Innovative staffing solutions for the Education & Childcare Sector.
At Kalendit, we’re on a mission to transform the childcare sector. We create solutions that bring nurseries, educators and families together — making childcare better for everyone.
Our goal? To help create a safe and stimulating environment in which children can thrive — whether they are at home or attending nursery.
Built by people who understood
the problem firsthand.
Federica and Sophie founded Kalendit with a mission: to make childcare a better place for everyone — workers, nurseries, and families.
Federica, with her background in nurseries and staffing agencies, experienced the sector’s challenges first-hand. She saw how the agency model failed everyone it touched — nurseries paying inflated markups, educators earning less than they should, and families left navigating an opaque system. She knew there was a better way.
She teamed up with her friend Sophie, a business and technology journalist, to build the tools the sector had always needed but never had. Together they built Kalendit — not as an agency with a better app, but as a technology platform that removes the middleman entirely.
The model is simple: nurseries and educators deal directly with each other, at a rate they agree, with a platform that handles everything else — compliance, notifications, shift management, payments. What was accepted as just the way things work in early years staffing turned out to be entirely fixable.
Kalendit is now used by circa 300 nurseries and settings across the UK, with over 2,400 educators on the platform. The problem it was built to solve is still very much there. We’re working on it.
The principles that built the platform.
The agency model is a choice, not a given
Nurseries don’t have to pay 40–60% markup on every cover shift. The dependency was built over decades and maintained by habit. Technology can break it — and every nursery that uses Kalendit proves it’s possible.
Educators deserve to keep more of what they earn
When an agency takes a large cut, the educator loses out and the nursery pays more. Removing that middleman isn’t just commercially sensible — it’s the right thing for the people who work with children every day.
Your bank staff are your most underused asset
Most nurseries already have the capacity they need. The problem is visibility. Better technology doesn’t create new capacity — it unlocks the capacity that’s already there.
Compliance shouldn’t be a fire to fight
DBS certificates, qualifications, right-to-work, safeguarding — spread across spreadsheets and filing cabinets isn’t good enough for a sector that works with children. Compliance should be automatic, centralised and searchable.
What being a technology platform
actually means in practice.
| Staffing agency | Kalendit | |
|---|---|---|
| Markup on hourly rate | 40–60% on top of educator pay | 23% published booking fee, plus VAT |
| Who employs the educator | The agency — you deal through them | You deal directly with the educator |
| Transparency of pricing | Often hidden in invoices | Rate agreed before every shift |
| Your bank staff | Not managed — agency fills gaps only | BStaff — your own pool notified first |
| Shift posting hours | Business hours only | 24/7 via the app |
| Compliance documentation | Held by agency — not yours | Centralised, searchable, yours to access |
| Contract or lock-in | Often required | Pay-as-you-go on bookings, no lock-in |
| Temp-to-perm | Recruiter fee — often unpublished until you ask | One published discovery fee, no ongoing cut |
Meet our amazing pack.
A small, focused team who understand the early years sector from the inside.
Join our team and grow with Kalendit.
Ready to make an impact in the early years sector? We’re a small team doing something genuinely new — if that excites you, we’d love to hear from you.
London E8 3PN
Want to see it in action?
Book a 20-minute discovery call and we’ll walk you through exactly how Kalendit works for your setting.
Approved within 24 hours · Pay only on completed shifts
Got a question?
We’ve got the answer.
Everything nurseries and educators need to know about Kalendit — from how the platform works to compliance, pricing and getting started.
No. Kalendit is a workforce management platform — not a staffing agency. We don’t employ the educators, we don’t set the pay rates, and we don’t take a cut of the educator’s hourly pay.
The key difference: an agency profits when you can’t fill shifts yourself. Kalendit gives you the technology to manage your own workforce — and access a vetted educator pool as a safety net, not a first call.
Kalendit serves two groups:
- Nurseries and early years settings — from single-site settings to multi-site groups — who want to manage their bank staff more efficiently and reduce agency spend.
- Nursery educators and childcare assistants — from Level 3 practitioners to nursery assistants without formal qualifications — who want flexible, well-paid childcare work.
Kalendit is UK-based. Shift availability is currently highest in London and the South East, with the network expanding nationally. Nurseries outside this area can still register — and educator availability in their region will grow as the network expands.
The fundamental difference is who benefits when you can’t fill a shift yourself. An agency profits from that gap — the more dependent you are on them, the more they earn. Kalendit inverts that model.
- Agency markup: typically 40–60% on top of educator pay. Kalendit fee: 20–23% transparent platform fee.
- Agency hours: business hours only. Kalendit: 24/7 in-app posting.
- Agency compliance: held by the agency. Kalendit: centralised, searchable, yours.
- Your bank staff: ignored by an agency. On Kalendit: notified first, every time.
For nursery enquiries and demo bookings: use our contact form or book a slot directly in Sophie’s calendar.
For educator support: email ops@kalendit.com — we aim to respond within one business day.
You can also reach us on WhatsApp: +44 7526 594 554
Most nurseries are approved and posting their first shift within 24 hours of submitting their documents. The registration process takes around 15 minutes.
Documents you’ll need:
- Current Ofsted Certificate
- Public Liability Insurance
- Employer Liability Insurance
Yes — Bstaff is included free with every nursery account. It lets you add your existing bank staff to a central pool, notify them automatically when shifts come up, and deploy them across all your sites. They see the shift, accept on the app, and you’re notified instantly.
Your bank staff are always notified first — before any external Kalendit educator. This means they get more hours, and your external spend goes down.
If none of your bank staff can cover, the shift automatically opens to the wider Kalendit educator pool. Every educator in that pool is pre-vetted: DBS-checked, qualifications verified, referenced and safeguarding-trained before their first shift.
You see their full profile — including ratings from previous nurseries — before confirming the booking.
Yes — Kalendit is built for multi-site operators. The group dashboard gives you a single view of shift coverage, educator availability, compliance and spend across all your nurseries. Bank staff can be deployed across sites rather than being siloed within one location, which significantly increases utilisation.
Kido Nurseries — a 20-site group — uses Kalendit and saw 3× more bank staff bookings after switching from their previous fragmented approach.
Yes — with no conversion fee. This is one of the most important differences from a traditional agency. If you’ve worked with an educator through Kalendit and want to offer them a permanent role, you can do so directly and there is no recruiter fee payable to Kalendit.
No. Kalendit is fully pay-as-you-go. You only pay when a shift is confirmed and completed. There’s no subscription, no minimum spend, no lock-in and no notice period. You can pause or stop using the platform at any time.
When posting a shift you select the minimum qualification level required:
- Level 3 or above — qualified practitioner, ratio-qualifying
- Level 2 — ratio-qualifying in most settings
- Nursery assistant — support role, not ratio-qualifying
Only educators who meet or exceed your specified level will see and be able to accept the shift.
No formal qualification is required to apply. Many nurseries on Kalendit need nursery assistants for ratio support, mealtimes and general help — roles that don’t require a Level 2 or 3.
You will need:
- An enhanced DBS check
- Right-to-work documentation
- Two professional or character references
- Paediatric First Aid certificate
You can earn up to £160 per day. The pay rate is agreed between you and the nursery before you accept any shift — you always see what you’ll earn before committing.
Typical rates on the platform:
- Level 3 or above: £13–16/hr depending on setting and location
- Level 2: £11–13/hr
- Nursery assistant: £10–12/hr
Unlike working through an agency, Kalendit does not take a cut from your hourly pay. The fee is paid by the nursery, not deducted from your earnings.
Once you’ve submitted all your documents via the app, our team reviews them — usually within 24 hours. Once approved, you’ll start seeing shifts matching your profile in your feed.
Responding quickly to shift notifications significantly increases the shifts you secure. Having push notifications turned on is essential.
You can create your profile and begin the process, but you’ll need an enhanced DBS before your first shift. We can guide you through applying for one — it typically takes 2–4 weeks to come through.
If you already have a DBS from a previous role, check whether it’s registered on the DBS Update Service — if so, it may be usable immediately.
Yes — many educators on Kalendit have been offered permanent roles by nurseries they’ve worked at through the platform. Nurseries specifically use Kalendit to find reliable practitioners they can hire permanently.
Building a strong rating and becoming a “favourite” at nurseries you work at regularly is the clearest pathway to a permanent offer.
After every completed shift, the nursery rates the educator and the educator rates the nursery. Ratings are out of 5 and visible on profiles.
Educators with higher ratings appear more prominently in shift matching, receive more invitations and are more likely to be marked as “favourites” by nurseries — which means being the first person notified when shifts come up at settings you’ve worked at before.
Payment is processed after each completed and confirmed shift. Payment timing and method are confirmed during your onboarding. If you have a query about a specific payment, contact ops@kalendit.com.
Bstaff is Kalendit’s bank staff management tool, included free with every nursery account. It gives you a central place to manage your own bank staff pool — add them to the platform, notify them when shifts come up, track their compliance, and deploy them across all your sites.
Once your nursery account is approved, you can invite your bank staff to join via email or a shareable link. They download the Kalendit educator app, create their profile and upload their compliance documents. Once approved, they appear in your Bstaff pool and will receive notifications when you post shifts.
Your bank staff are always notified first — before any external Kalendit educator sees the shift.
Yes — this is one of the most impactful features for multi-site groups. When a bank staff member is added to your Bstaff pool, they can see and accept shifts across all nurseries in your group — not just the site where they originally registered.
This means bank staff who weren’t getting enough hours at one site can pick up shifts at a sister site, utilisation increases across the group, and your need for external cover decreases.
Yes. Instead of sending a message to a WhatsApp group and waiting to see who responds, you post the shift in Bstaff. Your bank staff receive an instant push notification, see the shift details and rate, and can accept in one tap. You’re notified the moment someone accepts.
No chasing. No back-and-forth. No calling round at 6:45am.
Yes. Bstaff is included free with every nursery account on Kalendit. You only pay the platform fee (20–23%) when a shift is filled by an external Kalendit educator — not when your own bank staff cover it.
Kalendit charges a platform fee of 20–23% per confirmed, completed shift when that shift is filled by an external Kalendit educator. That’s it. No subscription, no minimum spend, no setup fee, no hidden charges.
Compare that to a typical agency markup of 40–60% on top of the educator’s hourly rate.
You do. When posting a shift, you set the pay rate you’re willing to offer. Educators see this rate before accepting — so if it’s too low, they won’t apply. Competitive rates attract better educators and faster acceptance.
The platform fee (20–23%) is paid by the nursery on top of the educator’s rate. It is not deducted from the educator’s pay.
No. The Kalendit educator app is completely free to download and free to join. Kalendit does not charge educators a fee or take a percentage of their earnings. The platform fee is paid by the nursery, not the educator.
No. The platform fee (20–23%) is the only charge. No subscription, no platform fee, no minimum spend, no cancellation fee, no temp-to-perm conversion fee. What you see when posting a shift is what you pay.
Use our free staffing cost calculator to run the numbers for your setting. Enter your current agency spend, typical shift volume and educator rates — and we’ll show you the saving in real terms.
Every educator on Kalendit must have the following verified before they are approved and visible to nurseries:
- Enhanced DBS check — verified against the DBS Update Service where registered
- Qualifications — Level 2, Level 3, QTS, EYTS or equivalent, verified from certificates
- Right-to-work — UK eligibility confirmed
- Professional references — two references checked
- Paediatric First Aid — current certificate verified
- Safeguarding training — current child protection certificate
Kalendit tracks expiry dates for all compliance documents automatically. Both the educator and your nursery account receive advance notifications when a certificate is approaching expiry. An educator with an expired document is suspended from the platform until the renewal is uploaded and verified.
Yes. All compliance documents for educators who have worked at your setting are stored on the platform and accessible to you at any time. Every shift is logged with the educator’s name, qualifications, DBS status and date — giving you a complete, exportable audit trail.
Educators on Kalendit operate as independent professionals. They are not employed by Kalendit or by the nursery for individual shifts. Nurseries should satisfy themselves as to the employment status implications for their specific circumstances. We recommend seeking appropriate professional advice if you have questions about employment status.
Yes. Kalendit’s Safe Onboarding Policy sets out the checks, verification steps and standards all educators must meet before joining the platform. You can read the policy here.
The nursery management dashboard is browser-based and accessible at live.kalendit.com — no app download required. It works on desktop and mobile browsers. The educator-facing Kalendit app (available on iOS and Android) is for educators only.
The Kalendit educator app is free to download:
- iOS: Download on the App Store
- Android: Get it on Google Play
Yes. The nursery dashboard is fully mobile-responsive. You can post shifts, view availability, confirm bookings and access compliance documents from your phone browser at any time — including at 11pm when someone calls in sick for the morning.
The Scoreapp calculator at kalendit.scoreapp.com helps nursery managers calculate the true cost of their current staffing setup — including the management time overhead, agency markup and hidden costs most managers can’t answer off the top of their head.
It takes under 5 minutes and produces a personalised report showing what you’re currently spending and what you could save with Kalendit.
Yes. Kalendit takes data protection seriously — all data is handled in accordance with UK GDPR. Compliance documents uploaded by educators are stored securely and accessible only to approved nurseries the educator has worked with. You can read our full Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.
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For educator queries — joining, shifts, payments, documents — email our team directly. We respond within one business day.
ops@kalendit.com →Prefer to message? Reach the Kalendit team on WhatsApp for faster responses on urgent queries.
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