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Alan SinclairAlan is a Centre Associate. For five years he was Senior Director for Skills and Learning at Scottish Enterprise. Prior to this he set up Heatwise which trained unemployed people to insulate houses and grew rapidly in scale and reputation. Out of this came the Wise Group and as the Chief Executive he was responsible for its growth into a range of services and its pioneering work in getting long term unemployed people into jobs with regular employers.

Alan's original interest in the early years developed as a result of his interest in the development of workplace skills. The Work Foundation, where he used to be a Fellow, published a compelling provocation by Alan (“0-5: How small children make a big difference”). Since then he has expanded his knowledge of the importance of early years and the family and now spends most of his work time writing and speaking on the topic.

The views expressed here are Alan's and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre.

Snapshots

08/03/2013

It is 9pm on Saturday night in down town Chicago in an area between Michigan Avenue with Prada and Burberry and the Gold Coast’s expensive apartments with views of the Lake Michigan. more

Early Years and Transformational Change

29/02/2012 | 2 Comments


In the last financial settlement agreed by the Scottish Parliament one budget line after another was reduced or frozen. more

Are you old enough to read this?

28/11/2011

Is this a salacious piece that ought to be tucked under the counter or placed on the very top shelf? 
My two young nephews were watching an animal programme on television in which the horses began to copulate. more

Dutch and Finish Parents

20/05/2011 | 1 Comment

Ability to parent varies across families and across countries. more

Big Hearts and Big Calm

18/04/2011

Most of us think very little about children at risk of abuse and neglect. more

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity…Too Little, Too Late

21/03/2011 | 1 Comment

Since the Scottish Parliament was re-established there has been an expectation that some big idea would help to galvanise the Scottish population. more

Teenage Mothers and Tectonic Plates

02/02/2011

 Slabs of ice like mini Tectonic plates collide and tumble as the ferry crosses the Baltic from Finland to Estonia. more

Gardeners, Teachers and Pickled Fish

25/01/2011

David Cameron is in Helsinki this week and one of the three themes he is discussing with Finnish leaders is education performance; Finland scores the highest marks in the PISA scores. more

Child Well-Being

09/01/2011

I forget his name, it was after all 1981, precisely at the time of the last Royal Wedding and I was lucky enough to miss the brouhaha by being in Bombay, but I do remember his story. more

Like George Osborne I am a mad axeman

19/11/2010

I have earned my worry lines and crow feet through keeping the spark of caring and hope alive through a whole series of business and public sector spending lurches. more

In the Year Twenty Five 25

30/09/2010

Do facts and figures win people over or is it a good story? I was asked by the Scottish Parliament’s Future Forum to show the benefits by the year 2025 of early intervention to help babies and parents who were struggling. more

BLOG No. 1

16/09/2010 | 1 Comment

Carol asked me to write this blog. more

The views contained in the Guest Blog are those of the individuals' and do not necessarily represent those of the Centre or sponsoring organisations.