The room has to be safe before the first child arrives. That window between unlocking the door and the first parent at the gate is short, and it carries a lot. Heating, a sweep of the garden for anything left overnight, the fridge holding expressed milk at the right temperature, fire exits clear, the register ready. An EYFS daily risk assessment template turns that scramble into a calm, repeatable routine that any practitioner can run, not just the manager who knows where everything is.
This is the checklist that sits underneath good early years practice. It covers the opening checks, the nappy changing record, the daily risk assessment itself, first aid, and cleaning. It exists so the same standard is met on a quiet Tuesday and on the morning two staff are off sick. Below is what good looks like, the full content you can use today, and where the law actually sits.
What good looks like
Good nurseries do not rely on memory. They run the same opening sweep every day, in the same order, and they write it down. The point of recording is not the paperwork. It is that a gap becomes visible. If the garden check was missed, the blank line shows it before a child finds the broken fence panel.
The common failure points are predictable. Fridge and freezer temperatures drift over a weekend and nobody logs the Monday reading. A medication is given but the second-staff signature is missing. The garden gets a glance rather than a walk, and a discarded vape or a section of loose decking sits there until someone trips. Nappy changing slips into a quick verbal handover instead of a written record, so when a parent asks how many changes their child had, nobody can say.
An Ofsted inspector is not looking for thick folders. They are looking for evidence that risk is assessed continuously and that staff understand why each step matters. They will watch a nappy change and check it follows your own procedure. They will ask a practitioner what they do if a child has a fever. They will look at whether ratios are held across the whole day, including drop-off, pick-up and staff breaks, not just on paper at 9am. The setting that does well is the one where the routine is lived, and the record simply reflects it.
Daily opening checks
Run these before any child is admitted to the room.
- Unlock and disarm. Confirm heating and ventilation are working and the room is at a comfortable temperature.
- Walk the full premises. Check every room you will use, the entrance, stairs and corridors for trip hazards, spills and anything left out overnight.
- Walk the garden or outdoor space. Look for litter, animal fouling, broken equipment, standing water, loose fencing and unlocked gates.
- Check all fire exits open and are clear. Confirm fire doors are not wedged and the route to the assembly point is unobstructed.
- Confirm the first aid kit is present, in date and fully stocked.
- Read the fridge and freezer temperatures. Fridge 0 to 5 degrees, freezer at or below minus 18. Log both.
- Check the register and emergency contact details are current and to hand.
- Confirm enough qualified staff are present to meet ratios before the first child is admitted.
Daily risk assessment
The opening sweep is a snapshot. The daily risk assessment is the running judgement across the session.
- Record the date, the rooms and spaces in use, and who carried out the assessment.
- Note the weather and how it changes the day. Hot weather means shade, water and sun cream. Ice means the path is gritted or out of use.
- List any new or temporary hazards. A delivery in the hallway, a visiting contractor, a wet floor after cleaning.
- For each hazard, note who could be harmed and the control you have put in place.
- Confirm window restrictors, stair gates, socket covers and cupboard locks are in place and working.
- Sign off at the end of the session and flag anything that needs the manager.
Nappy changing record
Every change is logged. This protects the child, the staff member and the setting.
- Record the child’s name, the date and the time of each change.
- Note whether it was wet or soiled, and any skin condition such as redness or a rash.
- Record any cream applied, with parental consent on file.
- Confirm the changing mat was wiped with the correct disinfectant before and after, and the area left clean.
- Confirm the staff member washed their hands and the child’s hands.
- Sign the entry. One named practitioner per change.
First aid
- Check first aid kits in every room and the outdoor bag at the start of the day. Restock anything used.
- Confirm at least one staff member with a current paediatric first aid certificate is on site at all times, including outings.
- Keep the accident and incident book accessible. Record any injury, the treatment given, and inform parents the same day.
- Keep the medication record up to date. Two signatures for every dose, written parental consent, correct storage.
- Know which children have allergies or care plans. Keep that information visible to the team, not locked in an office.
Cleaning
- Clean and disinfect tables before and after every meal and messy activity.
- Wash toys and resources on a rota. Mouthed toys go out of circulation and are cleaned before reuse.
- Disinfect changing areas, potties and toilets after each use and on a scheduled deep clean.
- Empty nappy bins daily and keep them lidded and out of children’s reach.
- Keep cleaning products locked away and out of sight at all times.
- Log the deep cleans so you can show the cycle, not just the daily wipe-down.
The law, simply
In England, nurseries work to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, published on gov.uk and the standard Ofsted inspects against. The framework sets the safeguarding and welfare requirements, including the duty to assess risk and to keep children safe.
The part operators ask about most is ratios. The 2025 edition sets minimum staff to child ratios at one adult to three children for under-twos, one to five for two-year-olds, and one to thirteen for children aged three and over where a suitably qualified level 3 practitioner leads the group. These are minimums, not targets. You hold them across the whole day, including breaks and the school run, and you staff above them when a child needs closer support.
The duty is simpler than it sounds. Keep children safe, assess the risks in your setting, put sensible controls in place, and keep enough qualified adults in the room. You can read the full framework on gov.uk. Nothing here replaces it. The checklist just makes the daily side of it easy to run.
Questions operators ask
Do I have to write the risk assessment down every single day? The framework does not prescribe a daily form, but it does require you to assess and manage risk. A short daily record is the simplest way to show you actually did it, and it protects you if something goes wrong. Most settings find the written routine is less work than reconstructing events after the fact.
How long do I keep nappy changing and accident records? Keep accident, incident and medication records securely, and follow your local authority and insurer guidance on retention, which is commonly until the child turns 21 or 25 for some records. Store them so a parent or inspector can be shown the relevant entry on request.
What if I drop below ratio because a staff member is off sick? You cannot admit children you cannot safely staff. Plan cover in advance, keep a list of vetted bank or agency staff, and be ready to limit numbers for the session rather than breach the ratio. An inspector would rather see a setting that closed a room than one that ran it unsafely.
Who can carry out the daily risk assessment? Any competent practitioner you have trained on your procedure. It does not have to be the manager. The strength of a written checklist is that it lets any team member run the same standard.
Does the garden need its own check? Yes. Outdoor space carries its own hazards, from litter and fouling to broken equipment and water. Walk it before children go out, every time, and record it as part of the opening sweep.
Get the pack
The Nursery Pack gives you the whole routine as clean, printable PDFs ready to put on a clipboard tomorrow. You get the EYFS opening checks, the nappy changing record, the daily risk assessment, the first aid checks and the cleaning schedule, all written in plain English a new starter can follow without training.
It is built so the same standard runs whether the manager is in or not. No software, no logins, no monthly fee. Print it, laminate the daily sheets, and bring quiet order to the part of the day that sets the tone for everything after.