, and never find time to build the process because they are firefighting. Purva described it the same way: what feels like a time problem is often a process gap.

Why induction matters

Lara asked attendees to keep two people in mind throughout the session: a family starting on Monday, and a new staff member joining the same day. She then broke induction into three parts.

Purva added that the impressions formed in induction week shape how parents see the nursery long after it, and ultimately your retention. Lara agreed, and said an organized induction tells people you are an organized setting.

It's giving the right people the right information at the right time.

Her approach is to map each family's and each staff member's journey, and work out what they need at each stage, rather than handing over everything at once.

What a new parent feels on day one

Attendees described parents as anxious, nervous, a little excited and unsure. Lara added that this year many returning parents are worried about a new teacher, especially when their child loved last year's. She shared the story of a father who asked how to help his wife, who was getting more upset as their child's first day approached. Her honest answer was that the first weeks can be rough, and that a month later the harder moment may be when the child walks in without saying goodbye.

Seven moments families remember

Lara broke the first days into seven moments, each of which tells a new family who you are.

Attendees were also shown two reception scenes and asked which center they would choose. The answer was the center with staff at the children's level and someone ready to welcome each family. In the other, a parent was left waiting with nobody in reception, which Lara said only adds to a new parent's stress. Lara also likes photos going home through the day rather than all at 2 p.m., partly because parents enjoy seeing them in real time and partly because a burst of uploads at once can slow the setting's internet.

Communicating in a way that builds trust

Lara's guidance for messages home:

• Bilingual where it helps. Send messages in the languages your families use.
• Jargon-free. Early years is full of acronyms. Parents should not need to decode them.
• Culturally responsive. Think about what is appropriate for your families, both in how you welcome children and in what you send.
• Reviewed where needed. Decide whether teachers send messages directly or whether you review them first, particularly for new staff.
• One consistent voice. In the week before the session, Lara sat several teams down to map out what parents will ask and how the team will answer, so every family hears the same thing.

When Purva asked for an example of a small detail with a big impact, Lara described a conversation with teachers about the settling-in form. One teacher pointed out that some parents expect every lunchbox to be finished while others do not mind, and that some families have views on the order food is eaten in. A question about food expectations went onto the form as a result, something Lara said she would never have thought to add on her own.

Getting new staff started

Lara said new staff need three things: clarity about their role and who they report to, alignment with the setting's vision, values and pedagogy, and the professional confidence that comes from having the right information at the right time. She stressed that cultural fit should be discussed at interview, because someone who does not share your values can unsettle a whole team.

She also wanted leaders to see induction as the first step in a cycle, not a one-off week:

To make sure a new starter's first week is not left to chance, she recommends having these ready:

For more on keeping good people once they join, read our guide to staff retention strategies for childcare centers.

How illumine supports induction

Purva showed how a nursery could put this into practice in illumine:

• Scheduled welcome messages. Announcements can be prepared in advance and scheduled for the evening before day one, or early on the morning itself, with an attachment introducing the team by name, photo and role so families recognize who they will meet.
• Translation. Any message can be translated, for example into Arabic, with the original English kept alongside it. See teacher-parent communication.
• A family information form. Purva turned screenshots of Lara's induction form into a digital form with the AI form builder. It collects details such as the child's preferred name, religious considerations, comfort items and home routines, and each submission is saved to the child's profile for teachers to check. Read more about the AI form generator.
• A first-week progress review. Teachers can complete a short review for each child after induction week, covering how they settled, eating and sleeping, and next steps, and share it with parents.
• Resource folders. Policies and handbooks for parents, and curriculum documents for teachers, can be stored where each group can open them on their phones.

Lara added a broader point from her visits to nurseries: many settings now have systems like illumine but only use parts of them. Her advice was to ask for training on the features you are not using, because the time savings come from using the platform fully.

Questions from the session

How do we get the toolkit's forms into illumine?

Purva explained that she took screenshots of the form, though a PDF also works, and uploaded them to the AI form creator. The AI reads the document, recognizes text fields, checkboxes and tables, and builds the digital form, which can then be edited and styled before it is shared. She said it took her less than a minute.

What small detail has made a big difference to induction?

Lara pointed to the conversation about food expectations described above. It only came up because the team talked through the settling-in form together, which is why she recommends teachers share their experience with each other at the start of the year.

Resources mentioned

• The Nursery Induction Toolkit, shared with attendees after the session. It includes a settling-in check and review, a family expectations and routines document, and induction planning audits.
• A family induction form and a first-week progress review form, both shown in the session as digital forms in illumine.

Quick wins before day one

For the next stage, once children have started, read our recap of The Nursery Settling-In Toolkit 2026. To see how illumine supports nurseries day to day, explore nursery management software or book a live demo.