Talking Early Years with June O'Sullivan

I’ve just finished recording a podcast with Professor Sam Wass, and I’m still buzzing. He is Director of the Institute for the Science of Early Years at the University of East London. You may also know him from The Secret Life of Four-Year-Olds. His research is fascinating because it brings neuroscience right into the nursery, helping us understand what children’s brains are telling us about their experiences.Sam’s research brings neuroscience directly into early years settings. He uses microphones, cameras and stress monitors to measure how babies and young children actually experience the environments we create for them. This is not guesswork. It’s science showing us what their brains are trying to tell us.

Why Nursery Chefs Are Our Unsung Food ChampionsI recently spoke with Catherine Lippe, a registered nutritionist with more than 18 years’ experience in Early Years nutrition. She reminded me that nursery chefs are far more than cooks; they are “food champions” whose work directly supports children’s development and helps address wider issues of health inequality.With the new EYFS nutrition guidance offering clearer direction, there’s a real opportunity to place food firmly at the heart of nursery life. But guidance alone won’t cut it; we need training, funding, and recognition for the people who make it happen.

Early childhood education is not a neutral or technical service—it is a deeply political space and this is the focus of my podcast guest Professor Peter Moss, the well-known and outspoken academic critic of the UK Early Years policies.  He argues that every decision about how we organise, fund, and value the early years reflects our collective beliefs about children, families, and the society we want to build. Yet in England, political action often avoids asking the most important question: What is early education for?

Risky Play or Not Risky Play - That is the Question!Ellen Sandseter is a well-known professor at Queen Maud University College for Early Childhood Education in Trondheim, Norway but we all know her for her thoughtful and challenging work on risky play.If you are interested in a conversation about risky play from a leader in the field, listen here!

The Power of Intergenerational NurseriesIn this podcast, I speak to Sue Egersdorff, co-founder of the intergenerational Ready Generations Nursery at Belong, in Chester.  Her work is a powerful reminder that early childhood settings are not just educational spaces – they’re deeply embedded in the wider social and political landscape.

Greg Bottrill, a childhood advocate and author of 'Can I Go and Play Now?', champions play-centered education and the importance of reclaiming childhood. He discusses the critical role of play in learning, the decline of outdoor activity due to screens, and how adults can reconnect with their inner child. Greg critiques the focus on school readiness, citing economic pressures that rush children into formal education. He urges educators to recognize and celebrate children's identities through play, advocating for a more compassionate and playful approach in early years education.

If you have been frog marched through books, why would you ever read for pleasure? asks Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the Children’s Book Laureate. The award-winning author and screenwriter Frank Cotterell Boyce is the 13th Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom, a role created by The BookTrust to champion every child’s right to a lifetime enriched with books and stories – recognising the transformative power of reading  in children's lives.  Join us on the podcast and hear Frank talk about the rights of children to stories, books, libraries and what he would do with a magic wand.

Professional Love: The Beating Heart of Early Years Education and Care On Valentine’s Day, there is much talk about romantic love, but we are talking about a very different kind of love; professional love, a term coined by Dr Jools Page and familiar to many colleagues across the Early Years sector. Introducing the phrase professional love gave permission to Early Years colleagues to use the word ‘love’ in the professional context. I was delighted to replace the word ‘care’ with ‘love’ because for many, the relationship we have with the children is pure reciprocal love.  Creating loving relationships between staff and babies or toddlers is at the heart of nurturing positive early childhood experiences. A culture of warmth and sensitivity, paired with thoughtful policies and processes, can establish an environment where professional love thrives.This podcast concludes with me asking Jools what three wishes she has for the Early Years sector?  Obviously, I am not going to tell you what she said, for this you need to tune in and find out!

Unpacking The Twoness of Twos  The Government has agreed to continue the roll out of funded places for two-year-olds, with talk of putting them into schools. Many are concerned that this plan may ignore the uniqueness of the two-year-olds. To mitigate this, my colleague Louise Hannan, (currently researching the emotional environment for two-year-olds) and I have refreshed the original Twoness of Twos report to raise awareness about our role in ensuring two-year-olds thrive in every setting. Listen in to find out more. Download the report for FREE here - https://mailchi.mp/leyf.org.uk/twoness-of-twos 

A Right to be Children: The Importance of the Design Architecture The importance of architecture to Early Years is often misunderstood. The building is part of the enabling environment and needs to be designed to support learning by creating the right environment and resources both indoors and outside. They are also integral to meeting the sustainability pillars; economic, social and environments in their design for example where they are situated, and how they support local communities and the local biodiversity.  Nowadays, people are thinking even more about the towns and cities, the city of play and how to make them child friendly and position schools and nurseries as community catalysts.If you are interested in design and want to understand why it matters and how we need a strong relationship with architects, then listen here.