It’s a genuine delight and a real privilege to be here tonight to celebrate the Lifetime Achievement Award being given to my outstanding colleague June O’Sullivan.
I have known June for more than 20 years from the time that I was England’s first Children’s Commissioner, and I remember my first meeting at her headquarters in Pimlico. I was immediately deeply impressed by her energy, her go-getting personality, and above all her passionate commitment to improve the outcomes of our smallest, youngest and most vulnerable citizens in their early years.
Since then, I’ve witnessed at first hand and with much approval her conspicuous success in leading LEYF to become the beacon of light it is today in speaking relentlessly for the best interests of young children, their families and their communities.
Incontrovertible research shows the early years are a critical time for children’s learning and development and profoundly shape their future life outcomes. However, not all young children get this opportunity, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, left behind by a market-led early years system and by politicians oblivious to the fact that these children are our nation’s most precious resource.
This was the rationale for June creating the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) in 2006 – developed from a group of eight small grant-dependent Westminster nurseries and now the largest UK social enterprise nursery group, operating 40 nurseries and employing 1,000 staff members. Seventy-seven per cent of LEYF nurseries are in the ‘most deprived’ areas of London, versus an average of 50 per cent throughout London.
LEYF’s social purpose is to change the world one child at a time. They currently support 4,300-plus children, with 31 per cent of them from disadvantaged backgrounds, including the highest number of funded two-year-old places in London. The business model uses a fair fee system across their community nurseries, whereby LEYF subsidises many children who would otherwise be unable to attend nursery.
The LEYF pedagogy, designed by June, is their teaching and learning model and reflects their social enterprise approach, which ensures all children are given a strong start, regardless of their background. It is inspired by a wide range of international research into young children’s learning and development, including long-established approaches like Froebel and Montessori alongside emerging knowledge from the field of neuroscience.
Currently, 46 per cent of LEYF nurseries are judged Outstanding by Ofsted againsta national average of 17 per cent.
By any yardstick, June’s work is truly outstanding. This award tonight is richly deserved.
I’ll conclude by highlighting one attribute that perhaps doesn’t get the focus it deserves, and that word is ‘compassion’ – by which I mean putting yourself into the shoes of others and doing something about it!
Her compassion for babies and their families, especially the most vulnerable, for people in communities, and for improving the life chances of young people through her apprenticeship programmes are all simply stunning, reflecting her compassion.
If I had one wish to implement, it would be to clone June across the whole country and internationally.
Well done June for your award tonight!
