In this episode, our CEO, Mary Ramsay, speaks to Sue Atkins.

Sue Atkins is an internationally recognised Parenting Expert, Broadcaster, Speaker and Author of the best-selling books “Parenting Made Easy – How to Raise Happy Children’ & ‘Raising Happy Children for Dummies’ one in the famous black and yellow series, as well as the ‘Can Do Kid’s Journal: Discover your Confidence Superpower’ & ‘The Divorce Journal for Kids’.

Sue is the Parenting Expert for Disney Family and regularly appears on the award-winning flagship ITV show ‘This Morning,’ Good Morning Britain, ‘Jeremy Vine on 5 ’ and ‘The Vanessa Feltz Show.’ She is also the parenting expert for numerous BBC Radio Stations around the UK.

Sue is also the global spokesperson for World Digital Detox Day and the Host of ‘Navigating the Digital Jungle with Sue Atkins and Friends’ Podcast, Patron for Mama Academy the UK’s Safer Pregnancy Charity, and Trustee of the charity ‘Technology Books for Children.

In this episode, our former CEO, Marguerite Hunter Blair, speaks to Dr Myae Han.

Dr Myae Han is a professor of early childhood education at the University of Delaware. Her research focuses on play and early literacy learning, play-based curriculum, professional development for early childhood teachers, and culturally and linguistically diverse children.

She is a recipient of the Brian Sutton-Smith Award from The Association for the Study of Play (TASP) (2025), Doctor of Play Award from the International Play Association USA (2024), and the Edgar Klugman Award for Leadership and Research in Play (2020) from the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Play Policy Practice Forum. 

Dr. Myae Han served as a past president of The Association for the Study of Play (TASP) (2013-2014), a past Chair of the Early Education/Child Development (EECD) SIG at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) (2020-2022), and a past president of the Literacy Development in Young Children (LDYC) SIG at the International Literacy Association (ILA) (2013-2017). She was the first Asian president in each of these leadership positions

In this episode, our Play Pedagogy Award Officer, Fiona Kirkland speaks to Leanne Sweaton.

Leanne is the Principal Teacher in Woodmill and Dunfermline Cluster in Fife supporting schools to close the poverty related attainment gap. She has been teaching for 25 years and began her play journey began back in 2016. Since then, she has revolutionised her practice and have never looked back. She runs the popular Facebook page 'The Play Piece'. Her work has been spotlighted by HMiE and Education Scotland and she has spoken nationally on this topic.

In this episode, our former CEO Marguerite Hunter Blair speaks to Paul Hoenigmann, Managing Director of Inclusive Play.

Paul is passionate about widening access to the physical, social, and cognitive development for all children through expanding the provision of welcoming and accessible outdoor play spaces. Our UK-made inclusive equipment supports communities create safe, engaging environments where every child can play, learn, and thrive—regardless of ability.

Find out more about inclusive play on our website: https://www.playscotland.org/playful-communities/inclusive-play-design-3/

In this episode, our former CEO Marguerite Hunter Blair speaks to Dr William Bird MBE.

Dr William Bird MBE is passionate about getting people active. As a family GP in the 1990s, he pioneered the concept of social prescribing by setting up the first Health Walk scheme. William is an advisor to the World Health Organisation, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and Sport England. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter and the Chair of Active Essex, the Active Partnership for Essex. In 2010, he set up Intelligent Health, an organisation that has a mission to build healthier, active and more connected communities with 2 million participants worldwide.

On this epsiode, our Play Pedagogy Award Officer, Fiona Kirkland, speaks to Rebecca Wilkinson-Quinn, Clinical Lead for Scotland, Place2Be.

Becky is a qualified Art Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor. Becky comes from a Fine Arts background, working as an exhibiting artist, FE teaching and community settings. Becky has predominantly worked therapeutically with CYP, their families and teachers in schools, but has also lectured and worked with adults with a variety of presenting issues.  
 
Becky began working with Place2Be 19 years ago, initially as a volunteer on placement. Becky has worked in a variety of roles at Place2Be and is now the Clinical Lead, for Scotland and is responsible for the clinical quality of the work. Having experience of the lasting difference that can be made in schools and communities from the ground up, Becky is hugely passionate about early intervention and the impact Place2Be’s work has.

In this episode, we speak to Julia Jane Gladwin.

JJ is a garden designer with 30 years of experience in horticulture. She founded Go Flourish, a charity whose aim is to reconnect children to nature. Go Flourish put well-designed gardens into schools. The project uses a Liaison Teacher and the gardens to give real world context to curriculum learning. Partnering with St Andrew’s University to measure outcomes, Go Flourish aim to provide a cost-effective mechanism for national roll-out and demonstrate that mental health and learning outcomes are improved.

In this month's episode, we speak to Dannielle Don, a Youth Development Worker at The MAXwell Centre in Dundee.

About Dannielle
My journey started in 2014 during a placement with Barnardo’s Growing Up Project, where I was introduced to The MAXwell Centre. That’s where I discovered my unexpected love for gardening, and it quickly blossomed into something more. I volunteered with the very first Garden Club and soon after joined the team in a professional role. Now, I work supporting local primary schools and nurseries, helping children plan, plant, and maintain their garden plots. Afternoons are a lively mix of After School Clubs, Youth Cooking Groups, and the Maxwell Youth Council (MYC), with a Garden Club during school holidays - everything we do is focused on building confidence, skills, and community in a fun, hands-on environment.I believe in the power of nature, food, and creativity to inspire young people, and I feel incredibly lucky to do what I love every day.

On this episode of the podcast, we speak to Niki Buchan about play in nature.

Niki has 40 years’ experience in Early Education, works internationally as a conference keynote speaker, nature pedagogue, trainer, and award-winning author. She is a strong advocate for children’s right to a quality childhood, including the right to regular play and access to nature. She is the author of ‘Children in Wild Nature’, ‘A Practical Approach to Nature-based Practice’, co-author of STEM Detectives and author of ‘But I Want to be Good’.  

Nurture Nature Conferences
How outdoor play in natural environments, guided by nurturing adults, can transform children’s wellbeing. Expect an inspiring and practical experience that will equip you with tools to improve children’s wellbeing, behaviour, and resilience through outdoor play. 
Perth - Saturday, 24 May 2025 
Aberdeen - Saturday, 31 May 2025 
Bathgate - Saturday, 28 June 2025 
https://salugen.uk/shop/  

On this episode of the podcast, we speak to Angelica Celinska about working in early years childcare.

Angelica is an early childhood advocate, lecturer and founder of The Voice of Early Childhood (TVOEC). Angelica is working on giving the early childhood sector a voice through TVOEC by encouraging shared reflection, dialogue, collaboration and healthy debate. Angelica’s areas of expertise are community building, networking, career progression and bridging the gap between academia and practice. She has worked in practice across various settings and in different roles, before moving into content creation aimed at enhancing training and development for both educators and parents across the globe. This has involved working in publishing, training, academia, events and resourcing learning environments.

http://www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/