Cathy’s recent work includes:

• Early Education and Mercers: leading and collaborating in a four-year early years specialist initiative project for school readiness. This is called SPACE to flourish in the early years: Supporting Pedagogy, Arts and Creativity in Education. This is co-created with Debi Keyte-Hartland and Beatrice Merrick at Early Education. 
• Virtual school professional partner: advising and providing information and guidance for care experienced families around education dilemmas and experiences for their children. 
• Coaching and mentoring leaders and teams in the EYFS, providing bespoke thinking spaces and CPD to build confidence and deepen pedagogy.
• Attuned Teaching: co-author of a book chapter, developing attuned project work, case study research for CCoT, and coaching group participation to develop teaching and attunement through an anti-bias approach, building relationships, creating safety, and deepening knowledge. This work is in collaboration with Prof Rachel Lofthouse. 
• Writing and advising on curriculum documentation and best practice for EYFS for teams and schools.

Throughout her work, Cathy is passionate about the rights of children and developmentally appropriate playful learning and teaching for children, ensuring that vulnerable children are advocated for, and all have opportunities for reaching their dreams and aspirations. Her lived experiences as a therapeutic parent and full time parent entwine with her professional experiences to enrich her knowledge and practice continually. Further information about Cathy’s experience, career, and work is available on social media.

Cathy’s coaching, mentoring and working style

Cathy works in a fluid, flexible and responsive way that is specific and personal. She believes that coaching as a way of being enables others to gain confidence, grow and deepen both personally and professionally, encouraging self-efficacy, efficiency, and development of practice and pedagogy. Coaching empowers and transforms! Her research (2022) shows that adults who work with young children can grow, gain confidence and be transformed through coaching. Her work supports settings to meet the EYFS statutory guidance (2021) for supervision providing coaching and training of staff; and coaching for personal effectiveness (page 26 paras 3.22 and 3.23).

Cathy’s values and principles 

Cathy endeavours to operate with high integrity with specialism, space, thinking time, and depth in early years pedagogy, curriculum, and early education. 

As a lifelong learner, she is committed to being the best she can be, and is always learning and growing. She works to build trust in an atmosphere of mutual reflection, honesty, and openness. Cathy aims to practice Nancy Kline’s ‘Time to Think’ and particularly supports the 5:1 ratio of the giving of appreciation to criticism, particularly when using a Thinking Environment coaching style session.

Feedback and evaluation

Cathy considers this an important part of her work which enables colleagues and partners to review and evaluate effectiveness of a project collaboratively. She builds this into all the work that she does.