Supporting the people who care for our youngest children

For more than twenty-five years, I have worked in education and led Early Years and primary settings, supporting practitioners, families and children through both the everyday joys and the more complex demands of the work.

Over time, I came to recognise something that had always felt missing.

We spent enormous amounts of time thinking about children, yet far less time thinking with the adults who cared for them.

That question became the starting point for PropelEd.

Who supports the people caring for our youngest children?

Supervision has long been part of Early Years practice. It is a statutory expectation, and throughout my leadership career I had experienced supervision in many different forms.

Throughout my leadership career, supervision was often used to review actions, monitor practice or discuss performance. Those conversations were important, but they rarely created space to pause, reflect or think more deeply about the emotional and relational aspects of working with young children.

Discovering reflective supervision completely changed the way I thought about supervision.

I realised that supervision could become far more than a process or a meeting. 

It could become a protected space where practitioners could safely explore complexity, strengthen professional judgement and develop through thoughtful conversation.

Reflective supervision doesn't replace supervision; it transforms the way we think about it.

From supervision as a process... to supervision as a culture.

My approach is shaped by more than twenty-five years leading Early Years settings, specialist training in reflective supervision, and ongoing collaboration with colleagues, researchers and professional networks who are committed to strengthening supervision across education.

Diploma in Reflective Supervision in Education, CSTD Bath (UKCP Recognised Supervisor Training)

Early Years Trainer and Supervisor for Educators, CSTD Bath

BEd (Hons) Education with Mathematics (Primary & Early Years) – University of Oxford

Working Party Member and Supervisor Member, CoPSiEbE (Community of Practising Supervisors in Education by Educators)

Member, Supervision in Education Network, St Mary's University, Twickenham