LEYF News and CEO Blog

Some weeks are pretty gloomy but this one had some really lovely highlights. The first was midweek when I gave a keynote speech to Essex County Council…

DISCLAIMER:(!) I know that today is not my usual ‘blog day’ but we wanted to pass on the latest developments with Ofsted. Normal blog service will resume on Monday…  …

It was a good omen when we were told our plane to Glasgow was a long haul plane and we would be upgraded to business class.  As this was my…

Yesterday I woke up late, nursing a heavy head; a combination of a rotten head cold, three glasses of red wine (that’s one too many for me!) and dancing into…

On Friday, 50 lively people came to Marsham St, the headquarters of the London Early Years Foundation, to kick off the #OfstedBigConversation and share their time, expertise and stories. Colleagues…

The #OfstedBigConversation kicks off around the country on Friday. Here is the plan: So far, each group has between 30 and 40 people signed up and a great many unable…

Charles Handy identified three attributes, ‘difference, dedication and doggedness’ as the mark of successful entrepreneurs. He quoted the poet Keats view on doggedness, “… as…

I came back from holiday last week to a bunch of emails which included one from Ofsted asking for feedback on their performance.  I laughed out loud and went straight…

Sir Michael Wilshaw was no doubt promoted to lead Ofsted because he successfully turned around a failing school. It would seem he is taking the same approach to the Early Years…

The delayed response to More Great Childcare (or ‘More Great Childcages’ as coined by Penny Tassoni) filled me with dread. I looked and saw it was…

It’s 100 weeks to the next election… Remember at your peril, politicians can determine our destiny. The call to roundtables is loud and the manifesto push is in…

Last week men featured quite highly on the agenda.  Along with Jai Patel and Paul Spinks, co-chairs of the London Network of Men in Childcare, I attended the APPG on…