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…
The price of leadership: sharing a couch with Robert de Niro
Getting comfy in Noah’s Ark The other morning, I watched The Record , a programme on BBC Parliament which gives a daily run-through of key…
Diamond in the rough: a tale of banks, culture and high performance
Well the bankers are in trouble again. Is it a case of money corrupts? Poor Bob Diamond (former CEO of Barclays Bank). Last year he proudly announced…
LEYF report: NDNA Conference makes trip to ‘Brum’ worthwhile
This was a busy week for Early Years with the announcement of the Government’s Childcare Commission, the publication of the final report from the Nutbrown…
Read your two year-old a bedtime story, and start to slowly peel off the label of disadvantage before it sticks
This week has just disappeared, and that is partly because I had meetings every evening. I was flagging by Thursday and was keen to just go home, put my slippers…
Déjà vu, all over again.
I am a nervous passenger generally, but my anxiety rises to a whole new level when we go on the motorway. My coping mechanism is to work on my…
A lesson from Her Majesty the Queen: be nice, look nice, act nice.
Unsurprisingly, there is not a single LEYF nursery that hasn’t been joining in the Jubilee Celebrations this week in one way or another –…
Mr Mayor, please take an interest in the childcare sector and build a London fit for the next generation
When I started working with children many many years ago, I never envisaged talking about children and the economy in the same breath. These days, I never give it a…
Parents finally get what they deserve: free text alerts and relationship advice (well, it’s a start)
Clearly everyone thinks parents have lost the ability to parent, but don’t worry – the Government which so despises the nanny state is rushing to save parents everywhere: Parents are…
The Queen, the Prime Minister, the Mayor and three Romans
London has a new Mayor – or a recycled one, depending on your point of view. Boris cycled back into office with a much…
Cultural capital. The secret ingredient at the heart of effective early intervention.
Two ever-popular and increasingly connected topics of debate, child poverty and social mobility have been high on my own agenda this week. Starting on Monday…
Leadership elections or popularity contest, you decide.
On Friday, I was delighted to be able to give the keynote speech to the staff of Rainbow Trust, a children’s charity led by their energetic and…
Be Prepared: 100 Days and counting… and don’t forget the torch.
On Wednesday this week we hosted the sector’s first ever Pan London Olympic strategy meeting. It was our way of helping London’s childcare industry consider how it…