Nursery World - Early years experts claim the DfE has deemed them 'unsuitable' for events after monitoring their social media

Trainer Ruth Swailes and early years lecturer, Aaron Bradbury, claim the DfE has been monitoring their activity on social media and deemed them ‘unsuitable’ to speak at Government events.

Swailes and Bradbury claim that the Department for Education (DfE) blocked them from speaking at the launch of a DfE Stronger Practice Hub in March.

The pair, who edited Early Childhood Theories Today, which this week was shortlisted for the Nursery World professional book award, say that the multi-academy trust organising the conference said they were ‘unsuitable’ experts and considered cancelling the event entirely.

The DfE eventually agreed Swailes and Bradbury could appear via Zoom. However, the multi-academy trust said they couldn’t make delegates give up their weekend to attend the conference to watch a screen.

According to Swailes and Bradbury after getting legal advice, they were allowed to speak in person.

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