Another Consultation… This time, it’s Space
Just as the ink dries on the Ofsted consultation, up pops another. This time it’s about space, equally important and not to be overlooked. The Department for Education (DfE) has…
LEYF News and CEO Blog
Read the latest news and updates from our CEO and the wider LEYF team.
AI Cybersecurity
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Kill Switch! This is AI blog number four, and by now I thought I’d be off down the rabbit hole exploring…
Is Nursery the Right Place for Your Child?
What is the annual Margaret Horn debate? Every year we have the Margaret Horn Debate to introduce, explore and debate ideas, policies and innovative practice. Consequently, we have discussed a…
Engage in Staff-Child nursery Ratio Consultation
Calling ALL Parents, Colleagues and People Who Want THE Very Best for Children: Please Read. We must stop the proposed changes to staff-child ratios! In July I wrote a…
LEYF wins two 2022 Nursery World Awards
LEYF was delighted to recently receive two Nursery World Awards at the 2022 ceremony. The awards, which are open to everyone in education and childcare, are a wonderful chance…
Listen to Pedagogy Coaches Chat about Pedagogy!
I have been using the word, ‘pedagogy’ for many years and am now beyond delighted that I can employ Pedagogy Coaches to support the nurseries understand how to embed…
How to adjust ratios and maintain quality
There is little doubt that the Recruitment and Retention issues facing the sector continue to cause concern and are impacting on the ability of more and more providers to meet…
Why Every Chef in the Early Years Needs to be Trained
A new Prime Minister, a new Secretary of State for Education and a new Minister of State inevitably means a new set of promises. However, if last…
Make Our Practice Part of the Praxis Triangle
Every year I try and get LEYF staff to attend and present at the annual EECERA conference. I have been doing this since 2004 , although we have not…
Wake Up, Rethink the Funding
Last week I was contacted by national radio and TV to do an interview about the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and how this will affect both parents and…
An Invitation to Debate a Change to the Ratio of Staff Qualifications with Ofsted
The recruitment and retention issue continues to drag us down and there is no immediate end in sight. Worse still, I doubt if Liz Truss, the darling of the Tories,…
Engage in the Consultation and Stop Changes to Children to Staff Ratios
Do you want the best for our children? I have been campaigning to protect the ratios since 2013 as our then Minister, Elizabeth Truss decided to pursue a plan to…
Talking Early Years with June O’Sullivan: in Conversation with Mona Sakr
From a conversation to a book “Without doubt, social leadership makes a fundamental difference to the quality of early childhood education and society a fairer place.” The first strand of…
Let’s Hear it for the Early Years Teacher!
I am always happy to support Early Years Alliance and NDNA campaigns but, right now, I think they are both missing a trick. They want to raise the…