Reading documents from the European Commission require some preparation: firstly a cup of tea and a packet of Fig Rolls; secondly some good music (in this case my favourite Sharon Shannon); and finally a comfortable cushion.

As those of you who read this blog (thank you all very much, by the way), I am quite keen on Europe – especially for holidays.  I see myself as a European and I think the OECD has always said very sensible things about children. However, like many others, I have found penetrating the workings of Europe a step too far. We know there is money and opportunities for collaboration out there, but the processes are so dense that even I am dissuaded (willing as I was to trail around Parisian nurseries on a cold Valentine day). However, two things happened recently which give me hope.

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I was going to blog about babies and business which hit the headlines last week – namely how the newly appointed pregnant CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer will not take maternity leave and bring her baby to work, and the CEO of Addison Lee, Liam Griffin wants his staff to be able to bring their babies to work. I only hope the babies like being tucked under desks and that proximity to Mum or Dad is sufficient to constitute good childcare.

However, as London has launched the 30th Olympiad at a fantastical and slightly bonkers opening night, I felt it was only right and patriotic to comment on the Olympics – not least the fabulous efforts of all 23 LEYF nurseries to complete our own ‘Olympic torch’ relay.

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I felt morally obligated to watch the opening ceremony – the only time in my life I have done this.  Like the Eurovision Song Contest, I tend to avoid these big blockbuster affairs as they tend to be jingoistic and mawkishly sentimental (a combination that leaves me feeling slightly nauseous). However, this year I along with 27 million others made do with the TV version. Frankly, I would have preferred to be there, as no doubt the music, lighting, fireworks and atmosphere would have added to the whole experience.  (As it happened, I had a friend who miraculously had got a ticket and gave up to date commentary.)

I really liked the involvement of children, and the focus on them as our next generation of sports people was joyful.  I also loved the Chaos Choir, although at the beginning I did wonder whether we had all arrived in Pandemonium. Indeed if this is the City of Hell, I am going to try harder to get to the Pearly Gates. At least now we know why the NHS is always in trouble; the doctors and nurses are all taking dance classes. (No wonder you can’t find a nurse on the wards to plump up the patients pillows, they are all out the back practising their jazz swings and selling the beds to Danny Boyle’s production company.)

I loved the parade which included 204 countries, some of which were new to me.  In fact it was a bit of a geography lesson, as we heard of newly named free countries and so many from the Pacific Islands. Most touching was the representation from those countries which have recently or currently experienced war, civil unrest, hunger, piracy and environmental disasters. Their ambition to attend was heartening. I really hope they get medals.

And wasn’t it fantastic that we have women in every team for the first time? No more room for complacency on the issue of women’s equality across the globe – and such a great way for us to teach our own children not to be casual about what has been hard won! It reminds me of a great film called The Source made in Morocco recently, where women went on strike from their wifely bedroom duties until the men would get them piped water. It was a modern story but the issues and attitudes went back centuries.

I thought Sebastian Coe’s speech was heartfelt too, as he reminded us of the reason for the Olympics: linking sport with culture and education; celebrating the joy achieved from effort and helping build a better world through sport practised in a spirit of peace, excellence, friendship and respect.  It’s a shame more of the athletes and their organising colleagues did not pay more respect to him by listening instead of jumping around, chewing gum and playing with their phones. Role models for the next generation, I hope not.  If anything, that was much more evident from our friends in the military and the beautiful and orderly formation of a respectful Chelsea Pensioner troop. The behaviour of the 1000 volunteers was also praised and will no doubt bring a tear to David Cameron’s eye, as a little bit of his Big Society dream comes alive in London over the next few weeks.

In the end, the Olympics is here and I wonder how many camp beds we will need at LEYF?  Will we be Happy and Glorious like James Bond or will John Milton’s vision of Pandemonium be the legacy? Let’s hope that many people are touched by the harmony that sport can play in developing our modern society and that those young people who lit the Olympian flame will salute the democratic spirit of the Olympics and reflect it in the way they shape the future.

Unsurprisingly, there is not a single LEYF nursery that hasn’t been joining in the Jubilee Celebrations this week in one way or another – some have even written directly to the Queen to share with her what they’ve been planning!

This fascination with the Queen as Head of State interests me particularly, not least as I come from a Republic. Like so many still today, I have to admit to liking all the incredible pomp and ceremony that Royalty tends to instantly bring to liven up otherwise ‘regular’ events; a parade with State carriages, uniforms of the Horse Guards and all the old fashioned glories of an ancient monarchy is truly a sight to behold. That said, I am probably less accepting of what one Londoner recently described as all the hangers on..

The Queen elicits the respect of so many, partly at least because of her acceptance and application to her duties, described as someone who understands her role and takes it seriously. Bringing a certain gravitas without arrogance or condescension to the role, she is described as warm and friendly – and is certainly able and willing to engage with the public. She also seems humble in the way she accepts her role, and never tries to overstep the mark.

In Ireland the only president that I ever took any interest in was President Mary Robinson (1990 – 1997), our first female President.  She came as a woman who had already got a reputation as a barrister and human rights campaigner, and was widely seen as a transformative figure who revitalised and liberalised a previously conservative, low-profile political office. And her like has never been seen since.

So what can we, as female leaders in other fields, learn from such women, who have so successfully managed to secure the support, attention and respect of the general public? Is it simply that they take their responsibilities seriously? How is this manifested more than with any other leader? When Aspire Leadership recently surveyed more than 300 global business leaders, they found that both men and women alike consider women better leaders. And, perhaps even more surprisingly to the die-hards of the boardroom, it turns out that women with children make the best leaders of all. It surely must come down to those typically ‘female’ behaviours, so once maligned as a woman’s Achilles’ heel in the workplace-behaviours – such as consensus, building, teamwork and clear communication. Hurrah!

As future leaders of our society, I asked some of the little girls in our nurseries what they think of the Queen. Apparently…

She sits on a throne…She is really beautiful…She is really nice…She wears a nice dress…She has a big parties…Lots of people like her.”

Surely a great start for any leader: be nice, look nice and act nice.

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 nation-builders. It’s through love and sheer hard work that we raise the next generation with the right values. That’s why this Government is doing everything possible to support parents.

We’re doing the big, long-term things to make this country stronger for our children – dealing with our debts; having a massive push for better schools; working to create more good, skilled jobs in our economy.

But we’re also focussed on making life easier for parents day-to-day, from extending childcare to increasing the number of health visitors. The parenting classes and films we’re launching this week are an important part of that, providing clear, professionally-led advice on everything from teething to tantrums.”

Prime Minister David Cameron

According to the Government’s Parental Opinion Survey (2010), 85 per cent of parents want more practical help caring for their baby, to provide the best possible start for their children. So, like any good Government, we now have a brand new digital service for parents-to-be and new parents, providing regular emails and texts with timely information as their pregnancy develops and their child grows; free parenting classes to all parents of children aged five years and under in three trial areas, as well as expert organisations to deliver relationship support for first time parents in four trial areas of the country from this summer.

I agree with this in principle, since being a parent is one of the most difficult jobs – unless of course you have been blessed with quiet, acquiescent and compliant children. (I have worked with children for 30 years and haven’t met too many of those.)

Either way, parents are nearly always on the back foot; you just crack a particular habit your child has acquired or a particular obsession, and by the time your techniques have begun to take hold and you are beginning to find a solution that works, they have moved onto the next stage and challenge. My eldest son would only eat if I put him in the pushchair, and then would eat only about ten different foods.  I was at my wits end, trying every ploy, and just as I thought I had got his mealtimes down to a fine art, he changed and was off on something else. I thought that I would be better second and third time around, but not a bit of it; all the habits I had cracked with son number one never materialized with son number two.  He brought a new set of challenges – especially about where he would sleep and how he coped with parting. My daughter then arrived with yet another set of challenges which required a completely different psychology, and although the most amenable and delightful young child, she turned adolescence into a story that could be the basis of a Palme D’Or winning foreign movie.

I like the idea of the parenting vouchers, only I wish what these paid for weren’t called parenting classes.  I think it will put people off, since whilst there’s no denying how hard it is to get parenting right, most people still somehow manage to struggle through and successfully produce the next generation. Putting your hand up to ask for help is very brave, and there may not be enough hands in the air to make the shift from parenting classes as a support to parenting classes as the norm.

The government naturally wants to support strong and stable families, and research clearly shows that the birth of a new child can be a major stress point for couples. Few would disagree, and I suspect more new parents feel able to ask for help at this point than at any other in the long and often bumpy road that is parenthood. And there is of course a collective sympathy from all parents who remember the panic, fear and terror of coping with a tiny mite, compounded only more so by a diet of exhaustion from sleepless nights.

I can therefore only hope that the vouchers, available from Boots, will  help the Government begin a wider conversation which publicly affirms the contribution of all parents to a successful society. Let this approach be as normal as collecting free vitamin drops. But what will it take to get the backing of our wider society to help frame the UK view about what we think needs to be done, and how we must behave as models for our children?

There’s surely been no better time to start thinking about codes of behaviour and expectations; about the rights and needs children have to grow, learn and succeed in a world with clear parameters of good manners, mutual respect, civic duty and humility; a sort of UK take on the Ubuntu philosophy (often referred in simple terms as the ‘essence of being human’). The Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee explained Ubuntu as “I am what I am because of who we all are”, whilst the people of Botswana define it as a process for earning respect by first giving it, or gaining empowerment by empowering others. Either way, it encourages people to applaud rather than resent those who succeed, whilst disapproving of anti-social, disgraceful, inhuman and criminal behaviour, and so encourages social justice for all.

So let’s hope this new Government initiative provokes the start of a philosophical conversation about how we create the right environment to rear our children, and what we all need to do to make this collective parenting approach one that works for generations to come.

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 with a lunchtime debate hosted by Policy Exchange, entitled Towards a Better Child Poverty Target. Here an eminent panel of five, including Frank Field MP argued that the targets set to reduce child poverty were unhelpful.  Kicking off the debate, Frank provoked the audience with real life examples of child poverty, and a heartfelt plea in support of all those children who are subject to the casual cruelty of ignorant adults.  He concluded by asking Mr Cameron to read his report. (Leaving me to wonder how he knew the Prime Minister had not already done so.)

Next up was a representative of the End Child Poverty Campaign, arguing that we should have targets, not only since poverty damages children’s life chances, but since lower income equates with poor educational attainment which in turn leads to poverty. The Director of the Policy Exchange then suggested the measurement of 60% of the median income was somewhat arbitrary and needed to include relative poverty.  He challenged how measurements can be deceiving, and statistically getting someone out of poverty may still leave them poor.  He challenged the audience by saying that we did not really understand what caused poverty.  For example we always assume that unemployment leads to poverty, whilst research from the Institute of Fiscal Studies was unable to link higher employment with a reduction in poverty. Much was made about poverty of the ‘in work’ population (something we often see at LEYF), itself mitigated to some degree by Child Tax Credits; although now a situation clearly challenged by the Chancellor’s budget decision to reduce access to tax credits.

The editor of the Spectator, Fraser Nelson told us that poverty was not sexy and it certainly did not sell newspapers. Apparently, the public simply don’t get the notion of poverty.  They don’t see people starving and so are unable to understand the issue; it is in effect a hidden problem. And it seemed no-one had a solution that might change this.

Finally, the debate began to focus on Early Years and the importance of early intervention. Reference was made to the negative impact of maternal deprivation, along with persistent and severe poverty on children’s development and their resulting low attainment, which in turn leads to lower levels of lifetime success.

The same subject was also raised on Tuesday by the APPG on social mobility, whose report looks at the causes of social mobility and what that means for policy makers. Called 7 Key Truths about Social Mobility, this must-read report tells us that in fact we don’t yet fully understand social mobility. It points out that to have true social mobility, some people have to go up and others go down, and goes on to say that social mobility is stuck in the UK; apparently those of us in my age bracket (guess) have seen greater social mobility than our children.  It may be that education is the factor differentiating us from our parents, and so is the most effective lever.  Nowadays it seems less effective, as so many young people already have a more equitable start.  Either way, the seven truths they found were:

1. The point of greatest leverage for social mobility is what happens between the ages of 0 and 3, and primarily in the home
2. You can break the cycle through education
3. The most important controllable factor is the quality of your teaching
4. It’s also about what happens after the school bell rings
5. University is the top determinant of later opportunities – so pre-18 attainment is key
6. Later pathways to mobility are possible, given the will and support
7. Personal resilience and emotional wellbeing are the missing link in the chain

Unsurprisingly, none of this is new to me (or I’m sure most of the readers of this blog). In fact, it’s this very understanding that drove me into the arms of cultural capital research which now permeates much of what we do at LEYF, from both an economic and social perspective. It’s summed up in this equally relevant interim report on Sure Start delivery in 2011/12, produced by the APPG for SureStart. It states that

All those involved in providing early education and childcare services should encourage a broad social mix of children to attend high quality childcare services. They should address any barriers that may hinder participation by vulnerable children, such as geographical access, the cost of transport or a sense of discrimination and stigma.

It immediately brings to mind a recent example of cultural capital at work in our Holcroft Community Nursery. In this case, two children were on a holiday placement having recently left for school. Chatting away happily – and blissfully ignoring the adults seated nearby who only tuned in ‘mid flow’ – the conversation went something like this…

Child #1:  “Key Managers?? Yes, Sherrine is my Key Manager.”

Child #2:  “What does Key Manager mean?”

Child #1:  “It’s your friend to tell you what to do, make sure you’re OK. Like the leader they are always the oldest.”

Child #2:  “Oh, OK.”

I could draw a number of conclusions from this, but the most powerful for me was the sense of connection and confidence those children had about how things work.  Cultural capital is the means of firstly helping children gain knowledge and then continue to develop and create it by understanding the system, before sharing this knowledge and making new connections. This is what helps children get on, and it’s when children struggle to understand the system that they are truly disadvantaged.

Sensible organisations try and ensure that staff are involved in developing policies and practices at every level.  Indeed, much is written about the inefficiency of top down approaches to making change happen.  However, in my opinion, the challenge is less in the initial engagement and more in maintaining interest and ensuring behaviour is embedded unconsciously, so that it becomes fundamental to everything. This becomes even more important if, like LEYF, you want to grow and need to ensure that policies and practices are securely embedded and repeated consistently in every setting.

Many years ago a manager came to me in despair, having discovered that a can of Coke and a Curly Wurly amounted to breakfast for some staff .  While she worried about their health, she became even more anxious when she realised these were the very staff who would be role models for children and their parents when it came to healthy eating. Her conversation sparked a large piece of work across LEYF,  involving staff at every level – as managers, practitioners, chefs, apprentices and parents all became part of the process to create a consistent and recognisable ‘LEYF approach’ to food.  We researched, examined and created new ways of procuring food, training staff, supporting parents, changing the curriculum and most importantly defining the role for our chefs. Our resulting LEYF Food Policy captured the outcome and was laid down as the basis of practice right across our organisation.

Children enjoying fresh fruit at a LEYF community nursery

Initial enthusiasm was positive and effective, but falling back into old habits happened as if by osmosis. Nothing big, just little things that showed the unravelling of an agreement. Little clues emerged such as a random plastic vegetable in the role play area when it’s meant to be fresh, not serving fish twice a week or forgetting to make sure that cooking was a weekly activity.

So what must we do to ensure that ‘buy in’ and engagement is robust and consistent, whilst still allowing us to review, shape and change things as the world itself changes?  For example, having spent two or three years developing our approach to food, we have now had to make changes to our kitchen management to fit better with the evolving needs of the organisation. Effective scaling and repeatability must equally allow action research to inform continuous improvements, and that can lead to change too.

How can we balance the non-negotiables, such as insisting on organic milk or fresh vegetables in the role play corner, with negotiated changes – such as a new management system – to better meet the needs of the children? What can we do to allow change into the mix in a way that does not start unravelling the whole approach? Can we as the proverbial leopards change our spots or are we asking the impossible?

There is a raft of management tomes telling us to think about communication, apply change management theory, get champions in critical places, give regular feedback and have solid processes that show up when things are not happening. The most telling approach though is simpler:

• Co- create guiding principles
• Define what is absolute and non-negotiable
• Put the necessary systems in place (and make them clear)
• Repeat the practice till you are blue in the face (and become as Freire would say unconsciously conscious)
• Use an action research model to continually improve but manage the change
• Get out there and see for yourself!

Finally, perhaps, buy lots of Curly Wurlys and distribute them generously to those embedding and sharing in our case ‘the LEYF way’. (But can I be first in line, since after fig rolls and walnut whips they are my next favourite treat!)

Happy New Year and welcome back to my blog. (Thank you in advance!)

As I recover from cooking, eating, talking, reading and watching TV (little different there then, except this time a lot of it was done with my extended family, including the delights of my youngest brother and my nieces and nephews who are placed on this earth to remind us about our duty to listen to the young), I have checked out the predictions of Nostradamus, the Mayan calendar, the I Ching and various political pundits in order to sound informed. Ironically, the best advice came from RiRi, my favourite pop singer of the moment, who in Fading (Away) tells us that life is too short to worry. The only downside to the lovely RiRi is her acceptance of lyrics which lack any reference to women’s rights or suffrage! She is certainly no feminist.

Back to the gloomy predictions of 2012: deflation, interest rises to 8%, employment increasing to 4%, tougher economic year than 2011, crazy election results, Eurozone debacle, cyclones, volcanoes, storms… and frankly more of the same. Hey ho.

Of course, here at LEYF we work with children – preparing them for this very future – so let’s take RiRI’s more optimistic, pragmatic view and challenge this dire outlook with a positive attitude. (We know that optimism breeds positive attitudes and a better chance of successful outcomes; in my book that means balance risks but don’t ignore the opportunities.)

For us, irrespective of the bigger issues, this year I hope to do more around our core LEYF values: being child focused, collaborative, courageous, creative and constant.

First and most important of all, we will strive to be even more child focused than ever before, as we know children are the ones most hurt by poverty and stupid adults.

We will collaborate more, particularly with parents. I learned a lot from a meeting I had with parents at our Noah’s Ark community nursery recently, and it’s a lesson I won’t forget. Parental perspectives matter and need to be valued and understood.

Even greater courage is required as we discover how many more children are suffering economically and emotionally from some of our leaders’ dim-witted policies. We really must do things differently, and so I hope we get our LEYF research hubs motoring in 2012. I want to have Meet-ups with parents and all those who want to talk about new ideas or anything that will get our little grey cells operating. (Yes, you guessed it – I received a box set of Poirot for Christmas!)

Creativity is a fascinating value and one that is demonstrated in many ways. For example, I have just finished the biographies of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton and his wife Isabel Burton, both great Victorian travellers. He was an irascible character with a fascination of the East and wrote prolifically, including a translation of Arabian Nights and Kama Sutra. He showed creativity in how he overcame the challenges of exploring and brokering relationships across unknown places; his grasp of languages and understanding of cultural behaviour was a clear means of ensuring that he could broker a mutual understanding. However, his creativity was less well received by the stuffy and hierarchical hide-bound Victorian society. When he died he was snubbed by the establishment and refused a burial place in Westminster Abbey, so his stalwart and loyal wife Isabel persuaded the British public to fund a mausoleum in a cemetery in Mortlake in the shape of a Bedouin tent, one that she designed. She was both constant and creative in her efforts to support her husband in a way that celebrates what we struggle with today; a genuine and honest appreciation of east and west.

So, whatever Nostradamus and his pals say, here at LEYF 2012 will be shaped by the 5 Cs from a positive, creative and optimistic outlook.

And if you don’t believe me, I completed the I Ching and asked what we might need to tackle. The answer came in the form of the hexagram KU. The translation is:

• Work on what has been spoiled
• Has supreme success
• It furthers one to cross the great water
• Afterwards there is order

Good Advice; let’s go forward. Happy 2012.

Chatting to my sister in the car the other evening, we were whished into silence by an indignant five year old in the back seat who, demanding our attention, said

“Remember the Fish Wish and the Government…”

The what? The who?  “Yes,” said Rory with all the authority he could muster, “the Government says to listen to children, not like Elizabeth’s parents in the Fish Wish!”

So, the just issued and widely supported daily checklist (part of a larger report by liberal thinktank CentreForum) had been picked up by a bright five year old – either from CBBC or reading the Times on his way to school.  My sister, rather quietly admitted that she had not been promoting the five a day guide, so he had not heard of it from her.  The Government’s marketing machine is clearly alive and well, and permeating the brains of our youngest citizens!  It also had the secondary impact of getting us both to properly read and reconsider the five a day:

1. Read to your child for 15 minutes
2. Play with your child on the floor for 10 minutes
3. Talk to your child for 20 minutes with the TV off
4. Adopt positive attitudes towards your child and praise frequently
5. Give your child a nutritious diet.

Phew, I thought.  I think I did all those things when they were young and I breast fed them; they should be paragons – but no chance!

However, the checklist is probably a good plan.  It will no doubt annoy the earth mothers and loose women, but actually for many parents (and I meet a lot), it should bring some small but welcome relief; so many of them are desperately in the dark about what to do, not least as mastering the skills of feeding, changing and sleeping takes all their energy.

At LEYF, we often have discussions with parents whose youngest children have reached three months – and they ask, “what shall I do now??”  As a result, we have begun to work with colleagues in Scotland (Alice Sharp and her team) to roll out lovely activities called Tickle and Giggle; proving so popular with parents wanting to learn and do at the same time, especially as many of them have no reference point (having had little or no previous contact with children), and so are a bit lost.

Many people (a surprisingly large number) think all babies need is care, food and cuddles, but no talking or playing: how many parents have you seen pushing their forward facing prams with their mobiles or earphones glued to their heads?  Huge numbers of three year-olds now have TVs in their bedrooms and go to bed to a DVD, lonesome in their little bubbles of consumerist isolation and fantasy; some households turn the TV on in the morning and don’t turn it off again until they go to bed – try competing with that level of distraction!  Is it any wonder then that we have a growing population of children from all backgrounds, classes and creed with significant speech and language problems?

If all it took to solve the world’s parents’ problems was a ‘Five A Day’ checklist, one quietly nudging us into behaving differently, then we could have a big party and get on with preparing the next successful checklist – one for managing the trials and tribulations of coping with teenagers…

So, back to the Fish Wish and that sometimes small, quiet voice telling us to listen to children a little more.  Maybe we should; definitely.

I read with a sinking feeling, an article in the Telegraph March 2011 entitled “Parents who shun fairytales miss chance to teach children morality“.  In essence, they were quoting a report (based on a new book by Sally Goddard Blythe) that found modern parents were no longer reading fairy stories and nursery rhymes to their children because they were too violent or full of negative stereotypes.

I was not surprised about nursery rhymes, since we have noticed that many of our parents don’t know the old classic rhymes, and so we have been trying to readdress this with story sacks and song boxes.  Still, their ignorance was not a response to violence or negative stereotyping, rather they had simply not learned them at their own mother’s knee.

I was deeply disappointed about the state of fairy stories – books that are a must in any nursery box.  Fearful, that maybe this view had permeated our own organisation – or staff had been on a course which dictated an end to reading fairy stories – I randomly rang our nurseries and spoke with whoever answered the phone.  To my great relief, the response was a resounding “of course fairy stories and nursery rhymes are read and enjoyed at LEYF”.  In fact, I was reassured that…

…fairy stories are a popular choice by all children, who like them because they have a straightforward story structure, lots of repetition, fun, excitement and morality very clearly outlined in black and white.”

According to Jean Hudson, Manager of our Queensborough Community Nursery (one of our three officially Outstanding settings), they also “bring romance into children’s lives.”

On the subject of violence, Judy at Luton Street suggested there is more violence in the DVDs many children watch, often alone on TVs in their bedrooms, than stories read in the cosy confines of the nursery – cuddled-up next to friends, repeated often and with excitement by an enthusiastic storyteller, led by a supportive and familiar staff member.  I was equally glad to discover they were all using the original, unexpurgated versions rather than the often more popular and saccharine Disney ones.

On the way out of Head Office, I ran into a group of staff and children from Bessborough on their way back from a trip to a local park, and asked them the same question.  A similar reply, but also a reminder that fairy stories have a great deal of material for drama – something children use a lot, as a successful means of extending and stretching their imagination.  A salutary parting comment was that parents do their children a disservice by wrapping them in cotton wool: in the end children have to learn that life is not always fair and happy; and so children should not be protected from this but helped to manage it.

So fairy stories are alive and well at LEYF and are enjoyed day to day by the 1700 children we support every year.  They remain a crucial element of our curriculum, and continue to be a good way of supporting language development, learning about right and wrong whilst extending the imagination.

Elsewhere, real world romance was well and truly alive at the wedding of Mansukh’s son, where the boy got his girl and they agreed to live together happily ever after.  A key member of our Head Office Finance Department (with me below), Mansukh (or Mr Shah as he is known to everyone) invited me and the rest of the team to celebrate his proud moment, as he watched his eldest son, an accountant, marry a very pretty school teacher.  Looking every part the Indian Maharajah, we counted on Mansukh’s good humour, as we moved among a sea of colourful saris playing a game of spot the accountant; using all the popular stereotypes, we tried to count how many people were in Finance.  Tunde (below, right) won!

Earlier this week I found myself listening to a debate about the best way to care for our elderly citizens – and was immediately struck by the similarities between good social care homes and good nurseries.

In our experience, a good nursery needs to be warm, clean and comfortable.  It needs to be run by caring, friendly, empathetic staff who like children and want to give them a great experience.  Good homes for older people need to be much the same, and the recent shameful reports about unkindness, callous and hard-hearted behaviour are not dis-similar to horrid cases of poor nursery practice that are presented by our ever helpful press.

It strikes me that we should really join adult care with childcare, so we can learn from each other rather than try to sort the issue out in two silos.  However, we have the usual attitudes to overcome – including entrenchment across government, local authority departments, large organisations and charities that have a sole focus on adult care.  What we really need is to find the right person in one of these services to lead a new way of doing things, so we can get social care businesses that deliver high quality.

Elsewhere this week, I spent a few interesting days enjoying the Georgian splendour in Edinburgh.  It was a trip tinged with sadness, as it reminded me of Vicki Whitfield, our late HR Manager who died suddenly in 2005. Vicki was brought up in Edinburgh and often told us hilarious stories about many of the places I was visiting.  When in need of a password, she often used Auchtermuchty, which I discovered is a real place; another Balamory!

During my visit, I mixed business with pleasure, and spent some time working with a Scottish group of nurseries on leadership.  It proved a lively session, exploring the challenges of leading high quality childcare and education so that business success is central to the process.  I was relieved to discover the problems we face – getting our nursery leaders to understand and then ensure the three strands (business, care and education) weave into a strong fabric – are the same north and south of the border; it seems we all struggle with the need to lead and manage quite complex processes to ensure success.  However, these processes draw on such a wide set of skills, behaviour, attitudes and knowledge that each nursery leader needs to be a truly special individual to manage this effectively.  What those at the top have to then understand is how to balance the importance of each of those strands and communicate the expectations very clearly and at every level.  Interestingly, this supports what I discovered when researching my own book on leadership, which was that the business side of leading nurseries as a feature of good leadership is much ignored; yet without it we will not have sustainable nurseries which are critical to roll out the Government’s childcare agenda.

Finally, I joined a merry band of LEYF staff on Sunday morning to run the Race for Life in support of our friend and colleague Barbara, who is very bravely and stoically fighting cancer.  April, Lucy, Yasmin, Gill, Gill’s young daughter (and LEYF graduate) Maya and I joined 11,000 determined women wearing pink to run 5km around Hyde Park in record time.  Pinned to everyone’s T-shirt was a sign telling the world who they were running for – and I was struck by how many people have direct experience of cancer, with either friends or family members who had died or survived.  I particularly liked the statements about survivors, and the many women who were running for their children’s future.  It reminded me of two neon signs outside the Edinburgh Museum of Modern Art; There Are No Miracles Here balanced by Everything Is Going To Be Alright.  After today, I am going with the latter.