NDNA’s Policy Advisory Board advises the Strategic Board on policy issues.
It is made up of all members of the Strategic Board and additional members with specific areas of expertise. The Policy Advisory Board is made up of NDNA Trustees plus the following people:
Purnima Tanuku OBE
Chief Executive and chair of the National Policy Committee
Purnima, supported by the Board of Trustees, leads the strategic direction of NDNA. She has developed NDNA into the Voice of the Sector, the strongest and biggest representative organisation for early years across the UK. Purnima represents the sector to Government Ministers, parliamentarians, civil servants and local authorities. She regularly appears on national television, radio, online and print media sharing the views of our nursery members, raising public awareness and lobbying Government for the support nurseries need to deliver high quality care and education for their children. Purnima has a wealth of experience at senior executive level working with public, private and charitable organisations. In 2010 Purnima was awarded OBE for services to families.
Liz Elsom
Now working as an early years consultant, Liz is a qualified early years teacher who has spent her whole career working with young children or on their behalf. She recently retired from a full-time post at Ofsted where she was responsible for early years policy. Liz worked for Ofsted for 14 years in a variety of roles including inspection of early education; monitoring and training inspectors; the transfer of early years regulation from local authorities into Ofsted; developing inspection frameworks for early years provision in the private, voluntary and independent sector and children’s centres; liaison with the Department for Education; and producing guidance for inspectors and providers.
Karen Mackay MBE
Karen is Head of External Affairs at Busy Bees, the leading childcare provider in the UK with an increasing global footprint in North America, South East Asia and China. She is responsible for external affairs, partnerships and government relations. As a qualified teacher and with extensive experience in the maintained, private and voluntary sector, Karen engages regularly with No 10, ministers and senior civil servants from across Great Britain, members from both Houses of Parliament, representatives from membership organisations, regulatory bodies and policy makers from all parties. She also represents Busy Bees on the Ofsted National Consultative Board and her unique role within Busy Bees and the early years sector, ensures it is at the forefront of key policy makers. Karen was awarded her MBE in 2019 for services to families and children.
Marg Randles OBE
Marg is a qualified and experienced teacher of children with multiple, complex needs. She was instrumental in developing the first Busy Bees Nursery in Lichfield, Staffordshire, over 30 years ago, primarily to provide high quality care for her own children. She is now the Managing Director of the nursery business with responsibility for the delivery of exceptional care performance in the 213 centres throughout the UK and she is also involved in all operational aspects of the business. Marg has strong links with government departments, local authorities and national associations.
Clare Roberts
Clare Roberts is the CEO of Kids Planet Day Nurseries and founded the business in 2008 with her father; John Hoban, and sister; Lucy Kaczmarska joining in 2013, making Kids Planet a truly family run business. The company has since grown to over 140 settings across the North West, Midlands and Yorkshire. Clare won the Barclays Female Icon Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017 as well as numerous other awards over the last decade. She was recently awarded an OBE for her incredible contributions to the Early Years Sector, as well as the NMT Outstanding Achievement Award in 2022. Clare is a member of the NDNA Committee and is also a member of the National Consultative Forum for Ofsted.
Kathy Sylva OBE
Kathy Sylva is Professor of Educational Psychology and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. She has led research on education in the Early Years, with particular focus on the effects of early education on children’s development. She carries out trials of interventions in the UK and low-income countries. Kathy was Principal Investigator on the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education study, a longitudinal study of 3000 children from 3-18 years. She co-directed the National Evaluation of Children’s Centres in England, a largescale study of the effects of family services on 2,500 families/children. She has been Specialist Adviser to Parliamentary Select Committees and currently serves on Ofsted’s Pedagogical Forum. She received an OBE in 2008 and is Fellow of British Academy, Academy of Social Science, and British Psychological Society.
Penny Vaughan-Pipe
Penny is active within national and local organisations and plays an active role in her local Chamber. She also represents NDNA members at local partnership meetings.
Bethany Patrick
Bethany is the Chief Operating Officer at Your Co-op Little Pioneers, part of The Mid-Counties Co-operative. In her capacity as Head of Educational Excellence, Bethany was instrumental in implementing initiatives driving continuous improvement for quality education. Previously, she led the Early Years team at Barnet Council, prioritising excellence and raising standards in educational settings across PVIs, schools, and children’s centres. Bethany’s diverse experience includes serving as an Ofsted Inspector, as well as, contributing to the Department for Education’s COVID recovery scheme, advising on strategies to mitigate the pandemic’s impact on children and Early Years provision. Furthermore, she has a proven track record in education, having established and overseen a successful training academy aimed at empowering early years professionals to deliver exceptional educational experiences for children.
