The end of 2021 and the start of this year have been extremely challenging for everyone – especially coming on the back of nearly two years under this pandemic. It’s when things are at their toughest that the crucial support and resources to early years settings that NDNA offers really makes the difference – so I am extremely proud to be taking on its leadership.
I have experienced the full range of early years settings from being in charge of a single family-run site where I was cook, cleaner and childcarer, to now running Old Station Nurseries, a chain of more than 50 sites with over 1,000 members of staff. I know why people choose to work in our amazing sector, the difference we can make and the challenges we all face.
We are all stronger when we pull together, so I want to continue NDNA’s focus on being collaborative and growing our membership. I want to make sure all governments really listen to our voice and respond positively, because children are at the heart of everything we do – so we must make sure they are a top political priority.
This means making sure the sector is properly funded and not the poor relation within education plans – we all know that investment in early years pays dividends later in children’s lives.
We will continue our research, using evidence to show areas where governments and local authorities could do better. And when the sector is facing real challenges, we will make sure inspectorate regimes are supporting improved outcomes, not just finding fault.
Most importantly we must address the workforce crisis. The people who work with children have the biggest impact on their development, they are the key to our practice, and they must feel truly valued and rewarded. Governments have to take the lead on this in their workforce planning.
I will make sure we are giving our members the support they need in delivering high-quality early education and care. We will continue to offer the best training and resources we can. This is more important than ever as more babies born during Covid join our settings. If our nurseries do well, then so do our children. That’s the whole reason that we are here – to support the sector in what you all do best.
From the day-to-day work happening in nurseries to the national coverage of the work by the Duchess of Cambridge’s Royal Foundation, I am always so proud of the amazing things being done. I look forward to driving that forward as the chair of NDNA.
