Supporting early years, every step of the way
Working alongside you to make things simpler, stronger and more manageable.
How can we support you?Real support for real settings — no judgement, no jargon, no pretending to know everything.
What's happening in your setting right now?
A child may need some additional support with their behaviour
We help you look beyond the behaviour, understand what may be driving it, and put practical strategies in place.
Read moreI'd like guidance on supporting a member of staff
Support with expectations, supervision, difficult conversations, performance and next steps.
Read moreI need SEND support
Help with provision, evidence, SENCO support, SENIF applications and writing requests for EHC needs assessments.
Read moreI'd like some expert safeguarding support
Knowledge checks, staff support, policy understanding and practical safeguarding discussion.
Read moreI'd like help with my next steps after Ofsted
Practical support to understand what happened, what needs to change and what to tackle first.
Read moreI don't know which of these I need
That's fine. Start with Ask Alongside and we'll help you work it out together.
Ask AlongsideYou don't always need a full consultancy package.
Sometimes you just need an experienced person to listen to what's happening and help you work out the next step.
Ask Alongside
Short, affordable support when you need another pair of experienced eyes.
Ask AlongsideWhy Alongside?
Real Early Years experience
We understand the pressures because we've lived them.
No judgement
Settings don't have to be perfect before they ask for help.
No overwhelming action plans
We help you work out what matters most first.
No pretending to know everything
If something needs specialist legal, clinical or other professional advice, we'll tell you.
SEND support that starts with the child
You know the child. We help you put it into words.
EHCP writing • SENIF applications • evidence reviews • SENDCO support • provision reviews • parent conversations • practical strategies
Had a difficult Ofsted?
You don't have to wait until everything is fixed before asking for help. We can help you understand the inspection outcome, identify priorities and build a realistic improvement plan — without making your team feel even more overwhelmed.
Support shouldn't be out of reach
Not every problem requires a full-day consultant. That's why Alongside offers everything from affordable resources and short support calls to setting visits and ongoing support. From quick questions to bigger challenges — choose the level of help you actually need.
Quick resources
Ready-made guidance and templates you can use straight away.
Ask Alongside calls
A short, affordable conversation with an experienced pair of eyes.
Setting visits
On-site support to see what's happening and work through it together.
Ongoing support
Longer-term consultancy for bigger challenges and lasting change.
Ruth
Rebecca
Meet Ruth & Rebecca
We created Alongside because we know what it feels like to run Early Years settings, and wished there was someone approachable to ask when things got difficult.
We're not here to tell you everything you're doing wrong. We're here to help you work out what to do next.
Meet us