About me

During my career, I’ve spent the best part of three decades working frontline in early years. This period includes heading up Sure Start Children’s Centres and Nursery Schools between 2001 and 2023 and developing high-quality provision for babies, toddlers and older children in the EYFS.

I’ve also been the senior early years adviser to Tower Hamlets council, and Ofsted’s Early Education Lead/HMI.

I was awarded a CBE for services to Early Years Education in 2022.

I am a researcher and writer of best-selling books about the early years and columns for publications like Nursery World and TES.

Nowadays, I’m focused on supporting schools, settings and childminders to make sure that every child gets the best start to their life. I work for a large educational charity on early years. I also offer independent consultancy, training and support to all manner of early years settings and practitioners.

Please note that this is my personal blog. It does not represent the views of my employer or anyone else I am associated with, so please apply the usual health warnings. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Here are some of the things which matter to me. 

Firstly, practitioners should take a principled approach to early education and childcare. Children have a right to play. They need to be cared for by staff who have their best interests at heart, and can create an emotionally warm environment. 

Early education should be inclusive of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and it should promote gender equality and racial equality. 

Quality and equality must go hand in hand. 

Finally, early education programmes must be based on evidence: it's not good enough any more for people to say that they "believe" in one approach over another. We have a professional responsibility to the children, to their families and to their communities. We must always work hard to get that right. 

To find out more, have a look at some of the books I've co-written about Early Education and Childcare (commissions earned). 

I was previously the headteacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children's Centre. At Sheringham I also led East London Research School and the Brighter Start Early Years Stronger Practice Hub. 

Before then, I was the senior Early Years Adviser for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and before that I was headteacher of Kate Greenaway Nursery School and Children's Centre in Islington. 

In my school career, I have worked in primary, special and nursery schools across inner and east London. I have been very fortunate to work with some of the most talented, hard-working and effective teachers, early years educators and leaders you can imagine. I am passionate about advancing equality through education and I'm a firm believer in comprehensive education. Because what happens early, matters for a lifetime, I'm proud to have dedicated my working life to play-based early years education, multi-agency support for families, and involving parents in their children's learning.

I have served as an adviser on two committees for the Department of Education: The Rose Review of the Primary Curriculum, and The Nutbrown Review of Early Education and Childcare Qualifications. I am also a former chair of the Trustees at Early Education (the British Association for Early Childhood Education).

I gained my Doctorate in Education from the UCL Institute of Education in 2013 for my research into how a group of early years practitioners developed their theories about children's learning and their role as educators during a programme of support and professional development which I was leading. You can read my doctoral thesis here [PDF]

Over the years, I have written regularly for Nursery World and I have authored and co-authored books about early years education.

I've been interested in writing since my student days, when I edited the Oxford University Newspaper, Cherwell, and the magazine of the Oxford Union, Debate.