A Conversation with Ofsted: What we learned at the London OBC
On the 7th April, we held the London OBC and here is a summary for those of you who could not attend. We are trying something new,…
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 Frank Cottrell-Boyce
If you have been frog marched through books, why would you ever read for pleasure? The award-winning author and screenwriter Frank Cotterell-Boyce is the 13th Children’s Laureate of…
Stepping Up to Prepare for a Return to the “New Normal”
The Covid -19 pandemic has introduced us to some new words such as furlough and serology which describe specific action. But alongside those real words we have also been introduced…
Late Night Guidance Suggest Row Back on Furlough for Childcare
On Friday night, the DfE produced the guidance on furlough and funded children. A rather last-minute announcement when so many have prepared to upload their data onto the HMRC…
Doing What’s Best for the Health of our Nation and the Health of our Sector
The Covid-19 pandemic lockdown is posing many philosophical questions. Is the virus a response to our wasteful society? Is nature giving us a wake-up call that we are not in…
Can Nurseries Deliver the 4th Emergency Service and Remain Sustainable?
Perhaps when Boris has his new baby and needs childcare he will finally begin to realise what we do as a sector an how we operate as an essential business.
From Cinderella to the 4th Emergency Service
Who would have anticipated that a virus we had never heard of could take us from being Cinderella to becoming the 4th Emergency Service? The Coronavirus has crept up…
The March of the Mothers in March
March is the yellow month. The month of daffodils and watery sun. March brings a sense of hope, energy and optimism; the winter is behind us and there is a…
What does it say about the value of care when low skills are aligned to low salaries?
Does our Home Secretary need to be quite so offensive to the 319,000 staff who provide Early Childhood Education and Childcare to parents every day to enable them to work…
Kindness is Contagious and Its worth Us All Catching it Early
As Early Years’ teachers, we need to continually reflect on the purpose of education. This is crucial given the pressures we face to deliver what many would describe as a…
So the Results are in….
The consultation has closed and we now await the Government’s response to our feedback about the proposed changes to the EYFS and the Early Learning Goals. Do you remember…
Breakfast with The Duchess
We all know that the Tiger comes to Tea but we have never had a Duchess come to Breakfast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6hzbLzcprE The Duchess of Cambridge lightened up our…
The Male Only Apprentice Group
Can we do this? Will we break the law? The HR Director rolled his eyes and said Ohhhhh, let me double check! I said “Make it happen, It is hugely…
Make 2020 the Decade of Kindness by Opening Both Your Eyes and Your Heart
Given this is the beginning of a new decade, I glanced at some previous New Year blogs. Not my best idea! The world of Early Years is still Groundhog Day…