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…
LEYF News and CEO Blog
Read the latest news and updates from our CEO and the wider LEYF team.
Lessons We Must Learn to Better Protect Our Children
In Memory of Genevieve Meehan Tonight, BBC One North West and Yorkshire will air an investigative programme titled How Safe Are Our Nurseries? It follows the heartbreaking story of Genevieve…
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…
In Eurovision style here are the results from the London Ofsted Big Conversation….
The meeting was hosted by Bain & Company: 40 Strand WC2N 5RW on Thursday 11 October 2018. The room can accommodate 50 so that’s is how many people were there…
Get your thinking caps on – it’s London OBC
It’s marvellous to see so many OBC events happening across the country. They are a chance for us to get updates straight from the source – so get your thinking…