In all aspects of her professional work, Jennie is highly respected for her experience, knowledge and early years expertise. Her clarity of thinking, ultra professionalism, attention to detail, total reliability, as well as her ability to focus on what is important for practitioners, set her apart from many professionals. She always makes an extremely generous contribution to any project she participates in. Jennie is dedicated to supporting practitioners as powerful learners and is determined to help them think for themselves and make choices that will ensure worthwhile learning - learning that matters to children.
Jennie is a chartered psychologist who chose to work in the field of developmental psychology, specialising in early childhood. She has worked for many national charities, organisations and local authorities across the UK on a wide range of projects, including speaking at conferences, being involved in research, writing, training, consultative and advisory work.
For most of her professional career, Jennie has run her own business, People Consulting, along with her husband, who is co-director. Together they specialise in work with social services, care and education.
Highly regarded as a successful author, in her professional world, Jennie is most proud of the numerous books she has written, from her first publication, Working with Young Children (1983), to her most recent, Reflective Practice and Early Years Professionalism (2010). Jennie is well known for her rigorous work ethic and it is no surprise that she will soon be starting work on her 35th book for practitioners and students.
Jennie also writes for a range of early years magazines and first wrote for Nursery World in the early 1980s; she has continued writing ever since. Her first Nursery World article reported on findings from a project undertaken by NNEB on the work of nannies. Her most recent 2010 article considers social networking and the balance of personal and professional life for practitioners, illustrating how her contribution to early childhood has always been current and topical. Her work still remains meaningful to practitioners, making a difference to their practice and improving the lives of children and families.
Another dimension to Jennie's work is her involvement in television as an education consultant for a variety of successful programmes, including 'Boo!', 'Rupert Bear', 'Postman Pat' and the spin-off series, 'Guess with Jess'.
Jennie is not only regarded for her professional achievements, but her sense of fun and her healthy work-life balance. She is proud of her happy family life and her two successful children, who have added to her remarkable contribution to early childhood education and this well-deserved lifetime achievement award.
This year's Nursery World lifetime achievement award is given to Jennie Lindon.