Talking Early Years with June O'Sullivan

What have Food Banks got to do with the Early Years? This year, LEYF is celebrating 120 years of history. In doing so, we are reflecting on what was in order to look towards the future.  As an organisation, we have always been involved with issues of poverty and it was interesting to find that back in 1926 we were involved with the National Cookery School of Cookery which is a slightly different twist to what we are doing now. In this podcast, I am talking to two inspirational LEYF managers who have each gone that extra mile in the name of helping to tackle food poverty and supporting their local community.  

June kicked off this year’s podcast chatting to the well-informed Krupesh Hirani, London Assembly Member for Brent and Chair of the London Assembly Health Committee and the Health Inequalities Committee. 

Listen as Teresa Heaney, CEO of Early Childhood Ireland, explains how the Irish government has agreed to a number of positive actions following the publication of their evidence-based strategy, called First Five.

June has been using the word, ‘pedagogy’ for many years and is now beyond delighted that LEYF can employ Pedagogy Coaches to support its nurseries understand how to embed pedagogy in their daily practice.  Listen to June chat with Siobhan, Konstantinos and Ricky, who explain the role of a Pedagogy Coach at LEYF and how it helps to builds  a quality practice!

Celebrating the publication of their new book: Social Leadership in Early Childhood Education and Care: An Introduction, June and Mona sit down for a frank discussion about social leadership. By narrating the leadership of those who already lead with a social purpose in Early Childhood Education and Care, we can encourage more conversations about social leadership. Pour a cup of tea, and enjoy.https://amzn.to/3R202pY 

 Do you enjoy listening to an honest, funny, down to earth conversation?  That sums up June's chat with serial social entrepreneur Karen Lynch. June met Karen many years ago when Karen was invited to rescue Belu Water which was in debt and its future was looking unsustainable. She stayed, turned it round and left it last year in a good place able to meet her £1m donation to Water Aid. 

Why is child poverty not on the agenda? It’s a horrible situation that doesn’t just affect the child but the wider society. In this podcast I am discussing the issue with Katherine Hill who is the Strategic Project Lead for the London Child Poverty Alliance.  

Whilst filming on-set with her newborn son, Charlotte Riley became very aware of how the lack of childcare was detrimental to the careers of so many women and men working in the film industry. She soon recognised that the kind efforts to support her bringing her baby on set could work for the lead actor but it was not an option for the hundreds of others who form the essential production team – without which no film or programme could ever be produced.Listen to June chat with Charlotte about how her mission to improve childcare provision for the UK film industry has been a catalyst for deeper conversations on breast-feeding, menopause and ageism .

Time to Put Empathy at the Heart of PedagogyJune got to know Helen Garnett when she met her at an Empathy Lab event and was enthralled by her description of the word ‘empathy’. It was a light-bulb moment.  June soon realised that both children and adults were not born with a given level of empathy. On the contrary. It is developed throughout each of our lives and is a vital skill. Furthermore. empathetic behaviour doesn’t just happen – it is caught within a loving and nurturing environment.Listen to their discussion,  see if you can answer the question what can we do to increase empathy?

It was when June was talking at a conference about community engagement where she met Professor Norma Raynes.  She is a lively, impassioned speaker who asked the question – why do we exclude the old from nurseries and school? Does their experience, knowledge and understanding count for nothing? She told of the organisation she founded to address this very pertinent issue. The organisation is, of course, FromGeneration2Generation. Enjoy and connect!