Packed lunches: I just want the right to say no!
Do you want the right to ban packed lunches from your setting because of Health & Safety concerns? The recent legal challenge to the Early Years in February, was…
LEYF News and CEO Blog
Read the latest news and updates from our CEO and the wider LEYF team.
Supporting ECEC for Infants Under Two
What We Learned from the Nursery World Webinar The Governments policy to expand “childcare” for children from 9 months by funding 30 hours ECEC is driving demand and anxiety in…
Don’t Call Me Sweet: I am a Fast, Furious and Fabulous Early Years Teacher
I was visiting a LEYF nursery on the Wandsworth Bridge Road and Shandrika the deputy manager was engaging a in a deep pedagogical conversation with me. Then she stopped, sighed…
The London OBC: Consulting on the Consultation
Ofsted has a strategic objective to be a force for improvement through intelligent, responsible and focused inspection and regulation. To do this we must ensure we understand what we mean…
Messy Play not Messi Plays
Last week I gave a seminar at the Nursery World Show about pedagogy, and I particularly referenced the importance of Early Years teachers being able to name and describe the…
Time Out to Reflect on Social Enterprise
I am not always great at taking my own advice, which in this case is to take a few days away from the office to “think”. I have just had…
The importance of partnership
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Theodore Roosevelt Many organisations talk about working in partnership. It…
Quality childcare: it starts with meaningful investment
The Report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), raises the self-same issues which have been of concern to the Early Years sector for the past five years. The Government’s…
Happy New Year: Let’s…
I gave up the idea of New Year Resolutions a long time ago and 40% of people give up their resolutions within a fortnight. Setting yourself a resolution is the…
Playing with Lego to Spark a Story
“The sound a box of Lego makes is the noise of a child’s mind working, looking for the right piece. Shake it, and it’s almost creativity in aural…
Getting Back to Basics: Learning from My UK Road Trip
I am always pleased to be invited to speak about things that matter to me such as social enterprise and the business of childcare, child poverty, pedagogy and wider early…
Any man can be a father, but let’s celebrate the importance of Dads!
“Any man can be a father but it takes someone special to be a Dad.” – Anne Geddes I recently wrote a book with the wonderful Alice Sharpe to celebrate…
“Do Men in Childcare Matter”? What Do the Children Say?
Every year we have the LEYF annual debate, named in honour of Margaret Horn, student of Octavia Hill and the first paid director of what was then a local…
Let’s Celebrate the role of a trustee
Yesterday was Kindness Day, and today we are halfway into Trustee Week, a good reason to thank all trustees and to attract new ones*. Being a trustee is…