It was a genuine privilege to open this event on 17 November 2025 marking 80 years of the NNEB. This milestone is not just about a qualification, it is about eight decades of dedication, professionalism, and care for our youngest children and their families.

When it was first established in 1945, the founders of the NNEB could scarcely have imagined the world we live in today: transformed by technology, reshaped by changing family life, and enriched by a deepening understanding of how children grow and learn. Yet the principles they set down, that early education work is skilled, professional, and vitally important, remain as relevant as ever. Indeed, they shine a light on what we must do next.

The NNEB shaped a workforce built on care, competence, and compassion. It gave thousands of practitioners, overwhelmingly women, a recognised professional identity and a pathway for lifelong careers. It laid the foundations for the qualifications and professional standards we see today.Remarkably, it has been over 30 years since the last NNEB was awarded. Yet almost every time I deliver training or visit a setting, someone proudly exclaims: “I’m an NNEB!” That pride is infectious, and it most certainly was during this event.

Our three panel members (Sue Williams – Coram trainer; Elaine Taylor Brown – Southend on Sea Council; and Carole Jacques – headteacher Earlham Nursery School), all holders of the NNEB, spoke with passion about what their qualification still means to them, and what is needed for the future workforce.We also heard from Coram colleagues who set out the policy context (Kate Haythornthwaite), the contemporary pedagogy needs (Jan Dubiel), and a convincing framework for action. Our final speaker was Amanda Edmond, vice principal, Norland College who examined the need for qualifications and CPD training to be fit for modern purpose, taking the best of the past and innovating for the future.

Together, they all reminded us that anniversaries are not just about looking back, they are about asking what history teaches us about the future.Indeed, the NNEB has taught us that:

• Quality in early years starts with people: a well-trained, well-supported, and well-valued workforce.
• Consistency and clarity matter: children and families benefit when qualifications are trusted and coherent.
• Professionalism is built through community: mentoring, reflection, and shared purpose.Not least through the best possible placements and real engagement in the widest range of career opportunities to inform employment and career choices.

These lessons are timeless. They must guide us as we look ahead to the next decade, and indeed the next 80 years.The future workforce must be:

• Highly skilled, drawing on the latest understanding of child development and pedagogy.
• Properly rewarded and recognised, so that early years professionals can thrive, not just survive.
• Supported through clear pathways, where training, qualifications, and professional development work together rather than compete, in employment, and continuous development, throughout careers that both reward and deliver outcomes.
• Diverse and inclusive, reflecting the communities we serve and the values we uphold.

The NNEB gave generations a sense of identity and pride. Our challenge now is to renew that sense of purpose, to build a workforce that is future-ready, evidence-informed, and socially valued.Eighty years on, the spirit of the NNEB endures.It lives in every setting, every nursery, every practitioner who puts children first. That legacy belongs to all of us, and it lights the way ahead – but for how long?Those that hold the NNEB become fewer each year, and this year we have seen how institutional memory can even overlook its very existence.As we celebrated, we must also commit ourselves to action: to ensure that every child’s early years are shaped by confident, capable professionals, and that every professional feels the respect and support they deserve.

The NNEB was never just a qualification. It was, and remains, a proud movement. And it is up to us to carry that movement forward.

If you would like to watch the recording of this event or receive the slides, please do contact us hey@coramhempsalls.org.uk