My dear friends and colleagues,

Now that routines have slowly begun settling , I think many of us are starting to see this past season a little more clearly.
Not only the disruption itself, but what it revealed:
About leadership. About teams.
About the emotional weight people quietly carry within this sector. And also about the extraordinary way our early years community continues to find one another during difficult periods.

Over the past few months, I have had some of the most honest conversations with leaders than I think I have had in years.
Less polished. Less performative. And far more real.
People speaking openly about fatigue, uncertainty, staffing pressures, decision-making, financial realities, and the emotional responsibility of trying to keep things steady for everyone else.

But alongside all of that, I have also seen generosity, collaboration, humour, perspective, and genuine care for one another in ways that have stayed with me and even steadied me in my own wobbly moments.

I guess that is why so many of the Let’s talk early years conversations this month naturally centre around leadership.

Leadership in Times of Crisis

This month on the podcast, I was joined in studio by two women I deeply respect within the Dubai early years community

Latoya Donalds from Think Nursery and Fatima Vohra from Early Years Excellence.
Both former nursery directors. Both highly experienced. And both still working very closely with settings, leaders, and educators across the UAE through their respective businesses.
The conversation was relaxed, honest, and incredibly insightful.

Not from the perspective of people commenting from the outside, but from professionals who have lived through some of the sector’s most difficult periods, including navigating the COVID years here in the UAE.
We spoke about crisis leadership, supporting teams through uncertainty, the pressure leaders often absorb behind the scenes, and the realities of leading when there are no perfect answers.

At times serious. At times funny.
And very, very familiar for anyone working in this space.

Crisis Management for Leaders in Early Years Settings

On the Blog This Month

This month’s featured article is penned by Dr. Samia Kazi, CEO of Arabian Child.
The Leadership Crisis in Early Childhood: Why Building the Workforce Matters.

It is a thoughtful and timely piece that speaks directly to conversations many of us are already having across the sector.
Particularly around workforce retention, professional support, leadership sustainability, and what happens when the demands placed on early years professionals continue growing while the workforce itself is under increasing pressure.

There is a line in the article that so resonated with me:
“we cannot continue speaking about quality in early childhood education while overlooking the people expected to sustain it.”

An important read for leaders, educators, owners, and anyone invested in the future of our profession.

Leadership Roundtable with Mr. Gaurav Saxena

Earlier this month, we also hosted our leadership roundtable facilitated by Mr. Gaurav Saxena.

What stood out most to me during the session was not only the depth of experience in the room, but the openness.

Leaders spoke candidly about operational pressures, staffing challenges, parent expectations, financial realities, and the emotional fatigue that can accompany prolonged periods of uncertainty.

But there was also something else in the room that felt equally important:
perspective.

The kind that only comes from experienced people speaking honestly and listening with empathy. And I think many leaders left the session feeling reminded that they are not navigating these realities in isolation.

See more from our event here!

Professional Certificate in Educational Leadership & Management
Following the roundtable, many leaders reached out asking for more structured opportunities to strengthen their leadership and management capacity within education.

We are therefore incredibly pleased to officially announce the Professional Certificate in Educational Leadership & Management for PreK–12 in partnership with ICQAW UK and Cognisial.

This executive programme has been designed specifically for educational leaders and explores areas such as strategic leadership, operations, finance, quality assurance, organizational culture, safeguarding, enrolment growth, and educational business management.

What I appreciate most about the programme is that it reflects the realities of leadership today.
Because leading educational settings now requires far more than simply managing day-to-day operations.
It requires judgement.
Adaptability. Emotional intelligence. Business understanding.
And the ability to lead people through complexity while still protecting the integrity of the work itself.

Read more about the programme here.

Eid -Al -Adha Mubarak from 

Let's Talk Early Years

Wishing our wonderful early years community a celebration filled with love, gratitude, and happiness.

And finally…

Thank you for the many birthday wishes!
I spent a few quiet days in the Maldives celebrating my 50th birthday and reflecting on just how much there is to be grateful for.
This community is certainly one of those things.
Fifty feels less dramatic than I expected it to. I have a sense of quietness, of clarity and renewed purpose.
And perhaps more than anything, I feel grateful that after all these years in education, the work still feels meaningful, the conversations still matter, and the community around this platform continues to grow in such thoughtful and authentic ways.

Thank you for continuing to walk this journey alongside me.