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…
Are you afraid of Policy Makers?
I began this year with an irrational fear of getting locked into loos. It was brought on by an incident on Christmas Eve when I got locked in the nursery…
Will 2016 be the year the Government will Properly Fund Childcare?
We return from the Christmas break to all the usual doom and gloom, including the usual diets and a ban on alcohol forever. Clearly, the person who suggested this has…
The Twelve Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas the Minister sent to me:‘A Partridge in a Pear Tree’ – actually no… ‘A promise to make childcare truly free?’…
The 30 Hours Costing Conundrum: Is it time for the Big Childcare Conversation? #BCC
For those of you who have just landed after living on Mars for the last few years here is a summary of the 30 hours promise by…
Never Underestimate the Power of Leadership
“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.”Dolly Parton When I was appointed…
Why does childcare need business and business need childcare?
”Early childhood development is the compelling economic social and moral issue of our time. It helps provide children with the opportunity they deserve to develop their natural abilities. It is…
Smart Nurseries Develop a Culture of Creativity
On the 10th of October it is Social Saturday and as a social enterprise, we will be celebrating. The aim of Social Saturday 2015 is to raise…
Are you with me?
On Saturday, LEYF partnered with the University of Middlesex and International Early Years to have the first conference to launch the #BigChildcareConversation .
‘Organise, Agitate and Educate’ must be our war cry if we are to get Childcare right
The Childcare Review has closed and we now leave it to Lord Sutherland and his committee to analyse the information and recommend a solution for the 30 Hours Government Funded…
Attending the OMEP Conference which asked “How Are the Children”?
After much prevarication, I took some of my own advice ( getting out of the office and attending conferences is good for thinking and ideas) and decided to accept the…
A Promise of 30 Hours Free Childcare heralds the Big Childcare Conversation
The Government made childcare a central component of its election manifesto. Mr Cameron insists that his Government will extend the childcare ‘free offer’ to 30 hours a week, 38 weeks…
Welcome to the London Ofsted Big Conversation; A Meeting with Three Wise Inspectors on 24th June 2015
We met in the London NatWest Head Office in Little Argyle Street on a warm day. Like all OBC we had some regulars and some new people but the mix…