Leadership for Quality in Early Years and Playwork: Supporting your team to achieve better outcomes for children and families

The definitive guide to developing leadership skills in early years settings, this book will help you to develop a leadership style tailored to your early years setting.

Designed to support existing, new and aspiring leaders, it spans all levels of leadership, from organisational and team leadership to practice. It presents key theories of leadership with relevant examples and strategies and is illustrated throughout with case studies, reflective exercises and recommended reading.

Once you have read this book, you will be able to plan, implement, sustain, review and evaluate your own and your workplace's improvements to ensure effective leadership, continuous quality improvement and better outcomes for children and families.

Andrea Lancaster is an Early Years Foundation Stage consultant for Sheffield County Council. At the time of writing the book her role involved the support and development of leadership and management within the private, voluntary and independent early years education and childcare sectors. She now works exclusively with schools and takes a particular interest in developing provision for two year olds within that sector.

Debbie Garvey is an active trainer, writer and speaker on the subjects of leadership, mentoring, team building and reflective practice, and the roles these play in quality improvement for early years settings. She was a founder member of the National Quality Improvement Network, managed by the National Children's Bureau, and is founder of Stonegate Training Consultancies, which provides training and advocacy designed to improve quality provision for children, young people and families.