Tiny Chair Podcast

Safeguarding expert Ann Marie Christian joins Matt and Julia for a frank conversation about keeping children safe in Early Years settings. With over 30 years of experience as a social worker, LADO, DSL, and safeguarding consultant, Ann Marie shares hard-won lessons from real investigations. We cover CCTV in nurseries, the 2026 KCSIE and Safer Sleep changes, spotting grooming, the grey areas of phy...

Laura Henry-Allain MBE is an award-winning international educator, author, speaker, and consultant. She knows Early Years inside out and has been everything from a nursery manager to an Ofsted inspector, and is vice-president of The British Association for Early Childhood Education. Laura received a Nursery World lifetime achievement award in 2021. Laura also plays many roles in children’s media,...

Mary Anderson is the co-founder of My Music Starts Here alongside her husband Mike. My Music Starts Here provides early music education through resources, support for educators, and they even have their own certification. Their mission statement is: "We strive to ensure that all young children, regardless of their race, gender, abilities, location, school, childcare, or socioeconomic status, have...

Sarah Scotland is a nutritionist with over 20 years of experience, and is the founder of Wise About Food, a community interest company, focused on food and nutrition. Sarah has previously supported us here at Famly with some of our Early Years nutrition content. She's also worked with Transport for London, the YMCA, housing associations, charities, and a local authority. Sarah provides workshops o...

Dr Lewis Fogarty is a lecturer in Education At Brunel University and one half of the duo of directors at Always Growing. They have four settings across Berkshire and Middlesex, and are famous for their 4POP pedagogy. He is also a trustee of TACTYC, The Chair of the Board of Trustees of the charity ConnectED AND is the founder of Edventurous Leadership. Lewis is now a published author; his book, “1...

Mienna is an Early Years educator, a nursery owner, and an Early Years consultant with 34 years of experience. She very proudly holds an NNEB, and says her “personal mission is to help parents and caregivers shift their expectations; meeting children where they are developmentally, rather than where we assume they should be.” Mienna is an advocate of an unplugged childhood, outdoor play, and suppo...

Ian Timbrell is the founder of More Than Flags and Rainbows, a not-for-profit organisation helping make education settings more inclusive, from Early Years settings up. Ian has 20 years of experience in education, including as an ICT Advisor and a Deputy Head Teacher. In fact, one of Ian’s previous schools (that he worked in, not attended!) was the first Primary School in Wales to achieve the Prou...

Greg Bottrill is the founder of Can I Go and Play Now?, offering training for Early Years settings and schools, so that “the magic of children can really shine”. He’s also an award-winning author, a speaker, and a passionate advocate for play. He's behind approaches like Adventure Island and Drawing Club, and is also the creator of Play school TV, creating characters like “Zoomer the Number Dog,"...

Tamsin is an early childhood and early education specialist, a trainer and consultant, and Principal Lecturer in Early Years at Norland College. She is the Early Years Education Director at Linden Learning, and an Early Education Associate. She’s a speaker, a writer, and an advocate of Loving Pedagogy.

Trisha Lee is the founder and artistic director of Make Believe Arts, a theatre and education company, and the charity behind Helicopter Stories. Trisha created MakeBelieve Arts in 2002, based on the idea that “story has the power to change lives”. She is a writer, a speaker, a trainer, and is a trained secondary school drama teacher although now the children she works with are mostly in the Early...

Ben Kingston-Hughes, is the director of Inspired Children, and has over 30 years of experience working with young people. He is a trainer, speaker, and author, and has written everything from books to strategies for Local Authorities to articles for Nursery World. He is the winner of the 2019 National Playwork Awards Training Award and was a finalist for the Nursery World Trainer of the Year in 20...

Brett Wigdortz OBE is the co-founder and CEO of Tiney, the biggest childminder agency in England. He is also the founder and former CEO of Teach First, a charity that works to address educational disadvantage by placing graduates in low-income schools. Brett is the Co-Founder of Teach For All and the Fair Education Alliance and received his OBE for services to education in 2013. He says that his l...

Joss Cambridge-Simmons is a multi-award-winning nanny, Early Years educator, and the founder of Jossy Care. Joss is passionate about self care, mental health, well being, love, and of course, childcare and education. Joss is also a DJ as well as a writer and a speaker, and content creator - you can find him on all your favourite social media platforms. Joss is a 7 times award-winner and 16 times a...

Pete is a professional sculptor, author, researcher, and trainer, and has a passion for creative education and woodwork in the Early Years. After working with a local nursery part-time, he fell for the Early Years and now runs Irresistible Learning, an Early Years Creative Consultancy. He is Chair of the Early Childhood Woodwork Association, and founder of the Big Bang Project, which advocates for...

Cheryl has over thirty years of experience in the Early Years sector as a nanny, family support, LA advisor, SENCO, trainer, assessor, lecturer, and quality inspector. Cheryl was awarded ‘Trainer of the Year’ at the 2022 Nursery World Awards and has written a book called Neurodiversity in the Early Years. She does speaking, writing, and consultancy for parents and Early Years settings, as well as...

Jan is an Early Years expert, consultant, trainer & writer. He is the Programme Director for hey! at Hempsall’s and, in 2018, the Times Educational Supplement named him as one of the ten most influential people in British education. He has decades of experience in the sector, as a Nursery, Reception and Year 1 teacher in schools across Britain and then leading teams as an Early Years coordinat...

Dr. Alistair Bryce-Clegg, otherwise known as ABC, is an international early years consultant and trainer with three decades of experience in the sector. He's an author, a speaker, and author of the PlayList. He's advised the government's Education Select Committee on Early Years policy and practice and even the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. He has even had a debut on the TV in the B...

Prerna is a global Early Childhood expert and founder of Together We Grow. In this episode of the Tiny Chair Podcast, Matt and I are joined by Prerna Richards of Together We Grow. We talk about spotting stress, deep breathing, and how to find more joy in the day-to-day. Customer stories https://www.famly.co/customers Prernas website https://togetherwegrow.online/free-downloads/ Prernas Youtube htt...

Dr June O'Sullivan is the CEO of the London Early Years Foundation. June has headed projects involving intergenerational care, parents in prisons, sustainability, bringing more men into the EY sector, engaging dads, ratios, Ofsted, the role of chefs, and many, many more. June has an OBE for services to education, recently got her doctorate in developing sustainability sustainability, informed staf...

Dr Nazish Usman is a qualified early years teacher who’s taught all over the world, and she can speak 4 languages. She’s a child psychologist with a specialism in cognitive behavioural therapy, and has just completed her PhD on the “Role of Emotional Intelligence in Character Building during Early Childhood Education.” She’s currently the Head of Safeguarding and Compliance for Early Years at Litt...

Kerry Murphy is an early childhood specialist and lecturer in Early Childhood and SEND at Goldsmiths University. She specialises in neurodiversity- and disability-affirming practice, improving inclusion, understanding and promoting a celebratory framework of assessment and support. She’s a 22-year veteran of the Early Years as well as a consultant and author. She has delivered seminars and trainin...

Tom is the Operations Director for Naturally Learning, a group of seven settings based in Cornwall, with some of the most beautiful environments you will ever see. They have a forest and beach school, and, as Tom will no doubt echo in this episode, are passionate about being outside in their environment. The philosophy of the settings is unhurried, child-led learning and development - hence Natura...

This week we sit down with Neil Leitch, the chief exec of Early Years Alliance. We get the gossip on what it’s really like working with the government, how his own childhood shaped his own views on why Early Years matters so much, and why football is the one time he can switch his brain off. You’ll hear about his proudest moments supporting 14,000 members at the alliance, and why he thinks the rea...

Sue has been a teacher and Early Years coordinator, a senior Early Years lead, and a local authority special advisor. She’s been trained and accredited in the BrainSET approach and has achieved a Level 2 award in ‘An Introduction to Neuroscience in the Early Years’. As well as being on the editorial board of Early Years Educator for many years, she’s also written books of her own. Sue is also a lo...

Liz, is an Early Years consultant under the title The Black Nursery Manager. She writes articles, leads webinars, and was a part of Famly’s inaugural children’s champion judging panel. Liz has an MA in early childhood and is a qualified secondary school teacher. She ran a setting for many years herself, before launching the Black Nursery Manager consultancy in 2020. She has been nominated as a Nur...