Across the UK 2026-27
Throughout 2026-27 I (James) will be touring the country delivering 'Mini Purposeful Provision Conferences.' These more intimate events have fewer tickets available but pack all the punch of a proper conference. Delegates can expect a goodie bag, work book, lanyard (everyone wants one of those!) and super high quality content.
These conferences have been booked with local communities at their heart. I deliberately sought out Early Years settings and public spaces so that venue hire fees go straight back into local communities rather than commercial chains.
I’ve tried to cover as much of the UK as possible for this first run. If your region isn't on the list yet—such as Scotland, where we weren't able to secure a space to rent this time—more dates are coming. I will be running further events next academic year to reach the areas we couldn't fit in this time around, including Northern Ireland and the South East of England.
A half-day conference on designing and delivering a highly personalised curriculum-led provision.
This conference provides a practical, research-informed model for Early Years leaders and practitioners who choose to deliver their curriculum through continuous provision. Rather than relying on generic activity setups or external social media trends, the Purposeful Provision model connects your curriculum intentions directly to physical environment design, local cohort culture, and the authenticity of each child. Across three practical parts, we examine how to build a setting-specific curriculum, restructure room layouts into consolidated provision zones, and extend learning in age-appropriate ways.
Part 1: Curriculum & Culture
Curriculum Foundations: Designing a personalised approach to knowledge, skills, and dispositions grounded in your setting's specific culture.
Play Diet & Funds of Knowledge: Identifying the skills, routines, and pop-culture experiences children inherit from home, and using them as group currency in play.
Cultural Mismatch & Play Nostalgia: Examining how practitioners' own upbringings shape their expectations of play, and addressing symbolic violence when home cultures are excluded.
Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Doors: Balancing familiar contexts (Mirrors) with new experiences (Windows) to lower barriers to complex problem-solving.
The Unseen Curriculum: Mapping the Implicit (what we do), Null (what we leave out), and Hidden (social rules caught by children) curricula.
Part 2: Continuous Provision
Provision as Curriculum Delivery: Structuring continuous provision as the physical vehicle used to teach your curriculum intentions.
Form vs. Function: Evaluating room resources through the litmus test: "It looks good, but is it adding anything to the learning?"
Open-Ended Resources & Affordance Theory: An interactive session exploring the power of open-ended materials for learning.
Areas, Zones, or No Label at All? Exploring how to choose areas that match your curriculum intent.
Part 3: Enhancements
Schemes to Complex Operations: Tracking how individual physical schemes (trajectory, rotation, containing) cluster over time into multi-step domestic and mechanical routines.
The 4-Question Framework: Dissecting play in real time using a 4-question framework.
The 1-Variable Shift Rule: Enhancing play by changing a single data point to bridge the familiar to the unfamiliar without breaking cognitive flow.
It delivers the ambition of a major event – a big room, high-impact ideas, delegate lanyards, goodie bags, and every session delivered directly by James – with the collaborative feel of an intimate workshop. You will sit alongside peers, share real experiences, and learn from one another in an environment built for genuine connection rather than passive listening.
It is a lot of content - I know that. But it has been designed deliberately so you leave with high-impact knowledge on the day, along with a comprehensive workbook to take back to your setting. That way, you can take the time to think through the ideas properly and plan real, lasting changes that add genuine impact.
You can find your local event below.
If you'd like to order multiple tickets or pay by invoice please email your order directly to admin@nurserynook.co.uk Make sure you include the following details:
Location of event, name of attendees, name and email address of finance department (if paying by invoice) and any Purchase order number (if known or needed).