Most children in the UK are using the internet before they start school — watching videos on a parent’s phone, talking to smart speakers and video-calling relatives long before they can read. This online safety course for early years staff faces that reality head-on: under-fives cannot manage online risk themselves, so their safety depends entirely on the adults around them. The course shows practitioners exactly how to be those adults.
For your setting, it offers practical, current guidance rather than scare stories. Built around the established four Cs framework — content, contact, conduct and commerce — it covers the risks young children actually face, the habits worth building, your setting’s own duties around devices and images, and how to support parents without judgement.
What you’ll learn
- The digital world young children are really growing up in — and why early years online safety is adult-managed safety
- The four Cs of online risk — content, contact, conduct and commerce — applied to under-fives, from autoplay rabbit holes to in-app purchases
- What healthy digital habits look like: quality content, co-viewing, balance across the day and screen-free bedtimes
- Your setting’s duties around devices, photographs, consent, filtered connections and policy
- How to partner with parents on sharenting, smart speakers and connected homes, screen guilt and family agreements
- AI, chatbots, generated content and deepfakes at awareness level — and the keeping-watch habit that keeps your practice current
Who this course is for
Early years practitioners, managers and childminders — and anyone else who cares for young children, including parents and carers. It works well as individual CPD or as shared training across your whole team, and pairs naturally with your setting’s safeguarding training.
Why this training matters
Because children encounter the online world so early, online safety is now part of keeping children safe in any early years setting — from the way staff handle devices and photographs to the guidance families receive at the door. Practitioners who understand the four Cs can set sensible boundaries, respond confidently to concerns, meet their setting’s policy duties and act as a trusted, judgement-free source of support for parents who are often navigating these questions for the first time themselves.
How the course works
The course is delivered fully online in six focused lessons followed by a short assessment. You can train at a time and place that suits you, on any device, and work through the content at your own pace.
Your certificate
On successful completion you will receive a certificate of completion, recognising your commitment to keeping young children safe online and providing evidence of your continuing professional development. National Nursery Training is an NFAQ-accredited provider.
