Effective supervision can give staff an opportunity to reflect on their practice, explore any worries or concerns they may have about the welfare of children in the provision and contribute towards developing confident and competent staff groups, through the use of support and coaching techniques. All of these are known to be important in establishing safe organisations, promoting the interests of children, where they are safeguarded from harm.
Supervision is a statutory requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Guidance for Group and School Based Providers (2025) and should:
“Provide opportunities for staff to:
• Discuss any issues – particularly concerning children’s development or well-being, including child protection concerns.
• Identify solutions to address issues as they arise.
• Receive coaching to improve their personal effectiveness” 3.35, EYFS 2025
For a provision to have ‘Met’ the Safeguarding’ key area of Ofsted’s Early Years Inspection Toolkit (2025), leaders must ‘ensure that supervision, support and monitoring of adults are appropriate,’ (Early years inspection toolkit pg. 8).
You can access more information around supervision in the early years below, including a toolkit and template to help managers and leaders with the supervision of staff.