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…
LEYF News and CEO Blog
Read the latest news and updates from our CEO and the wider LEYF team.
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…
Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013) The Embodiment of Great Leadership
“A leader. . .is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are…
Will the Chancellor become the Fairy Godmother to Cinderella Childcare on Thursday?
What is important about Thursday? Well, it’s the Chancellor’s autumn statement. I wonder whether he will still need to rely on the bursts of fast food energy which got him…
Stonehenge, Farms and Icebergs: Developing Successful Growth Strategies
I am rarely found up at 6am on a Saturday unless I am on my way back from some lively event but this Saturday I headed off to Paddington Farm…
Will Technology Based Networks Lead to a New Age of Enlightenment and an Early Years Wiki?
Last week was a week of networks and networking. On Wednesday I was at an event organised by the Social Business Trust (SBT.) It was called ‘Social…
Come and Celebrate ‘Creative Connections’ at our Event this Thursday
Some weeks are pretty gloomy but this one had some really lovely highlights. The first was midweek when I gave a keynote speech to Essex County Council…
Next steps in The #OfstedBigConversation
DISCLAIMER:(!) I know that today is not my usual ‘blog day’ but we wanted to pass on the latest developments with Ofsted. Normal blog service will resume on Monday… …
Welcome to the Institute of Early Years: A Global Portal Connecting EY Colleagues – Help us shape it to meet your interests
For the past year, a small group of us have been mulling over how to create an international open-source space which connects people involved in all aspects of Early Years…
An Early Years Conference – A platform for play and a good craic!
It’s been a while since I attended a two day conference where I could participate. My recent pattern has been to attend a conference as a presenter and if possible…
First Thoughts on June’s #EYManifesto : Let’s start the Next Big Conversation
We have just had the party conferences and watched as each party started to position itself in readiness for the next election. They are all hard at work shaping their…
Fly Me To the Moon….’Dunoon!’
It was a good omen when we were told our plane to Glasgow was a long haul plane and we would be upgraded to business class. As this was my…
The London Men in Childcare Network Wins its First Award
Yesterday I woke up late, nursing a heavy head; a combination of a rotten head cold, three glasses of red wine (that’s one too many for me!) and dancing into…
Ofsted want to join the Big Conversation; so let the mediation begin…
The sector met last weekend and everyone uploaded their solutions onto the #OfstedBigConversation website. They also kindly sent their feedback to me and I was amazed at…