🎓 The JLK Academy · For qualified practitioners
The CPD investment that stays with you
Most nursery groups talk about CPD. This page shows you exactly what ours looks like — 6 academies, 75+ courses, observed practice tasks with countersigned sign-off, monthly peer observations, weekly recognition. Read on before you apply. If it looks like the kind of place you'd grow, we'd love to hear from you.
Apply — 2 min to send6 academies · 75+ courses · structured career growth
Every practitioner at JLK has access to all six academies. Statutory + practice + inclusion + parent experience + leadership + business. Room-leader-and-above roles unlock the leadership and business tiers.
Core Compliance
16 courses · Foundation → Silver
Safeguarding, Prevent, first aid, medication, allergen, fire, GDPR, safe sleep, infection control, emergency drills. Statutory but taught with the JLK "why" behind every rule.
Early Years Excellence
24 courses · Foundation → Silver
The EYFS Masterclass (12 modules), the JLK Voice (how we speak to children), behaviour as communication, communication & language, observation, schemas, sustained shared thinking.
SEND & Inclusion
8 courses · Foundation → Silver
Early identification, the graduated approach, EHCP process, working with the SENCo, communication strategies, sensory profiles, EAL families.
Parent Experience
15 courses · Foundation → Master Trainer
The Tour Excellence pathway — from the JLK welcome to the follow-up call. Every practitioner learns the fundamentals; room leaders and above go deeper.
Leadership
7 courses · Silver → Master Trainer
For room leaders, deputies, and managers. Coaching staff, difficult conversations, performance management, multi-site leadership, Ofsted readiness, staff wellbeing.
Business Excellence
6 courses · Gold → Master Trainer
For area managers, operations, and future setting owners. Occupancy KPIs, staff retention, P&L basics, recruitment pipeline, scaling, AI in operations.
The career pathway — 6 levels, clear steps between each
Every practitioner knows exactly what course, practice task, and observed hours stand between them and the next tier. No guessing. No "when it feels right". Structured, visible, earned.
What makes JLK's CPD different
Ticking a box on a course is easy. Actually changing your practice is hard. JLK is built to make the second thing the point.
🎯 Practice tasks — countersigned by a room leader, manager, or director
Every major course (safeguarding, first aid, behaviour, medication, EYFS Masterclass anchors, tour excellence) ends with an on-the-job practice task. You do it in your real day. Someone at the tier above watches. They countersign. It lands on your training record as observed practice — real Ofsted-grade evidence, not paper.
👥 Monthly peer observations — learn from your colleagues
On the 1st of each month, the system pairs you with someone else at your site and gives you a focus (transitions, the JLK Voice, play & curiosity, handovers, behaviour moments, room setup). You shadow each other, debrief privately. The highest-leverage CPD in early years — and almost no one does it structurally.
💭 4-week impact reflections
28 days after every course, you get a nudge: "How has this shown up in your practice?" Two minutes to write. Lands on your CPD record as evidence of practice change. Ofsted's actual question, answered by design.
🌱 Weekly recognition digest
Every Friday, if you've earned it, an email lands: "Here's what you did this week at JLK — the small wins that added up." Praise dies in most workplaces. Here it reaches you personally.
☕ Monthly 15-min 1:1 with your manager
Once a month, both you AND your manager get a nudge with 3 rotating conversation prompts. The chat is 15 min, private, and nothing is recorded. The point: once a month, someone with time asks how you're doing.
🗣️ Ask a director — anonymous line straight to the founders
If something comes up you can't say through your line manager, you can say it directly to the JLK founders — anonymously. Read personally by the owners. That channel is on this from day one.
👋 30/60/90-day check-ins during your first quarter
Structured private reflection at each milestone + a nudged 15-min conversation with your manager. The 90-day one is the honest one — "What has JLK NOT done well by you?" — because that's the moment we can course-correct together if something isn't right.
What your first 90 days would look like
Structured, sequenced, and designed to make you feel supported — not thrown in.
Safety non-negotiables
- Foundation Safeguarding — the JLK 4Rs
- Paediatric First Aid awareness
- Safe Sleep (if baby room)
- Fire safety — your route
- Anaphylaxis + choking drill
The JLK ethos
- 🗣️ The JLK Voice (START HERE)
- Foundation EYFS
- Behaviour as Communication
- Communication & Language
- SEND Foundation
- Observation & next steps
- 30-day check-in
Deepen + specialise
- First observed practice tasks countersigned
- Buddy pairing with a JLK mentor
- First monthly 15-min 1:1
- First peer observation pairing
- 60-day check-in
Own your growth
- Career conversation — where do you want to be in 2 years?
- Full CPD portfolio started
- First 4-week reflection cycle complete
- 90-day check-in — the honest one
If this looks like the kind of place you'd grow
We're always looking for practitioners who care about children the way we do. Apply below — 2 minutes of your time, and we come back to you within a week. If we're not the right fit right now, we'll say so honestly.
Apply now →