Sheffield City Council Early Years CPD Programme

This full day training explores how thoughtfully designed learning environments can inspire curiosity, independence and high-quality play for young children. Grounded in the EYFS principles, it focuses on creating spaces - indoors and outdoors - that are inclusive, responsive and rich in learning opportunities, as well as emotionally secure and welcoming.

Participants will reflect on how the environment acts as a “third teacher”, shaping not only children’s development and engagement, but also their sense of safety, belonging and wellbeing. The session explores how both the physical and emotional environment—through relationships, routines and interactions—supports children to feel confident, regulated and ready to learn.

The training considers the effective use of space, resources, routines and continuous provision, alongside the role of the practitioner in observing, adapting and enhancing environments to meet the needs and interests of all children.

By the end of the session, practitioners will feel confident to evaluate their provision, make purposeful improvements, and create environments that promote play, exploration, communication and positive emotional wellbeing for every child.

Audience: All early years practitioners, childminders, managers, teachers, teaching assistants, year 1 teachers, senior leaders.

Date/s and time, location:

Date/Time	Venue
Friday 25th September 2026 9.30-4.00pm	Westbourne School, S10 2QT	Book Here
Monday 19th April 2027, Monday 17th May 2027 & Monday 21st June 2027 9.30-4.00pm Thursday 18th March 2027 9.30-4.00pm	The Hope Centre, S2 5BQ	Book Here

Locations: Westbourne School, 60 Westbourne Rd, Sheffield, S10 2QT
The Hope Centre, Bernard Rd, Sheffield, S2 5BQ

Cost: 1 Token or Pay as you go price on request from EarlyYearsBusinessSupport@sheffield.gov.uk

Training Team: Early Years Quality and Access Team

Practitioners will explore how children’s learning develops progressively over time through provision that is thoughtfully planned, flexible, and responsive to emerging needs- ensuring it is fully attuned to support every child to have the best start in life.

This engaging two-day training focuses on how to design progressive provision that supports deep, sustained learning across the Early Years Foundation Stage, allowing practitioners to reflect on their current continuous provision offer, when to offer enhancements and how they might facilitate children’s natural fascinations and curiosity.

Participants will develop a clear understanding of how children learn sequentially, recognising the small but significant steps that underpin development. Through practical examples and collaborative activities, the training will explore how to create rich, responsive environments that offer appropriate challenge, promote independence, and enable children to revisit and deepen their learning over time.

The course places a strong emphasis on bridging the gap between assessment, interaction, and provision—ensuring that observations meaningfully inform what is offered to children. Practitioners will examine how to embed progression across all areas of learning, use enhancements with clear intent, and plan sequences that move beyond isolated activities to create meaningful learning journeys.

With a strong focus on current, evidence-based practice, this training supports teams to reflect on their own provision and ‘have a clear and ambitious vision for giving children the best start to their education’ (Ofsted Leadership of early years). Consideration will be given to ensuring equitable access and inclusive practice for all children, recognising and valuing diversity. This includes proactively meeting the individual needs of children with SEND, those with English as an Additional Language (EAL), high attainers, and all learners, so that every child has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential.

By the end of the programme, delegates will feel confident in making effective choices regarding progressive provision and the sequential learning opportunities they provide, tailored to the children's context, age and starting points. (Ofsted: Teaching).

Audience: All early years practitioners, childminders, managers, teachers, teaching assistants, year 1 teachers, senior leaders.

Date/s and time, location:

Date/Time	Venue
Wednesday 30th September 2026 & Wednesday 4th November 2026 9.30-4.00pm	Mansel Primary School, S5 9QN	Book Here
Thursday 14th January 2027 & Thursday 11th March 2027 9.30-4.00pm	The Hope Centre, S2 5BQ	Book Here

Locations: Mansel Primary School, 157 Chaucer Road, Parson Cross, Sheffield, S5 9QN
The Hope Centre, Bernard Road, Sheffield, S2 5BQ

Cost: 2 Tokens or Pay as you go price on request from EarlyYearsBusinessSupport@sheffield.gov.uk

Training Team: Early Years Quality and Access Team

The Purposeful Provision Project is all about moving away from the endless cycle of just "setting up activities" and shifting toward building a space that truly reflects the children inside it, complete with enhancements that resonate with your learners. Delivered across three half-day sessions, this programme gives your team the practical tools to embed meaningful, open-ended continuous provision that actually works for every single learner.

• Session 1: The Foundation – We start by tuning into each child's unique culture and ‘play diet’, moving away from generic checklists to build an environment rooted deeply in your curriculum. Staff will leave with an auditing tool to take back and ensure their provision aligns perfectly with their unique cohort.
• Session 2: Enhancements – We’ll dive into enhancements, exploring both interest-led and schema-led approaches. You’ll learn how to weave in topics and interests naturally, ensuring you are constantly progressing learning rather than just running a standalone activity.
• Session 3: The Adult Role – In this final session, we’ll explore how to step in, play alongside children, and scaffold their thinking without taking over or bombarding them with questions. We'll also look at staff deployment and timetables to make sure children get the long, uninterrupted periods of time they need to dive deep into learning.

After each session, participants will be given optional tasks to help embed the training. James will be available via email to support you between these sessions to make sure you get as much value from the project as possible. While each session is delivered in person, you'll also get access to a recorded version to share with your wider team, making sure everyone gets the exact same message.

Audience: All early years practitioners, childminders, managers, teachers, teaching assistants, year 1 teachers, senior leaders.

Date/s and time, location:

Date/Time	Venue
Wednesday 7th October 2026, Wednesday 18th November 2026 & Wednesday 20th January 2027 9.30-12.30pm	St Mary’s Church, S2 4QZ	Book Here
Wednesday 10th February 2027, Wednesday 17th March 2027 & Wednesday 5th May 2027 1.00-4.00pm	St Mary’s Church, S2 4QZ	Book Here

Locations: St Mary’s Church, Bramall Lane, Sheffield, S2 4QZ

Cost: 3 Tokens or Pay as you go price on request from EarlyYearsBusinessSupport@sheffield.gov.uk

Training delivered by: James Tunnell, Director of NurseryNook, Coach, Consultant and Trainer

The childminder and home-based early years practitioners training programme will introduce you to simple, low-cost and inspiring ways to use outdoor learning within your everyday practice. The sessions will focus on how to use gardens, local green spaces, parks and natural resources to support children’s play, learning, confidence, independence and wellbeing.

This training is particularly suitable for childminders and home-based early years practitioners because it does not rely on expensive equipment or large outdoor areas. Instead, it shows how sticks, leaves, stones, mud, water, loose parts and everyday resources can become powerful tools for learning.

Childminders and home-based early years practitioners will gain practical ideas they can use straight away, including outdoor play prompts, nature-based activities, sensory ideas, early maths and literacy links, and ways to support mixed-age groups outdoors.

In addition to the training, all trainees will receive an accredited CPD certificate in Outdoor Learning Play using The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Approach. This is a trademarked approach that can only be accessed through The Muddy Puddle Teacher®.

Trainees will also receive a one-year subscription to The Muddy Puddle Teacher® resources, including outdoor play resources, outdoor focus teaching resources, SEND resources and more, with over 1,000 resources available in total.

Audience: Childminders and Home-based early years practitioners

Date/s and time, location:

Date/Time	Venue
Saturday 26th September 2026 9.00am–12.00pm Focus: Outdoor Play Ideas and Activities using The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Approach, session 1 of 2	Leisure United Westfield, S20 8FA	Book Here
Saturday 24th April 2027 9.00am–12.00pm Focus: Continuous Provision and Pack-Away Play Spaces for Gardens and Small Spaces, session 2 of 2

**Please note both sessions must be attended to receive the accredited CPD certificate in Outdoor Learning Play using The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Approach.

Location: Leisure United Westfield, Isobel Bowler Sports Ground, Moss Way, Sheffield, S20 8FA

Cost: 2 Tokens or Pay as you go price on request from EarlyYearsBusinessSupport@sheffield.gov.uk

Training delivered by: The Muddy Puddle Teacher, Sarah Seaman PGCE/MA in Education is the founder of The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Approach. She is an educational consultant, teacher, podcaster, speaker and author published by Bloomsbury Education. Sarah’s work focuses on making outdoor learning and outdoor play simple, sustainable and accessible for all children. Her approach supports staff to use natural, sustainable and upcycled resources, reduce planning pressure and create meaningful outdoor experiences that develop communication, confidence, physical development, wellbeing, creativity and child-led learning.

The Early Years Group and School Based Providers training programme training programme will support settings to develop a confident, sustainable and purposeful approach to outdoor learning using The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Approach.

Across the three sessions, practitioners will explore the three key areas needed to create a successful and tailored outdoor experience:

1. Outdoor Focus Teaching
2. Outdoor Continuous Provision
3. Outdoor Play

This programme will help practitioners create high-quality outdoor play, develop meaningful continuous provision and deliver focused outdoor teaching that links directly to children’s learning and development. The approach is designed to be simple, realistic and adaptable, working in all weathers, all grounds and for all levels of staff experience.

The training is practical, easy to implement and focused on helping staff make the most of the outdoor spaces and resources they already have. There will be a strong emphasis on using natural and upcycled materials, supporting communication and language, physical development, wellbeing, child-led exploration and curriculum-linked learning.

As this is a year-long support programme, the three training dates will allow practitioners to explore each aspect of outdoor learning in depth and gradually embed the approach across their setting.

In addition to the training, all trainees will receive an accredited CPD certificate in Outdoor Learning Play using The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Approach. This is a trademarked approach that can only be accessed through The Muddy Puddle Teacher®.

Trainees will also receive a one-year subscription to The Muddy Puddle Teacher® resources, including outdoor play resources, outdoor focus teaching resources, SEND resources and more, with over 1,000 resources available in total

Audience: TBC

Date/s and time, location:

Date/Time	Venue
Friday 16th October 2026 9.00am–4.00pm Focus: Outdoor Focus Teaching, session 1 / 3	Woodbourne Road (TBC)	Book Here
Friday 12th March 2027 9.00am–4.00pm Focus: Outdoor Continuous Provision, session 2 / 3
Friday 21st May 2027 9.00am–4.00pm Focus: Outdoor Play, session 3 / 3

**Please note all sessions must be attended to receive the accredited CPD certificate in Outdoor Learning Play using The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Approach.

Location: Woodbourne Road, TBC

Cost: 3 Tokens or Pay as you go price on request from EarlyYearsBusinessSupport@sheffield.gov.uk

Training delivered by: The Muddy Puddle Teacher, Sarah Seaman PGCE/MA in Education is the founder of The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Approach. She is an educational consultant, teacher, podcaster, speaker and author published by Bloomsbury Education. Sarah’s work focuses on making outdoor learning and outdoor play simple, sustainable and accessible for all children. Her approach supports staff to use natural, sustainable and upcycled resources, reduce planning pressure and create meaningful outdoor experiences that develop communication, confidence, physical development, wellbeing, creativity and child-led learning.