Themed on ‘leading child protection through change‘, we explored how we can use agility and innovation to protect children in a changing political and social landscape.
delegates
speakers
sessions
Throughout the day, delegates explored:
Discussions covered:
Attendees had the opportunity to:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education), Department for Education
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education), Department for Education
Stephen Morgan was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education) at the Department for Education on 9 July 2024.
He was elected as the Labour MP for Portsmouth South in June 2017.
Senior HMI, Schools and Early Education, Ofsted
Senior HMI, Schools and Early Education, Ofsted
Kirsty Godfrey is one of His Majesty's Inspectors. She is a qualified teacher and has worked in senior leadership positions, including headship, in a range of schools for over twenty years. She has also worked as an educational consultant. Her last post before joining Ofsted was as the head of primary in an all-through school. This post involved setting up the primary provision from scratch and further developed her interest and expertise in early years. Kirsty’s current position is Senior His Majesty’s Inspector for Schools and Early Education. This role includes overseeing the development, quality and delivery of training for inspectors. It builds on her previous policy and curriculum roles as specialist advisor and subject lead for early reading.
Professor, University of Oxford
Professor, University of Oxford
Edward Melhuish is Professor of Human Development at the University of Oxford.
He has undertaken research in 12 countries, and is currently undertaking large-scale longitudinal studies in Norway, the UK, and Australia involving family, community and pre-school influences on child development, and policy implications. He is also taking part in an EU-project (ISOTIS) on inequality in childhood involving 11 countries.
His studies contributed to social policy in the UK in the area of families, young children, early education and social disadvantage, including the 1989 Children Act, the 2005 Children Act, 2006 Childcare Bill. He has served as an expert witness to several House of Commons Select Committees, and is a member of a child well-being working group of WHO, and the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group Early Childhood Interventions Group. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and in 2016 was awarded an OBE for services to social sciences.
Over many years, he has acted as an advisor and consultant on a pro-bono basis to many charities and voluntary organisations involved with child well-being, including NSPCC, Save the Children and Action for Children. He has been a trustee of the WAVE trust and the Foundation Years Trust.
Senior Content and Engagement Manager for Early Years, Education Endowment Foundation
Senior Content and Engagement Manager for Early Years, Education Endowment Foundation
Julian joined the EEF in 2024. Before joining the EEF, Julian was the headteacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Newham, East London. During this time, he also led East London Research School. Julian has also been Ofsted's early education lead, and senior early years adviser in Tower Hamlets. He is a trustee of the charity Thrive at Five. He has written several best-selling books about early education and care.
We would love to see you at our next Early Years Summit, taking place on Tuesday 21 April 2026 at the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre.
