The Community Support/Charity Fundraising Award looks at the setting's role within the wider community, your approach to community support or charity fundraising and how this has supported children’s learning and development.

We want to know what you set out to achieve and the positive impact you had. Did you achieve your community support or fundraising goal? We are looking forward to hearing about your journey.

Are you the next winner for 2026?

ENTRY CRITERIA

Site visit:  No

Type:  N/A

Evidence required:  Yes

Secondary evidence required from finalists : No

Additional criteria / information to upload:

Testimonies from beneficiaries of your community support or charity fundraising, testimonies from staff or parents, photographs to support your evidence.

Guidance for application:

Judges will be looking for a clear description of your work in this area and the benefit for your community. Set out the process you went through to identify specific support or fundraising and why you chose to help? What impact were you looking to achieve for your community? How did it come about? How did you get all staff on board? Clearly describe any involvement the children have played alongside any support you received from parents and other local groups. Describe the positive impact this has had on all your stakeholders so far (this may include individual testimonies, case studies or images). Explain the legacy that your project has had, this may include empowering others, an increase in confidence, improved support in the community etc. Include additional information to support your entry, for example, testimonials and photographs.

Secondary evidence required from finalists:

Further details may be sought from finalists to support their entry.

The Excellence in Additional Needs Award looks at the setting's role in meeting the needs of children with additional needs, and your approach to upskilling your team. How do you ensure successful outcomes and make a positive difference for children and families with additional needs?

Could you be the winner for 2026?

ENTRY CRITERIA

Entries are open to all settings offering support to children and families with additional needs.

Site visit:  No

Type: N/A

Evidence required: Yes

Secondary evidence required from finalists: No

Additional criteria / information to upload:

Testimonies from parents and external professionals.

Guidance for application

Provide specific examples of how you have supported children and families, how you upskill your whole staff team, how you support your coordinator and the strategies you use to ensure successful outcomes for children and families with additional needs. Share details of when you may have gone above and beyond for a child or family, or tried a new initiative that has made a positive difference to others. Describe how you share knowledge and best practice to improve and develop your practice.

Secondary evidence required from finalists:

Further details may be sought from finalists to support their entry.

This award is open to all nursery providers. Tell us about the strategies you use to develop authentic relationships with families.

ENTRY CRITERIA

Site visit:  No

Evidence required:  Yes

Secondary evidence required from finalists : Yes

Guidance for application:

Tell us how you develop authentic relationships with families, give examples of creative ways you have engaged families, particularly those who may be considered ‘hard to reach’. How have you ensured a high percentage of parents are regularly involved in your day to day activities? How do you ensure families receive meaningful opportunities to be involved in their child’s nursery life? Give full examples, setting out why you chose a specific strategy, what was involved in making it successful and how it has improved engagement for families.

Evidence required from finalists:

Testimonies from families, photographs (Please provide a short description alongside any photo images you add)

ENTRY CRITERIA

Entries are open to early years settings that offer exciting, stimulating outdoor experiences for all children. Tell us how you inspire awe and wonder in children’s everyday play activities.

Site visit:  No

Type:  N/A

Evidence required: Yes

Secondary evidence required from finalists : Yes

Additional criteria / information to upload:

Testimonies from children, staff, parents or other stakeholders, photographs of your outdoor experiences/spaces. Please provide a short description alongside photo images.

Guidance for application:

Describe how you bring magical moments to children, sparking their curiosity and providing awe and wonder experiences. Include examples of how you do this, the range of activities you provide, how staff are inspired and the outcomes of these experiences. Set out how you use children’s interests and fascinations to plan experiences, both in the indoors and out in the natural world.

Secondary evidence required from finalists:

Further details may be sought from finalists to support their entry.

Do you have an outstanding manager who is passionate about childcare and supporting the staff, parents, colleagues, external professionals involved with your setting?

We are looking to hear about remarkable individuals and their journeys in early years, the innovative changes they have made, the positive impact they have had and their drive and inspiration.

ENTRY CRITERIA

Entries are open to anyone working in a day nursery that holds a managerial title and responsibility. This includes: Deputy Manager, General Manager, Nursery Manager, Nursery Director. Entries must be nominated by a colleague within the setting and evidence will need to be provided to support the nomination.

Site visit:  Yes

Type:  Virtual interview for finalists

Evidence required:  Yes

Secondary evidence required from finalists: No

Additional criteria / information to upload:

Testimonies from staff at different level/parents and external stakeholders.

Guidance for application:

Ensure that you provide sufficient depth and description to your examples. Describe specific examples of what your manager has done and the impact of their leadership. Include testimonials and evidence for other stakeholders that demonstrates their key leadership skills and attributes. Include additional information to support your entry, for example, testimonials from parents, staff or other stakeholders.

Secondary evidence required from finalists:

Further details may be sought from finalists to support their entry.

The Children’s Rights Award is back! After the success of our very first Children’s rights award in 2025, we have refreshed the award to bring it back to members in Scotland this year. It is designed to highlight the best of rights-based practice in Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland.

ELC settings are already champions of children’s rights and we want to celebrate your contribution to realising these rights on a daily basis. We want to showcase all the fabulous work you are doing!

If you takes a rights-based approach and children are aware of their rights, then nominate your setting!

The award is open to all NDNA Scotland member nurseries.

The winner will be announced at an NDNA Talk Scotland event in March 2026.

ENTRY CRITERIA

Who is eligible?

All Scotland member settings – nominations can come from practitioners, room leaders, deputy managers, managers, owners. (You would expect the nursery to get ‘Good’ or above in their latest Care Inspectorate inspection grading).

The setting must be a member of NDNA Scotland.

Evidence you'll require: 

• Submitted as word documents, pdfs, jpegs etc
• We will consider 5 single a4 sheets as supporting evidence for your application so please consider this carefully when submitting All photographs provided must include a short narrative.
  
• No more than 5 to be uploaded

A strong application would include the voice of the children in your setting throughout.

Our Network of the Year award is open to all NDNA Networks. If you’re part of an NDNA network that makes a positive contribution to progress within the nursery sector, then nominate your network group now!

ENTRY CRITERIA

Nominations may be made by any member(s) of that network.

Site visit:  No

Type:  N/A

Evidence required:  No

Secondary evidence required from finalists: No

Guidance for application:

Ensure that you provide sufficient depth and description to your examples. Provide specific examples of how the network has made a difference to local providers and the impact this has made. Include testimonials and evidence for other stakeholders that demonstrates why they are worthy of winning this award.

Secondary evidence required from finalists:

Further details may be sought from finalists to support their entry.

Are you NDNA’s Nursery of the Year? We would love to hear from you! This prestigious award celebrates the ultimate success for early years settings who have gone above and beyond.

Three regional (North of England, Central England, South of England), two national (Scotland and Wales) and one overall winner are awarded. Encourage your parents or carers to vote for you and your nursery.

All Nursery of the Year finalists will be visited or interviewed by an early years adviser who will compile a report for the judging panel.

ENTRY CRITERIA

All Nursery of the Year finalists will be visited or interviewed by an NDNA Early Years Adviser who will compile a report for the judging panel.

The regions are defined as:

• North of England
• Central England
• South of England
• Scotland
• Wales
• International
• With one overall winner being awarded.

The regions are defined below:

North of England (southern boundary) - South Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and Lancashire

Central England (northern/southern boundary) – Norfolk, Suffolk, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Birmingham, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire, South Lincolnshire

South of England (northern boundary) - Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex.

Scotland – all areas

Wales – all areas

International - all nurseries outside of the UK

Please visit the event Terms and Conditions for map of defined areas.

Site visit: Yes

Type: Onsite visits for finalists/virtual for international settings

Evidence required: Yes

Secondary evidence required from finalists: No

Additional criteria/information to upload:

• Testimonies/photographic evidence
• Type of provision – nursery, pre-school, forest school, childminder etc.
• Number and age of children
• Number of staff. Percentage of staff qualified to L3. Percentage of staff qualified at graduate level
• Most recent inspection rating (if applicable)
• Details of any quality improvement schemes such as Quality Counts, Millie’s Mark, Investors in People, Healthy Eating Awards etc.

Guidance for application:

Share the impact of what you are doing for children. Describe specific elements of your practice to show how you provide a high quality experience for all children and families. Give specific examples, with details for questions 1-5 demonstrating how you meet each, for example, question 3 – tell us what parents wanted to change and describe what you did to meet their wishes. Specific examples enable the judges to understand your ethos and how you work in your daily practice. Include additional information to support your entry, for example, testimonials and photographs.

Is there a practitioner in your nursery who is the Practitioner of the Year 2026? Tell us why you think the practitioner is outstanding, how they have made a difference, and why they should win NDNA Practitioner of the Year.

ENTRY CRITERIA

Entries are open to anyone working in an early years setting whose typical environment is the nursery floor. This includes: Room Leader, Senior Practitioner, Practitioner, Assistant etc. Entries must be nominated by a manager or colleague and evidence will need to be provided to support the nomination.

This award is nominated by the nursery manager and voted for by parents.

Site visit: Yes

Type : Virtual interview for finalists

Evidence required : Yes

Secondary evidence required from finalists : No

Additional criteria / information to upload:

Testimonies from colleagues/parents/other stakeholders

Guidance for application:

Describe how and why you think the practitioner is worthy of winning this award over all other practitioners. Describe specific examples for the panel to review. Have they gone above and beyond for a child or family? Have they brought a fresh perspective or new idea to the daily practice? Have they led on a specific area of practice or supported a colleague? Describe their dedication to supporting children. Include additional information to support your entry, for example, testimonials from parents, colleagues, etc.

Secondary evidence required from finalists:

Further details may be sought from finalists to support their entry.

Tell us why you think an apprentice in your setting is outstanding, how have they made a difference and why they should win NDNA Apprentice of the Year. This apprentice should be fresh to the sector, within two years of starting their career in early years.

We want to hear about their outstanding achievements, incredible contributions and their aspirations for a long and rewarding career in early years.

ENTRY CRITERIA

This award is nominated by the Nursery Manager.

Site visit:  Yes

Type: Virtual interview for finalists

Evidence required:  Yes

Secondary evidence required from finalists: No

Additional criteria / information to upload:

Testimonies from parents, manager and training provider.

Guidance for application:

Describe how and why you think they are worthy of winning this award over all other apprentices. Provide specific examples of their practice, skills and knowledge for the panel to review. Have they gone above and beyond for a child or family? Have they brought a fresh perspective or new idea to the daily practice? Have they led on a specific area of practice or supported a colleague? Describe their dedication to supporting children. Include additional information to support your entry, for example, testimonials from parents or training provider.

Secondary evidence required from finalists:

Further details may be sought from finalists to support their entry