Talking Early Years: In conversation with Professor Sam Wass
We’ve Got It the Wrong Way Round I’ve just finished recording a podcast with Professor Sam Wass, and I’m still buzzing. He is Director of the Institute for the…
LEYF News and CEO Blog
Read the latest news and updates from our CEO and the wider LEYF team.
Why Social Enterprises Must Lead the Future of Childcare — And the Wider Social Care Economy
The Government’s Best Start strategy signals an intention to look again at Early Years business models and examine whether they can truly deliver for disadvantaged communities. It is a welcome…
You Cannot Build a Sustainable Future Without Babies
Public debate about sustainability cannot continue to overlook babies and very young children. At the recent Decarbonisation of London conference, I heard many positive proposals for reducing carbon emissions…
Are Babies Too Young for Policy-Driven Childcare?
The Margaret Horn Debate is our annual opportunity to stop, think, and ask what, in the name of children’s education and care, are we really doing? I love this event…
Why Nature Must Matter for Children and Early Years Education
Take a look around– concrete high-rises dominate our skylines, and even the courtyards of upscale developments are often little more than hard brick and stone. Where, then, are children expected…
Good News: Apprenticeships are Back in the Spotlight
All three main parties used their conferences this year to talk about apprenticeships, which is good news for businesses like LEYF where apprentices are the rightful pipeline of future Early…
Talking Early Years: In converation with Catherine Lippe
Why Nursery Chefs Are Our Unsung Food Champions We talk endlessly about phonics, play, and pedagogy in Early Years — but how often do we talk about peas, pulses,…
Baby Talk
While I was at the Labour Party conference last week, I listened to Maya Ellis MP talk about why it was important to establish an APPG for Babies (Pregnancy to…
Talking Early Years: In conversation with Peter Moss
The Early Years as a Political Space Early childhood education is not a neutral or technical service—it is a deeply political space and this is the focus of…
All Change at Ofsted: Come and Hear from the London Team
Ofsted has responded to the Big Listen with changes to how future inspections are conducted. The report findings state that there was: A clear desire for more granular assessments of…
Who Owns the Copyright for Work Created by AI?
As more people turn to AI programmes and all the various free platforms to write summaries, design letters, shape reports, tidy up a set of minutes etc, we have to…
Childcare Expansion: Promise or Mirage?
Yesterday, amid much fanfare, the government announced the start of the expansion of funded childcare hours. It may sound like a win for parents but the reality is far less…
Why We Need More Men in Childcare
A Reflection and Call to Action I’ve long been an advocate for getting more men into childcare (MiC). It simply seems absurd to write off half the human population as…
Stephen Morgan MP visits LEYF Soho Nursery and Pre-School
Minister for Early Education, Stephen Morgan, visits LEYF Soho Nursery and Pre-School to meet the men working in childcare as the government ramps up efforts to grow and diversify the early years workforce.