Laura Interviews Early Years Leaders

In this podcast, Hayley shares the Little Barn Owls journey and how the next step from their nurseries, forest and beach schools is to open up a school for children aged four to 16, Atelier 21. Hayley explains in detail Little Barn Owls' unique pedagogy, and how staff have specific roles that enhance quality and build on professional development. One of the unique aspects of this approach is the project-based learning.

Laura is delighted to welcome back Gill Jones and Wendy Ratcliff from Ofsted to record this special Early Years Leaders Podcast, in partnership with Blossom Educational.   They discuss the new Education Inspection Framework, with a focus on Ofsted’s rationale for the term cultural capital and what inspectors will be looking for in practice. Gill and Wendy give an overview of intent, implementation and impact. The new framework places emphasis on observation and discussion with educators and Gill and Wendy share examples of what inspectors will focus on.

Alicia Blanco-Bayo is an independent Early Years consultant, lecturer, researcher and writer.  In this podcast, Alicia shares her Early Years experience in working within a range of settings overseas. Alicia also discusses creating a department for language, communication and reading in the UAE. She also describes her setting’s unique approach to observation, assessment and planning, which has a positive impact on children’s learning and development. Additionally, Alicia enthusiastically shares information on her PhD studies.

Ricky Bullen is the deputy nursery manager at the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), Bird in Bush nursery. He has worked within the Early Years sector for the last 17 years, working with children from three months to eight years. In this episode, Ricky reflects on his journey into leadership and the significant use of research to develop practice. Ricky shares LEYF’s values and what they mean in practice. Ricky discusses LEYF’s own action research projects Twoness of Twos and Men in Childcare.

Kelly Parker has worked in childcare for 12 years and has a foundation degree in Early Years, which has given her a fantastic combination of experience and education. Her leadership skills and style encourage the team to promote a creative environment to help every child to reach their full potential. As a manager, Kelly feels it is important to spend as much time as she can with the children and her team. She is proactive, outgoing, confident and has great communication skills. The visions and values that she has built up at Bellissima ensure that her team have a strong sense of belonging, they are passionate and care about what they are teaching the children. Kelly aims to teach lifelong skills for the future. In this podcast, we discuss Kelly’s journey in becoming a manager of an outstanding nursery. We also focus on how Kelly supports her team with their personal and professional development.

With over 40 years’ experience in early childhood education, Ellen is the founder and executive director of Boulder Journey School, an innovative school for young children in Boulder, Colorado. She is adjunct faculty and executive director of the Boulder Journey School Teacher Education Program, created by Boulder Journey School in partnership with the Colorado Department of Education and the University of Colorado Denver.  The Boulder Journey School Teacher Education Program offers candidates a teaching licence in early childhood education and a master’s degree in education and human development.

Laura speaks to Stacey Bailey from Fennies in Addiscombe, Croydon, a large setting which was also involved in a major incident quite recently.

A Laura Interviews Special - Gill Jones of Ofsted talks about Early Years settings and inspection.

In this podcast, Julian discusses how he leads a successful nursery school and children’s centre in London. He also shares his passion for working within Early Years and his role as a leader of a local teaching school alliance. Julian also shares his visit to Froebel’s birth place and school in Germany. 

In this podcast, Sarah talks about her journey from teacher to childminder, explaining how she shares her passion for childcare with other childminders and Early Years colleagues.  Sarah reflects on childminding agencies and the vital role of independent childminders. She also discusses how she now writes for a variety of publications as well as producing her own resources.

Laura interviews childminder and leader, Joana Smith.

In this podcast, we talk to Sharon Hogan, centre head at Midland Road Nursery School and Children’s Centre. We discuss Sharon’s role as a leader for a number of other children’s centres within her locality. We discuss Sharon’s passion for working with children and their families and her role as trustee of Early Education and as a national leader of education.  

This time, Laura interviews Kim Esnard. Kim founded The Child Care Coach in 2012 after noticing dwindling support and training for childminders. She currently works alongside local authorities to provide childminding training workshops, and has over 20 years’ experience in childcare and has been rated Outstanding twice by Ofsted.

In episode 2, Laura interviews the inspirational Swati Popat Vats from India.

In episode 1 of the podcast, Laura interviews Martin Pace from Reflections Nurseries.