Playful explorers: Understanding the world through playful discoveries
- 09:00 to 10:00 (UTC)
- Jemma Joakim
Session 1 - Playful explorers: Understanding the world through playful discoveries
Time: Day 1, March 10 | 09:00 to 10:00 (UTC)
About the session: Spark curiosity about the world through play-based exploration. Discover practical ideas for introducing different cultures, traditions, and environments through enhanced role-play, global recipes, and hands-on experiments. Learn how playful discovery builds empathy, encourages questioning, and helps children make meaningful connections with their surroundings - essential skills for lifelong learning and adaptability in our diverse world.
Speaker Bio: Jemma is Head of Early Years and Primary Curriculum at Cambridge International. With over twenty years’ experience in Early Childhood and Lower Primary Education, she brings deep expertise as both a teacher and leader. Her work spans curriculum innovation, teacher training, and quality assurance, working closely with Cambridge schools around the world. A passionate advocate for play, Jemma is inspired by how young children explore, experiment, and make sense of the world through joyful, curiosity-driven experiences.
Session 2 - Getting the room right: environments that facilitate focused, regulated play
- Speaker: Professor Sam Wass
- Time: Day 1, March 10 | 12:00 to 13:00 (UTC)
About the session: Discover how early learning environments shape attention, behaviour and emotional regulation. Drawing on the latest neuroscience, this session explores how sound, light and sensory design influence how children play and learn. Gain insights into how thoughtful environments can support focused and well-regulated play, helping children engage more deeply and confidently with learning.
Speaker Bio: Professor Sam Wass is a child psychologist and neuroscientist who leads the Institute for the Science of Early Years in East London and presenter of Channel 4’s “The Secret Life of 4 and 5 Year Olds”. Sam has published over 100 academic articles and is recognized as one of the top 2% most-cited researchers in his field, regularly advising government departments and major organizations. He studies how early environments influence children's attention, learning and stress, including ADHD, autism and anxiety.
Session 3 - Everyday creativity: Practical pathways to play, expression and creativity
- Speaker: Dr Penny Hay
- Time: Day 1, March 10 | 15:00 to 16:00 (UTC)
About the session: Creativity is part of everyday learning, not an occasional activity. This session explores how even small changes to environments, materials and adult interactions can unlock children’s creative thinking and expression. Discover how thoughtfully designed spaces and child-led experiences support communication, imagination and engagement, and how the educator’s role as a creative facilitator helps children’s ideas and curiosity flourish.
Speaker bio: Dr Penny Hay is Professor of Imagination and Reader in Creative Teaching and Learning at Bath Spa University, where she combines her work as an artist, educator and researcher. She is the Founding Director of House of Imagination and has worked internationally on arts education research. Penny's signature projects, including 'School Without Walls' and 'Forest of Imagination', place children's agency and imagination at the heart of learning. She is passionate about creating spaces of possibility where every child can be an artist.
Session 4 - Play counts: Playful pathways in mathematics
- Speaker: Dr Alison Borthwick
- Time: Day 2, Wednesday 11 March | 09:00 to 10:00 (UTC)
About the session: This session shares practical ways to build counting into everyday routines using physical resources, games and simple activities. Learn how to spot mathematics moments everywhere and support children to develop curiosity, confidence and strong foundations for mathematical thinking through joyful, hands-on play. See how counting opens the door to rich, playful mathematics in the early years.
Speaker Bio: Once a reluctant mathematician, Alison transformed her relationship with mathematics to become an international expert. Alison is an international education consultant specialising in early years mathematics. She leads national programmes for the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics and has worked in over 30 countries. Alison co-authored the Cambridge Early Years mathematics books and researched The Power of Pattern. She is now passionate about ensuring all children and adults - including those with mathematics anxiety - learn and love mathematics.
Session 5 - Playful parenting: Supporting parents to understand the power of play
- Speaker: Professor Paul Ramchandani
- Time: Day 2, March 11 | 12:00 to 13:00 (UTC)
About the session: Perfect for educators seeking to strengthen home-school connections, this session bridges research and practice, offering practical approaches for engaging parents as partners in their child's playful learning journey Explore what research tells us about children’s play and how this understanding can support families, helping parents see the value of playful experiences at home.
Speaker Bio: As the LEGO Professor of Play at Cambridge, Paul is uniquely positioned to help parents understand the power of play. He works as a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in the NHS, developing and testing interventions to promote children's mental health. Paul serves as a trustee of Foundations and is a member of the Department for Education's scientific advisory council.
Session 6 - Once upon a time: playful ways to bring reading to life
- Speaker: Jemma Joakim and Charlotte Bray
- Time: Day 2, March 11 | 15:00 to 16:00 (UTC)
About the session: Stories are the heartbeat of early learning. Explore how playful storytelling builds vocabulary, comprehension and confidence through props, puppets and interactive story maps. Learn how music, movement and story sequencing can bring texts to life, helping children develop a deep, joyful connection with language from the very beginning.
Speaker Bio: Jemma is Head of Early Years and Primary Curriculum at Cambridge International. With over twenty years’ experience in Early Childhood and Lower Primary Education, she brings deep expertise as both a teacher and leader. Her work spans curriculum innovation, teacher training, and quality assurance, working closely with Cambridge schools around the world. A passionate advocate for play, Jemma is inspired by how young children explore, experiment, and make sense of the world through joyful, curiosity-driven experiences.
Speaker Bio: Charlotte is Interim Assistant Headteacher and Early Years Lead at the University of Cambridge Primary School. With nine years of teaching experience and five years in leadership, she champions child-led learning and meaningful school-family partnerships. Charlotte demonstrates how early years pedagogy can enrich education throughout primary years, creating learning environments where curiosity thrives and every child's voice matters.
Session 7 - Let’s Move! The importance of active play in the early years
- Speaker: Philippa Hines
- Time: Day 3, March 12 | 09:00 to 10:00 (UTC)
About the session: Active play isn’t just fun, it’s foundational. This session examines how movement supports self-regulation, coordination and readiness for learning. You will look at how environments can invite active and calm play, the value of safe risk-taking, and simple ways to strengthen fine motor skills. Leave with practical ideas to support confident, capable and joyful movement every day.
Speaker Bio: Philippa brings extensive experience in physical development and active play to early years settings. She is an early years consultant with experience across teaching, leadership and inspection-rated childcare settings. She founded her consultancy in 2019 to support and train early years providers. Since 2020, she has worked with Cambridge on early years projects, including curriculum work, training, webinars, mentoring and content development.
Session 8 - Building self-regulation, relationships and resilience through play
- Speaker: Dr Janet Rose
- Time: Day 3, March 12 | 12:00 to 13:00 (UTC)
About the session: Discover how play supports children’s emotional wellbeing, social relationships and self-regulation. This session brings together research from neurophysiology and neurobiology with practical, playful strategies that can be used in everyday practice. Learn how playful experiences help children manage emotions, build resilience and develop the secure relationships they need to thrive in early learning environments.
Speaker Bio: Dr Janet Rose is Principal of Norland College, a specialist early years higher education institution in the UK. She led the national Attachment Aware Schools research project and co-founded Emotion Coaching UK. Janet holds a Fellowship in Early Relational Health from the University of Massachusetts and serves as Vice-Chair of First Steps nurseries, bringing extensive expertise in children's mental health and wellbeing.
Session 9 - Global Voices: A conversation with early years educators
- Speaker: Suzi Haigh and Teacher Panel
- Time: Day 3, March 12 | 15:00 to 16:00 (UTC)
About the session: What does play look like in early years settings around the world? Join passionate Cambridge Early Years educators from across the globe as they explore play, learning environments, the role of the teacher and approaches to assessment. This is a chance to gain fresh global perspectives from the Cambridge Early Years community, challenge your thinking and discover new ideas that can shape meaningful, playful learning in different cultural and educational contexts.
Speaker Bio: A former primary teacher with 20 years of classroom experience, Suzi Haigh is an Education Futures Manager at Cambridge. She provides educational thought leadership, shaping and sharing practical ideas for teaching and learning in the area of early years. Suzi designs professional development for teachers and school leaders and creates programme content for global schools conferences.
