PEDAL Conference 2026: Presentations, Workshops & Speakers

Mona Sakr is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Middlesex University. She leads Nuffield-funded research on improving the quality of provision for 0-2-year-olds in nursery settings across England. Her wider research focuses on how we can best support creativity and self-determination among the very youngest learners.

Aida joined Thrive at Five as its founding CEO after almost a decade at The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales, latterly as its Chief Advisor. Aida led the Foundation’s early years work and managed its portfolio of mental health programmes. Aida’s work on the Big Change Starts Small, published in 2021 (The Report – Centre for Early Childhood), continues to serve as inspiration for her work devoted to improving outcomes in early childhood. In its first five years, Thrive at Five has already made its mark in the early years sector, demonstrating the potential to make a difference in some of the country’s most disadvantaged areas, using a collective impact approach. (Backbone models enabling impact through collaboration).

Aida moved into the voluntary and charity sector after a first career as a lawyer and is a Trustee of the London Marathon Foundation. Aida was a Trustee of Family Action for ten years. In 2024, Aida received the Award of Honorary Doctor of Letters by Staffordshire University in recognition of her exemplary devotion, drive and passion in developing Thrive at Five and her outstanding contributions to the health and wellbeing of society.

Annie Crombie has been Co-CEO of BookTrust since 2025, having previously served as Deputy CEO.  She joined the charity in 2018. Prior to BookTrust, Annie was Chief Executive of the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies and a senior civil servant at the Department for Education, working for 15 years across a wide range of children’s and education policy areas, including legislation, youth justice, adoption reform and the early years. Annie began her career as a history teacher in London secondary schools. Alongside her role at BookTrust, she is a member of the Learning and Participation Committee of the Royal Ballet and Opera.

Associate Professor at the School of Psychology, University of Sussex. Elian’s research focuses on understanding why some children are able to easily make and maintain friendships while other children struggle with their peer relationships, especially at the transition to school. Currently involved in a number of longitudinal projects looking at how best to support young children at the transition to formal schooling.

Awarded a PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Sydney, Australia, Elian has completed post-doctoral/senior research associate positions across the Evidence-based Practice Unit (University College London), Centre for Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL, University of Cambridge) and the Centre for Family Research (University of Cambridge).

Rob Fox is a neurodivergent early years educator, nursery owner, and founder of Happy Bunnies Nursery School in Shepreth, Cambridgeshire. He also leads Active Childhood UK, a growing network dedicated to supporting professional development, consultancy, and advocacy across the early years sector. Beginning his journey in education at the age of fifteen, Rob has developed a practice-rich perspective grounded in lived experience, vocational training, and higher education. His work is deeply influenced by the pedagogical philosophies of Reggio Emilia, which he reinterprets through a contemporary, neurodivergent lens to explore questions of identity, belonging, and the ethics of everyday practice.

At the heart of Rob’s approach is a simple but powerful belief: when educators are supported to feel safe, valued, and able to breathe, children’s lives are transformed.

Dr Emily Goodacre is a PEDAL affiliate whose research examines children’s social play and relationships. Focusing on children’s communication and conversations during play, her research investigates how children create shared play scenarios together. Most recently, her work has examined children’s play with AI toys in the early years, examining young children’s social play behaviours with AI toys.

Sam is an early years education specialist with over 25 years of international and UK experience leading high-quality early childhood provision. She is skilled in establishing and scaling nursery environments, including leading new school set-ups, supporting regulatory inspections, and implementing effective systems that enhance teaching quality and learning outcomes. Sam is an expert in coaching and mentoring staff to elevate teaching practice, with a particular focus on language development, inclusive education, and SEND provision. She is committed to innovative, child-centred learning approaches, including outdoor education, sustainable practices, and community-based initiatives.

Sandra Mathers is an Associate Professor at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. She began her career as a primary school teacher and her work remains strongly practice and policy relevant. Sandra’s research explores how we can best promote high-quality interactions between adults and children, including developing and evaluating early language and professional development programmes (Talking Time, URLEY), researching parent-child joint media engagement (LIFT), large-scale longitudinal studies (Children of the 2020s, Millennium Cohort Study), evaluations of government early years initiatives (Graduate Leader Fund, Early Education Pilot for Two-Year Olds) and studying quality and inequality in early education provision.

Eileen is the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Lead at the Institute of Health Visiting, with a background as a Specialist Health Visitor in Parent and Infant Mental Health in Warwickshire. She has worked in Birmingham and London as a Mental Health Nurse in a variety of settings including a Mother & Baby Inpatient Unit. Eileen is a qualified Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) practitioner and Circle of Security Parenting facilitator and was a Principal Investigator on the NIHR‑funded Surviving Crying study. Eileen has worked in collaboration with the Institute of Health Visiting and the Royal Foundation as part of the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB) study, becoming one of the UK’s first certified ADBB referents in 2025. She is a passionate advocate for investment in the early years and for the role of high‑quality research and well‑resourced services in supporting babies and young children, recognising the profound and lasting benefits for families and society as a whole.

Dr Ben Yeo is the Clinical Advisor for the Parent-Infant Foundation, a charity which supports specialised parent-infant relationship teams and services in the UK. Ben supports Best Start in Life/Healthy Babies local authorities to develop their parent-infant relationship pathways and provision, through the Parent-Infant Foundation’s Clinical Associates programme. He is Chair of the Advisory Group for the National Parent-Infant Relationship (PAIR) Framework, a National Lottery Funded Programme led by the Parent-Infant Foundation. He influences and campaigns on national policy for parent-infant relationships and infant mental health.

Ben is a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Clinical Lead of a recently established NHS specialised parent-infant relationship team which supports babies (aged 0-2) and their parents/caregivers. He is an Associate for the National Children’s Bureau where he has developed an introductory training about infant and early childhood mental health which draws on the learning from Lambeth Early Action Partnership.