Speakers

Philippa's career began as an early years teacher in 1989, progressing to Head of Nursery/Foundation Stage and Assistant Head Teacher roles, and as an Early Years Adviser and Community Teacher for Sheffield City Council. She has taught internationally in outdoor education (Australia, NSW), Carmel International School in Hong Kong, and a Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten. She also spent two years travelling and volunteering in South East Asia. Moving into Higher Education in 2006, she has been keen to engage students, practitioners, parents, and children in a range of scholarship and research activity to enhance practice and employability. She is currently co-chair of the national organisation ' the Early Childhood Studies Degrees Network (ECSDN) which advocates for high quality early childhood studies degrees and lobbies for graduates in the workforce with an agenda for social justice. As part of the Coalition, Philippa wrote the section on play in Birth to 5 Matters alongside Nancy Stewart and chaired the new QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Early Childhood Studies Degrees. Philippa has written extensively in books, blogs, articles and journals and most recently has co -edited a book 'Partnership with parents in early childhood today' with Dr Helen Simmons. The book focuses on the idea of co production and how practitioners and students can develop their practice working alongside families that are considered as marginalised. She is currently working towards a PhD focusing on the voices of parents of children with anaphylaxis and food allergies and their experiences in early childhood (0-8yrs) settings.