The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) are pleased to announce that, following a competitive tender process, we have been appointed as the Department for Education’s (DfE) early years stakeholder engagement partner until 31 March 2022.

NCB brings people and organisations together to drive change in society and deliver a better childhood across the UK. We care passionately about a high quality, inclusive early years sector and are champions for early years professionals.

We always work in partnership with children, parents and professionals and strive to support those working in the early years sector to deliver the highest quality of care and education for all children, underpinned by secure understanding of child development and effective early years practice.

Over the last year, we have seen the extraordinary commitment of the early years sector in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have also heard about the challenges you are facing and we will continue to work collaboratively with the whole sector and DfE to make sure your views inform policy development and the activity we deliver through Foundation Years.

We’re looking forward to bringing you monthly newsletters and regular newsflashes to keep you up-to-date on the latest policy and practice news. We will also be developing a programme of vodcasts, blogs and Learn – Explore – Debate events on the topics you told us you would like more information on, including implementation of the EYFS reforms and the initial stages of COVID-19 recovery.

There will be a variety of opportunities throughout the year for you to share your views on policy and practice developments. In the meantime, you can contact us at any time via email, Twitter or Facebook. We read every message and greatly value your feedback.

Best wishes
NCB


Meet the team

We’re delighted to introduce the team delivering the early years stakeholder engagement contract:

Gill Holden is the Principal Officer of the Early Childhood Unit at NCB and an early childhood professional with 30+ years’ experience working across the early years’ sector, as a practitioner, a quality improvement consultant and as strategic leadership within local authorities. Gill will lead on the programme of vodcasts, blogs and Learn – Explore – Debate events, making sure that the voices of the whole sector are amplified.

Celeste Pergolizzi leads on early years policy at NCB, Celeste has experience communicating key policy updates to the early years sector and enjoys working with stakeholders to make sure what’s happening on the ground informs policy development. Celeste will lead on communications delivered through the Foundation Years website, social media channels and newsletters.

Alison Whitmore is the Project Officer of the Early Childhood Unit at NCB and an experienced administrator, with 30+ years’ experience, including supporting early years training and events. Alison will support the delivery of the Learn – Explore – Debate events.

Tariq Anderson is a Policy Assistant at NCB. Tariq works across the policy team, helping to coordinate campaigns and supporting a variety of research and policy projects. Tariq will support communications delivered through the Foundation Years website, social media channels and newsletters.