Meet the team

Tim Wooldridge

Tim has over 30 years experience raising standards and improving outcomes for children in Early Years settings. He has worked in Hackney since 2008 following 18 years as a teacher, senior manager, mentor and trainer across the primary age phase. He has an MA in Urban Education and is a motivational trainer who understands the complexities and demands of improving outcomes alongside supporting individual children with multiple deprivations.

Ivor Kallin

Ivor has worked in a broad range of early years settings over the past four decades as a practitioner, teacher and centre manager, and has been an Early Years Consultant with Hackney Education for fifteen years. 

In his role, Ivor advises nurseries, playgroups and children’s centres on teaching and learning strategies. He is involved in a number of teaching and learning training initiatives, including: Working with children with EAL; The role of the key person and working with parents; Promoting effective adult/child interactions; Meeting the needs of boys in early years provision; The benefits of Forest School; Promoting cultural diversity; Meeting the needs of the Charedi (Orthodox Jewish) community with regard to early years provision; and Creativity in the early years. 

Penelope Rodrigues

Penny has worked as an Early Years Education Consultant in Hackney Education for 14 years. She has a wealth of experience working as a primary school teacher for over 20 years across age ranges, specialising in early years and emotional development of young children. 

Her area of particular interest lies in supporting wellbeing and sharing positive behaviour strategies for parents and staff working with children under five. Other areas of expertise include the Solihull Approach, of which she is a qualified trainer; social and emotional development in Early years and infant mental health; and communication language and literacy, including the teaching of phonics.

Caroline Hart

Caroline has been an Early Years Consultant in Hackney since 2009. She has a degree and Postgraduate Certificate in Education and previously worked in an infant school and children's centres across Hackney, whilst completing the NPQICL qualification.

Caroline has been responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating a number of successful, borough-wide programs. Her work includes the integrated two year developmental review, commended following SEND and CQC inspections; the highly successful ‘Eat Better Start Better in Hackney’ nutrition program; and the ‘Happy, Healthy and Ready to Learn’ training program, which received an ‘Innovation in Training Award’ from NHS London. Caroline's work demonstrates the value of collaborating with education leads, health visitors, dietitians and public health professionals to improve children’s outcomes and reduce inequalities, as well as the importance of early intervention. She is committed to lifelong learning and recently achieved an MSc in Population Health at UCL.