Hannah Crown

Going back to the roots of early years education - Nursery World Newly unearthed archive material reveals how childcare first became recognised as a skilled occupation in the UK. By Hannah Crown

The discovery of century old newspaper clippings from nursery founder Marion Blake (pictured left) led to a feature in March's @nurseryworld.bsky.social, featuring Angela Davis @sas-news.bsky.social and archive material from @faberbooks.bsky.social www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat...

Lessons from dementia-friend training | Early Years Educator Children will remember feelings over actions, and educators have to respond with their emotional security in mind, says lecturer Sarah Guscot

Children may forget what we taught them, but they will remember how we made them feel, says Sarah Guscott, in this piece about memory and emotion, inspired by training to help those with dementia www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/full/10....

Cannot get over these #columns. Who was the lovely genius who thought to brighten up a #railway platform with free art? #malvern #greatmalvern @gwr.com @greatwesternrailway.info

Are there people out there who are into columns? As in architectural? Cos Malvern Link station - man, column- lovers eat your heart out

EYFS changes part 4: Reflecting best practice in the new-style inspections - Nursery World In the final part of this series, Hannah Crown talks to a recently inspected setting and an inspector about what the new-look Ofsted inspections look and feel like in practice and how they provide a m...

New piece on #Ofsted inspections in @nurseryworld.bsky.social after speaking with experts, a setting, Ofsted and an #inspector: www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat...

EYFS changes part 3: Creating a climate change plan for your setting - Nursery World How are early years settings going about devising their climate action plan, and what should they put in one? Hannah Crown reports

Get some inspiration putting together your #climate action plan #CAP with some tips from Honeypot and Tops. Did you know all settings in England can get help drafting a plan for free? #climate #ambassadors tinyurl.com/4kwjsdxp

Awareness training improves pupils' recognition of gender stereotypes - CYP Now Primary school students and teachers have benefited from taking part in a training and awards programme to encourage gender equity.

As Clive Belgeonne of @genderaction.bsky.social says, we need both subject parity and gender equity in schools for more #girls in #STEM. Because "when boys feel comfortable to do dance and drama, girls are more likely to do physics and chemistry". www.cypnow.co.uk/content/best...

EYFS changes: How inspections for childminders are moving to a more 'collaborative' process - Nursery World In part 1 of this series, Hannah Crown explores changes for childminders within the new inspection framework

@ofstednews.bsky.social inspectors will no longer spend large chunks of inspections in front of a screen typing, but will take down notes in longhand first as this is less intimidating. P1 of new series on #childminders changes www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat... @nurseryworld.bsky.social

We are 100, but we still don't know who was the first ‘editress’ of @nurseryworld.bsky.social Launched by Sir Geoffrey Cust Faber, of @faberbooks.bsky.social at 24 Russell Square London. One possible name is Mrs N Rieu. Who can help? @annetterawstrone.bsky.social @gabriellajoz.bsky.social

It's time to 'let play lead the day' - Nursery World In the past children enjoyed far greater freedoms to play. Hannah Crown reports from an event which was a call to action to address this fundamental right.

Campaigners are trying to make #play a statutory duty in England, but Parliament looks unlikely to pass a crucial amendment. Why? Wales already has this, Scotland and NI have protections @appgonplay.bsky.social @eugeneminogue.bsky.social
www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat...

All about …devising your own curriculum - Nursery World Where should a setting start when creating a unique curriculum? Hannah Crown speaks to some who have done it to ask why they took the step, and how they did it

What is your curriculum? Could you define it to a friend, a colleague, @ofstednews.bsky.social inspector?
Going through this process doesn't have to be complicated, provides excellent CPD focused on a cohort and helps in inspections: @profveritycb.bsky.social www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat...

Outdoor learning scheme helps disadvantaged pupils experience nature - CYP Now Thanks to funding from the Ernest Cook Trust, disadvantaged groups of students are able to undertake a residential visit that helps them become more connected with the natural world.

When did #nature become uncool? Scheme aiming to tackle #adolescent #mentalhealth, learning disengagement and #climate finds being seen to act environmentally is a challenge for teenagers. We must build this love from the #earlyyears
My piece for #CYPNow www.cypnow.co.uk/content/best...

Child criminal exploitation project makes an impact - CYP Now Programme combines drama, workshops and team-building to help children identify the warning signs of grooming, knife crime and criminal exploitation.

An eye opening project using #theatre to drive home messages on #CCE. from @peelxo.bsky.social and Challenge Academy for #CYPNow magazine. www.cypnow.co.uk/content/best...

All about… family hubs - Nursery World With Children’s Centres having declined by a third since their peak of 3,600,Hannah Crown asks to what extent the new family hubs build on the legacy of Sure Start

Govt's new and significant £500m investment in 'family hubs' means the remaining 65 or so councils which don't have them now will 'by April 2026', and 1000 total by 2028. (At its peak in 2010, Sure Start received £1.8 billion a year funding 3,600 centres.) www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat...

Face-to-face professional development Part 1: Starting a new 'Early Years Conversation' - Nursery World How one nursery used a research trial to help children's communication. By Julian Grenier, senior content and engagement manager, EEF

How to apply the findings of #research #toolkits such as those from the @theeef.bsky.social to #EY practice? @juliangrenier.bsky.social has written a short series for @nurseryworld.bsky.social based on experiences in Building Blocks nursery, Tottenham: lnkd.in/ebF8rzHV lnkd.in/ePPiNZyN

A good read from a great range of international experts

A fantastic event for young book fans and their families - Nursery World Hannah Crown reports back from a day spent at the 2025 Barnes Children’s Literature Festival with her four-year-old son and explains why she is now inspired to ‘tear up the story time rule book at hom...

My son and I had fab day of #storytelling @ Barneskidslitfest
using nursery rhyme rap from @MrMCGrammar
#clay from @aardman and sensory storytelling from Vanessa Woolf @ londondreamtime nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat... @nurseryworld.bsky.social

Training Today: How to create and keep your leaders - Nursery World Find out how two nursery groups are using mentors and innovative learning approaches to help develop individuals in their teams. By Hannah Crown

More #earlyyears settings are investing in personalised training - #learningjournals for staff - to overcome the difficulties of getting staff out of ratio for CPD. #fennies and #littlebarnowls tell @nurseryworld.bsky.social in detail how it works www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat...

Training Today: Working with babies to provide close, secure relationships - Nursery World How can settings equip staff with the skills they need to fulfil the essential and highly skilled role of being a baby room practitioner? By Hannah Crown

#babies #schoolreadiness - As @danwuori.bsky.social said at @literacy-trust.bsky.social conf: "We want children to come to kindergarten age five ready to learn, as if learning doesn't take place before. But learning begins in the womb." My piece for @nurseryworld.bsky.social shorturl.at/io9y2

Reform councillors aged 19 and 22 in charge of children’s and adult services at local authority Social workers raise questions over clash of values and lack of experience of new lead members at Leicestershire County Council

Good grief.
Adult Social Care in Leicestershire now being run by a 22-year-old who doesn't believe depression is real...
And a 19-year-old student is in charge of the £200M children's services budget.
new.basw.co.uk/about-social...

Delighted to win a @basw-uk.bsky.social award last night for my piece for #CYPNow on the barriers to diversity in #socialwork - why are there only 11 directors of children's services from #BAME backgrounds despite 26% of social workers being from these backgrounds? www.cypnow.co.uk/content/feat...

Research: How a new toolkit can help practitioners develop their own small-scale projects - Nursery World How can early years educators use their own research in their practice? Frances Giampapa has developed a ‘Researchful Practice Toolkit’

#Earlyyears research doesn't have to be complicated - one #EY practitioner used a simple research #toolkit to develop a project to ask children how they played in their garden, and used their responses to redesign the space to make it more meaningful for them www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/prac...

Training Today: Finding direction through new qualifications pathways - Nursery World Hannah Crown and NCFE CACHE provide a guide to early years qualifications, outlining current qualifications levels and key recent changes

Confused about how T levels, apprenticeships and college courses intersect? Myself and #NCFE #Cache have devised a Level 2 to 6 guide in the annual Training Today supplement with ratio and english/maths changes explained @nurseryworld.bsky.social shorturl.at/wTfFh

How predictability helps children make sense of the world - Nursery World Latest research confirms that a secure and consistent foundation for healthy development sets the stage for growth and learning. By Lisa Ann Peters, Anna Gawthorpe, Dr Gemma Goldenberg and Professor ...

Why babies like playing peek-a-boo?
'This is where predictability comes into play; psychologists often refer to children's brains as ‘prediction machines’, which are constantly making predictions and testing whether they are correct.' Read more here...
www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/feat...

@nurseryworld.bsky.social

100 years of #NurseryWorld was depicted at the #nwbigdayout2025 last Friday through an exhibition of more than 80 covers - a fascinating glimpse into social change, the evolution of childcare and depictions of child and parenthood. Was a pleasure to curate this #NWarchivewoman

First-time mothers find support in baby boxes - CYP Now Essential resources help vulnerable first-time mothers give children the best start in life, while building parents’ confidence and saving them money

My piece on a simple yet effective #Babybox project from the children's foundation up in the north east - shouldn't this be rolled out nationwide? @childrenscomm.bsky.social www.cypnow.co.uk/content/prac...

Michael Pettavel: Finding common ground - Nursery World The maintained and PVI sectors need to come together to fight the negative policies being imposed on the whole of the early years

Labour's nurseries in schools policy "does not appreciate that schools are not experts in early years education and care; it could be argued that they do not prioritise it highly enough" www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news...

Trump takes aim at city and state climate laws in executive order President orders justice department to stop enforcement of critical policies holding fossil fuel companies accountable

This is truly terrible.
If Trump’s destruction of the environment were given even a fraction of the media airtime that his destruction of the global economy is, the world might be a safer place for all of us

Investigation launched amid concerns PVI providers are being pushed out by school-based nurseries - Nursery World The Early Years Alliance has filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Department for Education (DfE) to uncover the impact of the Government’s school-based nursery policy on PVI providers.

What will be the impact of the impact of the school-based nursery policy on PVI providers, including those with settings on school grounds? An understandably upset @eyalliance.bsky.social is FOIing the #DfE to find out www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news...