Quality Early Years Achieved ISO 27001 Certification and Saved 200+ hrs with SecureSlate

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COMPANY
Quality Early Years

LOCATION
London, UK

INDUSTRY
EdTech

22 employees

PRODUCT USED

SecureSlate ISO 27001

“SecureSlate provided incredible support beyond just helping us achieve ISO 27001 certification. They also guided us on the most effective strategies for building a strong foundation of data privacy and security.”

Catherine, Director at Quality Early Years

THE COMPANY

Transforming early childhood education through secure technology

Quality Early Years was established to transform early childhood education through innovative technology. The UK-based organization combines research-backed methodologies with user-friendly platforms to enhance learning experiences, foster engagement, and support educators and parents.

Their innovative approach integrates cutting-edge digital tools with traditional early years education, helping nurseries throughout the UK provide stronger educational foundations while making learning interactive and fun. With a team of 22 dedicated employees based in London, Quality Early Years has successfully implemented their technology across numerous nurseries, demonstrating their commitment to improving early childhood education.

Catherine initially founded the organization to enhance educational outcomes for young children. However, as their digital platform gained adoption, her role expanded to include data protection and information security leadership. Quality Early Years handles sensitive personal data of children, and Catherine quickly recognized the critical importance of robust security measures in establishing trust with parents and regulatory bodies.

‍THE CHALLENGE

Using ISO 27001 certification to demonstrate security commitment

To address their initial security concerns, Quality Early Years had implemented basic safeguarding practices across their network of nurseries. This helped establish foundational protection measures but wasn’t sufficient to formally demonstrate their security commitment.

As their digital platform expanded, Catherine realized that without proper ISO 27001 certification, proving their security posture to parents and regulatory bodies would require more time and effort. The organization needed to formalize their security practices, especially considering the sensitive nature of children’s data.

“Ensuring the utmost security for the sensitive personal data of the children in our care is our top priority. However, the prospect of dealing with the complexities of ISO 27001 and implementing all the necessary policies and procedures across our network of nurseries felt like a daunting task.”

Catherine
Director at Quality Early Years ‍

Catherine found herself dedicating significant time to researching ISO 27001 requirements while trying to manage implementation with limited resources. She realized early on that Quality Early Years needed expert guidance and that it was unfeasible for her team to dedicate months to understanding and implementing the comprehensive framework. Choosing a compliance automation platform to work with was an obvious, resource-efficient next step for Catherine.

‍THE SOLUTION

SecureSlate, the fastest and most straightforward path to ISO 27001

Catherine began exploring compliance solutions and ultimately chose SecureSlate due to its education sector expertise and experience working with organizations of similar size. A key deciding factor was SecureSlate’s understanding of the unique security challenges faced by organizations handling children’s data — Catherine knew that implementation approaches vary across industries, so SecureSlate’s experience with EdTech startups was crucial.

The user-friendly interface of SecureSlate proved invaluable for Quality Early Years. They were able to navigate the platform easily despite having limited technical security expertise, and with the help of their dedicated SecureSlate expert, they mapped out a clear implementation path that broke down the intimidating framework into manageable steps.

Quality Early Years appreciated how SecureSlate helped translate their existing safeguarding practices into formal ISO 27001 policies and procedures. “SecureSlate made it easy to see where we stood with our compliance efforts,” said Catherine. “The dashboard showed us exactly what areas we needed to focus on, making the whole process feel much less overwhelming.” The platform’s customizable templates and guidance allowed them to adapt standard security controls to the specific needs of their nurseries, considering everything from digital data protection to physical security.

THE IMPACT

Accelerated certification and significant time savings

After implementing SecureSlate, Quality Early Years achieved ISO 27001 audit readiness in less than 4 weeks — significantly faster than anticipated. The audit process, supported by the well-organized documentation and clear procedures established through SecureSlate, proceeded smoothly. Quality Early Years received their ISO 27001 certification shortly after completion.

With SecureSlate, Catherine and her team saved an estimated 200+ hours of valuable administrative time by streamlining complex requirements and documentation processes. This allowed their staff to remain focused on their core mission: providing exceptional care and education to young children. They’ve seen the tangible benefits of expediting their certification process through SecureSlate, using their ISO 27001 status to reassure parents and regulatory bodies about their commitment to data security.

‍“SecureSlate removed the feeling of being lost. The platform was straightforward, the support fantastic, and we always knew what to do. It allowed us to achieve high security and provided certification in just a week after completion.”

Catherine
Director at Quality Early Years