Author: jameshempsall

I am a business leader, psychotherapist and equalities and social policy consultant. An enthusiastic advocate of working and living well, I believe in supporting everyone to have positive, safe, and equal chances within a modern environment. I've worked in the field of early years learning, childcare, anti-discrimination and equalities for over 30 years. For 25 of those I have managed my own consultancy and training business www.hempsalls.com working nationally and internationally for a range of government, charitable and private organisations. Throughout that time I have loved shaping and delivering policy, and working to useful, impactful, and outcome focused solutions. And with a nod to my original passion for design, I am also a co-director of www.harrimanandco.com an independent furniture and home-ware design store.

CEOs should be in the middle not the top.

July 31, 2025 jameshempsall

I’ve noticed something. The more senior someone is in an organisation, the more likely they are to be furthest away from the organisation’s front door. That means they are also distant from its actual activities, the workforce, and their customers (and/or product for that matter). That’s a huge own goal and missed opportunity.

The big issue, and one that forms the premise of my thinking, is your location at work. More specifically the physical location of the CEO, in relation to the workforce, and in proximity to the exchanges with customers.

CEOs seem to occupy the very top floor, in the far corner, locked away in private offices, which happens to be the greatest distance from the front door, and they sit behind a desk that is nearest the largest windows with the finest view available, basking in the best natural light the building has to offer. They are the ‘penthouse primes’.

It seems to me that CEOs are not only needing to pay attention to the glass ceiling, but the glass bubble too. Their bubbles are an encapsulating and almost invisible barrier separating them from the world around them. Close to the view, but behind the glass partition that conjures up the idea of connection, but in reality is a hard and fast glass wall.

All sorts of things cause this detached situation, CEOs may argue they have lots of demands upon their time, that they need privacy or quiet spaces to have confidential discussions, and that there are too many meetings to be had. It could all be the result of delegation going too far, resulting in all such interactions being discharged by other managers or departments altogether.

It could be something that middle management is deliberately manipulating. Perhaps they are wanting the CEO to be disconnected from the realities of what is going on. They could be distancing the CEO’s place or filling the CEO’s time with unnecessary distractions and meetings, so they do not come to appreciate the failings and problems in the business, in the balance sheet, or in the market.

To hide away is one of the reactions and defences to feelings of fear. It could be the CEO is feeling afraid of interactions with staff or customers or feeling uncomfortable about conflict resolution. Some do rise to the top, never had, or have forgotten such skills. Don’t misunderstand me, the role of the CEO can be a tough one. There can be lots of problems in an organisation related to its workforce, economics, or product that are too difficult to address, and hiding away and being invisible seems like the easiest option. Especially considering the enormous risks presented by the outside world, or unexpected attention from attending a Coldplay gig. But being far away is not the best route, nor is it an effective, or fair option.

The ‘midlife crisis’ is dead. The ‘end of midlife crisis’, well that’s another matter.

June 1, 2025June 2, 2025 jameshempsall

I’ve written much about the difficulties we can experience when imagining our upcoming midlife, and the realities of when we are experiencing it. I am not alone, so-called midlife crises are a familiar talking point, and a frequent object of ridicule.

In the book, I have set out how best to navigate its approach and the precious time spent in midlife. I’ve also said I reject the term crisis. The truth is that these days, for most of us, this stage of life is much more vibrant, exciting, and joyful that it was for the generations of parents and grandparents who came before us. It really can be a golden time. A moment to grasp with both hands, and one to relish by making the most of it. Helped, of course, by being ready and prepared for it, and by being equipped to make the most of it. Being unwilling, unprepared and unable to enjoy your middle age is the imperfect recipe for a crisis. Today though, I want to discuss something new I have noticed.

I have seen it happen around me, as friends and family have enjoyed their midlife, then find themselves towards the end of their midlife stage. They have been busy enjoying the afternoon of life, filled with friends and family, travel, career and hobby swerves, and active retirements. Good for them. Then, along comes the gradual or sudden realisation that time is much more finite, and the body much more fragile to accommodate such pursuits. This can be unsettling and upsetting.

I guess one of two things could be happening here. Could it simply be a delay of the traditional midlife crisis? Or is it a new phenomenon: the emergence of the ‘end of midlife crisis’? Whatever it is, the emotional triggers and responses may be the same, or could they be different, I wonder? One difference that occurs to me is that in midlife we are potentially more able to do something about our lives if they need a turnaround, adjustment, or a refresh – especially in modern times. At the end of midlife however, which I have discussed being around 70-75, then the options are arguably fewer in terms of time and health. Old age and the spectre of approaching death are much more real. As US actor, Doris Day said: The really frightening thing about the middle age is the knowledge that you’ll grow out of it. She hit the nail right on the head there, and that is absolutely confronting.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Yes, we need more male teaching and early years staff, but…

April 4, 2025 jameshempsall

This week the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson called for more men to teach our children in early years settings and schools Nursery World – Education secretary calls for more male teaching staff to promote positive role models Great! We were told that boys need “strong” role models for boys to look up to, and it was linked to the post-adolescence (Netflix) focus on misogyny. Less great, I shall say why later.

The imbalance in the workforce has been known for many years, and it looks like it is getting worse not better. It was reported only one in four teachers in our schools are men, falling to just one in seven in nursery and primary, with a mere one in 33 in early years (that’s 25%, 14%, and 3% respectively). What’s more, only 2% of school recruits since 2010 have been men. That means we are not seeing any signs of that imbalance being addressed any time soon.

The good news is this call for action has promoted lots of professional debate, TV panels, newspaper columns, and workplace chatter. Much of that has been about the need for boys to connect with men, and for terms and conditions to improve to attract and retain new candidates. It’s a well-trodden minefield of thinking. I offer my four thoughts and responses to all of that in this blog.

First, yes we need more men in the workforce. That is simply because a workforce that is not diverse or representative of the community is not fully exploiting different working styles, cultures, learning approaches, interests, perspectives, and talents available (and more).

Second, I ask why attribute the qualities of strength and role modelling when discussing men in the workforce? It is very tiresome as this is not a gender exclusive quality. For me, I never worked in early years to be a role model any more than my female colleagues were. But I was asked all the time if that’s why I did it.

Third, there is a piece of work that must be done to ensure everyone fully understands the job. Too many people have misguided and out-of-date ideas and understanding of it, including those with the role of careers advice, and qualifications and training. The job is diverse, and enriching, career forming, and full of opportunity.

Fourth, there is a huge issue with the curriculum (in early years and schools), rather how it is delivered through pedagogy and teaching. See point one. The workforce’s lack of diversity is promoting conscious and unconscious gender bias. Children are being given the message that learning is a female pursuit through its design, delivery, leadership, management, assessment, inspection, and value framework.

Tackle these four things, and we may start to see improvements.

From lockdown to now: Five years of looking back and moving forward.

March 21, 2025 jameshempsall

Our worlds changed on 23 March 2020. We were united by a sense of uncertainty, feelings of anxiety, and of confusion around what was to come. We gathered eyes and mouths agape, in front of TV screens as we were told to stay at home. The outside world fell silent, roads and skies emptied, non-essential shops closed, workplaces ceased operations with some being asked to work at home or be ‘furloughed’ (a new word for most of us), and keyworkers kept our essential services going.

Home was a reassuring sanctuary, if you were lucky, surrounded by loving family members. A time to pause, reflect, look after our basic needs for safety and nourishment. For many it was a trap that intensified disadvantage, deepened dysfunctional relationships, and a exacerbated their lack of opportunity. For our youngest children, their worlds became so much smaller. Some benefitted, some did not. As lockdown(s) continued, we predicted families would feel the effects in terms of parent relationship pressures, domestic abuse, economic burdens, and children’s development would be compromised or delayed. It gives none of us any pleasure to say we were right.

In early years, we started to hear from keyworker parents who needed our support so they could go to work, we delivered for them. Parents not able to use our services started to appreciate in new ways the work we do, and the shared partnership we have in supporting their children’s development and learning. Providers, like all businesses, were juggling with the new realities, the economics, and the need for short- to long-term planning, and supporting their own workforce. Local authorities were contacting us for help in navigating the complexities of Government guidance, financial packages, and the processes needed for business change, so the best possible support could be offered to the whole sector. We were only too pleased to do what we could, it was something core to our mission.

Like many others, online meetings were something of a grey area for us. But we soon got to grips with the technology (after many clumsy attempts). We started to connect as a team to make sense of what was happening on a day-to-day basis. We began meeting with individual local authority early years leads, for mutual support, sense checking, and information sharing. This is a time we look back on with great fondness and friendship. We were in it together. These exchanges formed the basis of our national support programme ‘Finding Your Way Through’ a structured strategy framework, and a set of actions, approaches and resources we developed and freely gave to the sector. Then came the idea to offer a weekly/fortnightly online session for local authority leads for peer support, wellbeing, and information sharing. We called them Coffee Breaks, essentially because we were asking everyone to stop, put the kettle on, and come together with the community for an hour of mutual support, understanding, and collaboration. What a moment that was, a movement began, and Coffee Breaks became that national space for both unstructured and focused discussion, problem solving, resource sharing, and a safe space for emotional safety. Five years on, and they continue, for all the same objectives, and they are a pleasure for us to facilitate and provide for our colleagues.

The lessons learned, from lockdown to the present day are many. It has become clearer for many who have a stake in our sector that we play an essential role in supporting parents in caring for their children, building their development and joy for learning, and their economic opportunities. Early years is an essential cog in a large machine that delivers for families across multiple (not single or artificially allocated) outcomes. Without it, and the impacts are clear. We have been identifying the increases in children’s developmental delays, speech and language, and SEND and have been adapting approaches to best help their recovery. However, we know these will continue for many, and risk affecting their school-lives and beyond.

The past five years have also reminded us of the power of togetherness, our unswerving commitment to the sector, our empathy and affinity with parents and children, and not forgetting our resilience. That said, there are fragilities that continue despite the ambitions, recognition, and increased spend in the sector. The need for support, challenge, and community in the sector remains vital. This needs to include all types of setting or school, group-based or home based, and reaching all practitioners to fully deliver our impacts confidently, healthily, and joyfully for better futures.

Taking a long look at the policy landscape in early years and childcare

March 5, 2025 jameshempsall

We’re used to change in the early years and childcare sector. Some it we can see coming a mile off, some of it comes unexpectedly. No one saw the Covid pandemic coming in 2020, and the Brexit referendum result was on a knife-edge back in 2016. Recent political uncertainty has led to us having a different minister almost every year for as long as we can remember. Whatever the change, and whenever the moment, we must all take the time to look at the landscape and beyond its horizon. Because of all of this has profound effects on what we do, and how we do it.

Foundations
We have achieved so much as a sector and as a profession. We should be proud of moving from a good cause to an essential element of the welfare state. We have matured in terms of practice, quality, professionalism, research, academic approaches, and data. The public, parents, professionals, and politicians are supportive and interested. That’s a lot to celebrate, but unfortunately, interest does not always result in things being right or fully understood, and so our work is not over yet. But it does provide a great foundation.

Fragile construction
On that foundation though, a fragile construction of disparate parts has been built, attached to various single-minded objectives. We have experienced very many incremental additions to policy, to funding, and to working requirements. Some is focused upon early education, some on closing the gap, some on childcare for working families. All great objectives, and equally invaluable. It is though, a complex jigsaw of inter-related and competing elements all jostling to achieve their stated ambitions. We are still tasked with holding it all together and reconciling targeted and universal provision as the solution to its imperfections. This unstable construction requires us all to be the glue (practitioners, providers, professionals, family facing workers, local authorities, and government departments) in all our various roles and interactions.

System simplicity
It needn’t be like this. The whole system is too complicated and complex. It is not enough to make it easier; it must be simple and easy for children, families, and providers. The system needs to seamlessly and effectively deliver universal services for all, and to do more for those that need it by experiencing the effects of disadvantage and needing additional opportunities. That way we will reach those who need the targeted support, and everyone can get early education and childcare right first time and fully understand it, how to use it, access it, and enjoy the benefits from it. That requires us to ask the important questions around how we make that happen, including abandoning archaic systems, abolishing anachronisms, and adopting the best of technology.

Emerging policy?
Some of this thinking is happening already, and government has committed to continue it. Some was referenced in the Chancellor’s budget statement last autumn, some in the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change in December, and the Secretary of State has regularly committed to early years being her “top priority”. The previous Government’s flagship policies to expand early years entitlements, and to open new wraparound childcare were early decisions in the new governments continued support. But what else can we expect to see in the long-term? We think we shall see:

Wide ranging longer-term reform of early education and childcare across all areas.
Early education will continue to expand as planned and will change in accessibility, affordability, and quality.
Wraparound childcare will evolve, connecting in better ways to the new offer of free breakfast clubs, and we hope to see a new focus on school holiday childcare.
More emphasis on schools being providers/hosts of childcare and early education, or at least better connected to or invested in it, as the issue of ‘school readiness’ will gain prominence as schools experience the effects of the pandemic on families that we have already seen in early years. There shall also be a stronger focus on school attendance, and children’s wellbeing which is inextricably linked.
Increased emphasis on tackling effects of disadvantage. Extension of approaches e.g. Holiday Activities and Food (HAF), Family Hubs, SEND, closing attainment gaps, and being ready to learn through school breakfast clubs.
Centralised practical focus on workforce growth, retention, and status, with fresh approaches to entry routes and qualifications.
Different interest in the quality of provision, and how it is registered and inspected, and excellence through Stronger Practice Hubs.

Our advice to everyone is that:
• We improve all parts of the puzzle to create cohesive strategy, policy, and its application.
• There are simple accessible route maps or customer journeys, making it easiest for those in most need or disadvantage, replacing the need for outreach investment in the long term.
• Existing resources are channelled to the front line, rethinking the risks the over burdensome system is trying to mitigate against.
• A united early years and childcare offer is attached to multiple outcomes and impacts – and not be single-minded.
• We repurpose, redistribute, and reach resources to meet the needs of families that need it most, tackling disadvantage and helping parents’ economic behaviours.
• There needs to be two different funding models applied discerningly. The first: providing childcare for working parents as an incentive to work, and an enabler of it. With simple to access subsidies for any additional paid for services. The second: investment focused and targeted for creating the conditions for social impact, bringing local people into the childcare workforce, funding graduate leadership, and deploying early identification and intervention approaches.