Protect children. Strengthen practice. Keep your knowledge current.
Young children learn through play, touch and close contact. These everyday experiences are essential for their development, but they also create opportunities for infections to spread.
This CPD-accredited online course gives Early Years practitioners, childminders and managers the practical knowledge needed to reduce infection risks, respond appropriately when someone becomes unwell and embed effective infection-control routines throughout their setting.
The course is suitable for learners across the UK. Learners should follow the current national and local guidance that applies to their service.
For Scottish settings, the course has been updated to reflect Public Health Scotland’s dedicated Health Protection for Early Years Childcare Settings, version 1.0, published on 27 August 2026.
What This Course Covers
Learners will explore:
- How infections spread in Early Years environments.
- The chain of infection and how transmission can be interrupted.
- Effective handwashing and respiratory-hygiene routines.
- Supporting children to develop positive hygiene habits.
- Cleaning, disinfection and safe management of shared resources.
- Appropriate selection, use and removal of PPE.
- Managing blood, vomit and other bodily-fluid spillages.
- Recognising when a child or adult may be unwell.
- Checking and applying current exclusion guidance.
- Recording and reviewing illness-related absence.
- Recognising possible outbreaks and unusual patterns of illness.
- Knowing when to contact the local Health Protection Team.
- Communicating health-protection information to families.
- Embedding infection prevention through policies, training and monitoring.
The course uses realistic Early Years examples, interactive activities, practical visuals, knowledge checks and reflection tasks to help learners apply their knowledge in the workplace.
Who Is This Course For?
This course is suitable for:
- Nursery and preschool practitioners.
- Childminders and childminding assistants.
- Early Years managers and room leaders.
- Students and volunteers.
- Support staff working in childcare settings.
No previous infection-control qualification is required.
Why Choose This Course?
- Developed specifically for Early Years and childcare environments.
- Updated to reflect current health-protection guidance.
- Includes dedicated guidance for Scottish Early Years services.
- Practical, interactive and accessible on mobile devices.
- Includes realistic workplace scenarios and reflection activities.
- Provides downloadable resources for use in practice.
- Final assessment with an 80% pass mark.
- Instant CPD certificate following successful completion.
- Supports professional learning and inspection preparation.
Certification
Learners who complete the course and achieve the required assessment score will receive a downloadable certificate confirming two hours of CPD.
The certificate can be retained as evidence of professional learning. Employers should also provide setting-specific instruction covering their policies, cleaning products, equipment and reporting arrangements.
Important Information
Health-protection guidance can change. This course teaches learners how to locate and use current official guidance rather than relying solely on saved documents or information remembered from previous training.
The course does not replace advice provided by a local Health Protection Team or the policies and risk assessments of the learner’s workplace.
