Browse the main summit programme for our CST Early Years Summit 2025.
Programme details are subject to change.
Chief Executive, CST
Leora Cruddas is the founding Chief Executive of the Confederation of School Trusts – the national organisation and sector body for school trusts in England. She has advised successive governments and sits on several Department for Education advisory bodies. She was recently the vice chair of the Head Teacher Standards Review Group, a member of the external advisory group for the Schools White Paper, SEND National Implementation Board and the Regulatory and Commissioning Review.
Prior to founding CST, she was Director of Policy and Public Relations for the Association of School and College Leaders. Leora has six years of experience as a director of education in two London local authorities. She is a visiting professor at UCL Institute of Education. Leora was made a CBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours.
Chair of the Early years professional community and Group Chief Quality Officer and Safeguarding Lead, Busy Bees Nurseries
Gill works for Busy Bees Nurseries as their international lead for quality and safeguarding. She also leads the CST Professional Community for Early Years.
Until recently, Gill was the deputy director for schools and early education at Ofsted, where she was responsible for school inspection policy, the curriculum unit, SEND, early years regulation and inspection, ITE, literacy and inspector training. She also led on the inspection of reading and worked closely with the DfE English hubs. As a HMI, she inspected schools, children's centres, SEND, local authorities and early years settings.
Before joining Ofsted, she was a headteacher of several primary schools. Her specialist subjects are English, particularly the teaching of reading, and music.
This session will comprise a short opening presentation by Minister Morgan, followed by a conversation with Leora Cruddas, and the opportunity for questions and discussion.
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.
With a renewed emphasis on achieving key outcomes by the end of Reception and enhanced support through the Early Years Pupil Premium, how can we guarantee that every child gets the best start to their educational journey? Moreover, how can we ensure that all children, not just those who achieve a 'Good Level of Development,' reap the long-term educational, economic, and health benefits? Julian Grenier will explore how research evidence can empower teachers and early years educators to tackle these challenges. Evidence-informed practice can guide us towards more effective approaches and warn us against methods which may not be worth our time or effort.
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.
In this session, Felicity Gillespie of Kindred Squared will share key insights from the research behind the newly published 'Starting Reception' definition and guidance, along with findings from this year's School Readiness Survey. In the discussion, Sian Wicks of ERIC will highlight the support available to schools for young children who are not yet physically ready, while Jenny Shaw of Busy Bees will share the practices implemented across their settings to prepare young children for school. Attendees will benefit from the latest insights on this critical issue in terms of both research and practice to support their work.
Chair of the Early years professional community and Group Chief Quality Officer and Safeguarding Lead, Busy Bees Nurseries
Gill works for Busy Bees Nurseries as their international lead for quality and safeguarding. She also leads the CST Professional Community for Early Years.
Until recently, Gill was the deputy director for schools and early education at Ofsted, where she was responsible for school inspection policy, the curriculum unit, SEND, early years regulation and inspection, ITE, literacy and inspector training. She also led on the inspection of reading and worked closely with the DfE English hubs. As a HMI, she inspected schools, children's centres, SEND, local authorities and early years settings.
Before joining Ofsted, she was a headteacher of several primary schools. Her specialist subjects are English, particularly the teaching of reading, and music.
Director, Kindred Squared
Felicity Gillespie is the Chief Executive of Kindred2, a private foundation focused on improving the quality of early childhood development. She is currently a member of the independent expert panel advising Sir David Bell’s Review of Early Years, commissioned by the Labour Party.
Felicity has been an Advisor to the UK Department for Education since 2011 and the lead specialist Academy Governance Advisor for six years. A board member of Ofsted, previous roles include establishing the Broadcast Training and Skills Regulator and The National Teaching Awards. As the education and training advisor at the Confederation of British Industry, she represented the UK on EU education and training programme boards.
A former Associate of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit and of the National College of School Leadership, Felicity has served as a national judge of the UK National Training Awards on many occasions and speaks on the British education system at conferences and seminars in the USA, Middle East and UK.
Lead Academic Research and Developer, Busy Bees Nurseries
Jenny joined Busy Bees in 2006 and has been an integral part of its quality team for over a decade. With significant experience as a frontline educator, Jenny brings a thorough understanding of child development and the importance of quality early years education to develop a lifelong love of learning.
As Lead Academic Research and Developer for Busy Bees, Jenny has worked collaboratively with a range of early years professionals to develop 'Bee Curious'; Busy Bees' expertly developed, playfully taught curriculum. Alongside her commitment to Busy Bees, she gained a masters degree in early childhood education in 2021.
CEO, ERIC
Siân has recently been appointed as new CEO ERIC. She brings both clinical and commercial experience, having spent more than 40 years in the health, social care, and education sectors. She previously served as chief executive officer of two hospices notably Haven House babies' children’s and young person's hospice. She continues as Chairman of the Board for Achieving for Children Ltd. She has held executive and chief nurse roles in the independent mental health, specialist education and adult social care sector, in addition to her clinical expertise with neonates, children and young people.
Passionate about making a difference, she has devoted her career to improving outcomes for children and young people and brings with her a strong network of connections in the children’s health, education and social care spaces.
A short address from Sadie Stangl, Account Manager, Community Playthings, supporter for the Early years professional community.
Account Manager, Community Playthings
With a background in early childhood education, Sadie has hands-on experience working with two to three year-olds and supporting children with complex physical disabilities. Since joining Community Playthings in 2012, Sadie has held several roles, including head of the room design department, in which she specialised in creating bespoke environments. Sadie now works as an Account Manager, using her knowledge of childcare and design to better serve Community Playthings' customers. On weekends, Sadie enjoys spending time outdoors with her three daughters.
Katharine Young, Deputy Headteacher, and Katherine Roberts, Assistant Headteacher of Elmhurst Primary School (of New Vision Trust, a trust of five primary schools) will share the school’s approach to early years education, which has at its heart the goal of an effective balance of direct teaching and formal routines, and intentional play-based learning. They will discuss how they address some of the challenges of working in a significantly disadvantaged area with high numbers of pupils with EAL. They will also share their model for developing early language through meaningful interactions and to successfully embedding reading and maths mastery from an early age.
Deputy Headteacher/Head of School, Elmhurst Primary School, New Vision Trust
Katharine Young is Head of School/Deputy Head Teacher at Elmhurst Primary School, a large, outstanding primary school in Newham, East London. She has over 15 years teaching experience in Primary Education, including nearly 10 years in school leadership. She is a keen advocate for reading for pleasure, having written a reading for pleasure leadership programme for the English Hubs network.
Assistant Headteacher, Elmhurst Primary School, New Vision Trust
Katherine Roberts is an Assistant Head Teacher at Elmhurst Primary School which is a large, outstanding school in Newham, East London. The school is part of New Vision Trust, a group of five schools across Newham and Redbridge. Katherine is an experienced senior leader with over 20 years of teaching experience in Key Stage 1 and early years. She is an expert reading leader and has supported schools through New Vision English Hub in improving their phonics provision.
There are three research perspectives that can inform us how to develop Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). These are neuroscience, developmental science and economics. Neuroscience reveals developmentally sensitive periods. Developmental science considers implications for development over time. Economics can reveal important policy considerations. This presentation will draw on research from these perspectives showing the importance of ECEC for children, families and nations, how this can influence children’s long-term development, and the implications for how we plan practice and policy.
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.
St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust comprises of five primary and four secondary schools, and one registered nursery, and serves some of the country’s most highly disadvantaged communities. In this session, Andrew and Amy will share the trust’s approach to an ambitious curriculum, that has reading at its core, and places value on high yield learning activities and adult instruction. The case study is rooted in a structured progression model based on the principle of 'keep up, not catch up' and is driven by insights from a robust system of assessment. Importantly, they will discuss how they use this model to ensure the provision of the right opportunities at the right time for each child to master all areas of the curriculum to achieve a good level of development.
CEO, St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust
Andrew is the first substantive Chief Executive Officer of St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust. In his previous role, Andrew was the executive headteacher of two Ofsted-rated outstanding academies in Sheffield and a third school, which was in special measures when he took it on, that is now judged to be good in all areas. Andrew founded Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance, a teaching school with one of the strongest track records in South Yorkshire, was the strategic lead for St Wilfrid’s English Hub and a member of the English Hubs Council. Andrew is a National Leader of Education and has been personally responsible for a number of highly successful, large-scale school improvement projects
Director of School Improvement - Primary, St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust
Amy is the Director of Primary Education within St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust. She joined the St Joseph CMAT following headship within REAch2 Academy Trust, the largest primary only trust in the country. She has an unrelenting focus on ensuring that all children receive the best possible education, and has a strong track record of successful school improvement within areas of high deprivation. Amy brings extensive experience of working with the most vulnerable children and has demonstrated the ability to improve children’s lives through education. With a driving force for collaboration and developing expertise, Amy has supported many schools and individuals to demonstrate excellence and thrive in their settings. Amy’s support ensures that school communities are empowered to achieve the very best educational success for all.
In this session, Jennifer Holly of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood will set the scene by sharing the Shaping Us Framework. This framework sets out the social and emotional skills that are critical for learning from early childhood and throughout life, the role school leaders can play in the community to support these foundations. Rachel Vlachonikolis of River Learning Trust’s New Marston Primary School will share the inclusive model the trust has developed to widen the school's 'circle of provision'. The model includes a tailored bespoke curriculum for children (who are eligible for specialist school but unable to access places) in reception through to year two. Jenny Shaw will share Busy Bees’ approach to inclusive practice, placing the child and the key person at the heart of their bespoke curriculum and ensuring educators have a strong understanding of child development to support early intervention.
Headteacher, New Marston Primary School, River Learning Trust
Rachel is Headteacher at New Marston Primary School, an RLT primary school for children aged 2-11 with a hearing resource base and SLCN enhanced provision. She is also a teacher development trust facilitator. Prior to her role as headteacher, Rachel was a special education needs coordinator. Rachel is passionate about making sure school is a positive experience for everyone in the community: all pupils, including pupils with SEND, families and staff.
Lead Academic Research and Developer, Busy Bees Nurseries
Jenny joined Busy Bees in 2006 and has been an integral part of its quality team for over a decade. With significant experience as a frontline educator, Jenny brings a thorough understanding of child development and the importance of quality early years education to develop a lifelong love of learning.
As Lead Academic Research and Developer for Busy Bees, Jenny has worked collaboratively with a range of early years professionals to develop 'Bee Curious'; Busy Bees' expertly developed, playfully taught curriculum. Alongside her commitment to Busy Bees, she gained a masters degree in early childhood education in 2021.
Chair of the Early years professional community and Group Chief Quality Officer and Safeguarding Lead, Busy Bees Nurseries
Gill works for Busy Bees Nurseries as their international lead for quality and safeguarding. She also leads the CST Professional Community for Early Years.
Until recently, Gill was the deputy director for schools and early education at Ofsted, where she was responsible for school inspection policy, the curriculum unit, SEND, early years regulation and inspection, ITE, literacy and inspector training. She also led on the inspection of reading and worked closely with the DfE English hubs. As a HMI, she inspected schools, children's centres, SEND, local authorities and early years settings.
Before joining Ofsted, she was a headteacher of several primary schools. Her specialist subjects are English, particularly the teaching of reading, and music.
Senior Research and Impact Manager, The Royal Foundation
Jennifer is the Research and Impact Manager at the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales where she supports their early years and mental health programmes. Jennifer has also recently worked as a research assistant at King’s College London, most notably contributing to the analysis of interviews conducted for the ESMI-II study into the effectiveness of community perinatal mental health services. She is also a part-time PhD student at the Section of Women’s Mental Health at the IoPPN at King’s, where her research centres around the concept of maternal instinct.
A keynote address from Kirsty Godfrey 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.
Chair of the Early years professional community and Group Chief Quality Officer and Safeguarding Lead, Busy Bees Nurseries
Gill works for Busy Bees Nurseries as their international lead for quality and safeguarding. She also leads the CST Professional Community for Early Years.
Until recently, Gill was the deputy director for schools and early education at Ofsted, where she was responsible for school inspection policy, the curriculum unit, SEND, early years regulation and inspection, ITE, literacy and inspector training. She also led on the inspection of reading and worked closely with the DfE English hubs. As a HMI, she inspected schools, children's centres, SEND, local authorities and early years settings.
Before joining Ofsted, she was a headteacher of several primary schools. Her specialist subjects are English, particularly the teaching of reading, and music.
