A daycare website parents can trust
Parents choosing childcare are deciding who looks after their child for most of the week. They check ages, hours, fees and availability, then look hard for signs of trust: staff, inspection results, routines, policies. A daycare website's job is to earn that trust honestly and lead to a visit or a waiting list place.
The practical facts first
Parents usually rule settings in or out on practical grounds before anything else. Put these on the homepage or one click away:
| Fact | What to say |
|---|---|
| Ages | The youngest and oldest ages you take, and how rooms are grouped |
| Hours | Opening and closing times, sessions offered, and the weeks of the year you're open |
| Fees | Daily or session fees, what's included (meals, nappies, trips), and any funded hours you accept |
| Availability | Whether you have places now, and for which ages and days |
| Location | Address, drop-off parking, and the nearest bus or station |
Fees are the question many settings avoid and parents ask most. If funding rules or government schemes affect what parents pay, explain how they apply in plain words and link to the official guidance. The setting is responsible for its own fee and funding wording.
The people and the day
After practicalities, parents want to picture their child's day. Describe the daily routine for each age group: arrival, play, outdoor time, meals, naps, activities and home time. Show the menu or describe the food approach, how allergies and dietary needs are handled, and whether meals are cooked on site. Introduce the manager and room leaders with their qualifications and how long they've been with you; staff stability matters a great deal to parents.
Inspection reports and policies
- Inspection report. Link to your latest official report on the inspector's own site, with the date. Don't paraphrase the grade in a way the report doesn't support.
- Registration. Your registration number with the childcare regulator.
- Key policies. Safeguarding, sickness and exclusion, behaviour, settling in, collection by other adults, and complaints. Short summaries on the site with the full documents available on request.
- Ratios and staffing. How you staff each room, described in line with your local rules.
Photos of children
Generic stock photos of smiling toddlers look like every other nursery and say nothing. Photos of your real rooms, garden and activities are far more convincing, but children's images need care: use only photos you have written consent for, prefer images where children aren't identifiable (hands at work, backs of heads, rooms set up for the day), and never name children. Anticode's design engine can also use a curated photo library with written alt text, which works for generic texture but not to show your setting.
Visits and the waiting list
Most parents visit before applying. A visit can be booked from Anticode's booking calendar: it shows the coming days, takes one booking per slot and refuses dates in the past or more than 120 days ahead, with the parent's name, phone and email, at one of six fixed times (Mondays skipped). You confirm by phone and agree who they'll meet.
Places for babies and popular days often fill months ahead, so a waiting list matters. A waitlist form asks for the parent's details, the child's date of birth or due date, the start date wanted, days and sessions required, and whether siblings attend. Separate fields need a custom form tied to a site function (up to 30 text fields) or an app-built form, and both send through Anticode's form pipeline. Because the form collects details about children, the site can't be published until the account owner and the person publishing have two-factor sign-in on. Submissions are sealed at rest, and the last 200 reads, exports and deletes are logged.
Mistakes generic childcare sites make
- Bright cartoon fonts throughout, which can read as unprofessional to parents checking safety.
- No fees, no hours and no availability, only "contact us".
- Invented quotes from parents, or an inspection grade with no link to the report.
- Photos of children without clear consent.
Building it with Anticode
Describe the setting in a sentence: "a day nursery in Leeds for children from 3 months to 5 years, open 7.30 to 6, with visit booking and a waiting list". The Architect asks up to three questions and plans pages such as About, Pricing, Book and Contact. Playful (Fredoka) can work if kept restrained; Organic (Figtree) gives a warm, calm look many parents respond to. Anticode drafts a Privacy Policy from what the forms collect, which you should check against the rules for children's data where you are.
Limits
- No parent portal, daily diaries, photos or invoices for enrolled families.
- No waiting list management: positions, offers and acceptances are tracked by you.
- No funding or invoicing calculations.
- No calendar sync for visits.
Questions people ask
Should a nursery put its fees on the website?
Yes. Daily or session fees, what's included and how funded hours apply answer the question parents ask most.
Can parents join a waiting list on the website?
Yes, through a waitlist form. Submissions are saved securely and emailed to you; you manage the list and offers yourself.
Can I show photos of the children?
Only with written parental consent, and preferably in ways where children can't be identified. Never name them.