Leadership Stream Chair: Alpa Patel
Alpa Patel has over 20 years of experience as a Presenter and Reporter at the BBC and ITV. She has been at the forefront of major national and international stories including the covid19 pandemic and several UK and international elections. She has interviewed a range of World leaders including several UK Prime Ministers and the current UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. In recent years she has had a specialist focus on maternal healthcare and access to affordable childcare.
Your speakers include:
Early years priorities in the General Election
Join us for a panel discussion and Q&A on the early years priorities in the General Election, featuring:
- Felicity Gillespie, Director at Kindred2
- Ben Franklin, Interim Chief Executive at the Centre for Progressive Policy
- Kathy Sylva OBE, Professor of Educational Psychology and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford
- Purnima Tanuku OBE, Chief Executive of NDNA.
Purnima Tanuku OBE
25 years of championing change for children’s futures
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.
Ashley John-Baptiste
Promoting the positive path
This session will explore:
- How early years workers can steer vulnerable young children onto a positive path of self-esteem and aspiration.
More about Ashley:
Ashley John-Baptiste is an award-winning broadcaster and TV presenter, making reports & hosting The One Show, Sunday Morning Live and also Morning Live & News. He is also a Senior Reporter for BBC News and was the lead reporter on The Mall for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Funeral and Coronation of His Majesty The King. Ashley’s debut book ‘Looked After: A Childhood in Care’ is to be released in June 2024.
Elliott Rae
Empowering fathers: strategies for engaging dads and fostering lasting connections with their children
This session will explore:
- How fatherhood has changed over the past few decades and in recent years, expectations and demands of modern family life and why it’s imperative to engage men in their fatherhood role
- Barriers to fathers being equal and active parents and uncover some of the proven techniques for engaging dads in childcare services.
More about Elliott:
Elliott Rae is the founder of the parenting platform MusicFootballFatherhood, called the ‘Mumsnet for Dads’ by the BBC. He is the curator of the bestselling book, DAD, presenter of BBC One documentary ‘Becoming Dad’, co-founder of the Working Dads Employer Awards and creator of the Parenting Out Loud campaign which encourages and working dads to be equal and active parents. Elliott is the ex-Head of DEI Delivery at HM Treasury and one of the UK’s most prominent speakers on fatherhood, mental health and masculinity. His work on gender equality has been recognised by the United Nations and he was awarded the #HeForShe award by UN Women UK.
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Gemma Goldenberg
Supporting under-twos
This session will explore:
- Neuroscience of how babies brains differ to toddlers and what this means for practitioners
- Early language development and how to support this
- How levels of stimulation in the nursery environment impact attention, stress and behaviour – how to read cues of over and under arousal in children who don’t yet talk, and what to do about this
- The science behind why outdoor time is vital for development, even for non-walkers.
More about Gemma:
Gemma Goldenberg is a psychologist and education expert with 2 decades of experience working in nursery and school settings. A regular features writer for Early Years Educator and Nursery World magazines, Gemma specialises in the neuroscience of Early Years practice and co-founded www.nestkids.co.uk, an organisation which supports practitioners to use research and neuroscience to inform their work with children. Gemma’s PhD research focussed on the impact of the learning environment on young children’s stress, attention and behaviour and produced groundbreaking new discoveries in this area.
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Professor Sally Pearse
Relationship Mapping: a tool to support young children and families and promote reflective practice
This session will explore:
- How you can use relationship mapping at your nursery as a tool to support young children and families and promote reflective practice.
More about Sally:
Sally is the Strategic Lead for Early Years at Sheffield Hallam University. Since 2017 Sally has led the work with early years colleagues from across South Yorkshire to develop a range of collaborative projects. These have included a £1million project, funded through the DfE Early Outcomes Fund to transform the regions speech, language and communication services and the development of an Early Years Community Research Centre in Sheffield which is now delivering nursery places in an area of social and economic challenge.
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