Developing Professional Practice in the Early Years encourages the reader to critically consider key aspects of early childhood education and care. The book is a valuable and accessible tool for those on professional pathways to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) or those engaged in Early Childhood Studies programmes or similar degree programmes courses relating to early years practice. This book will also be of interest to those engaged in continuous professional development (CPD) programmes. The book recognises the important contribution that early years education and care can make to children's future outcomes. It can be read in-depth or dipped into when need arises. Each chapter will help the reader to engage with challenging concepts and ideas which underpin early childhood policy and practice. Strong practical elements to the book aim to support the application of learning to high quality practice with young children. The generic term 'early childhood professional' is used throughout the book to encompass the diversity of roles within early childhood practice. The book aims to support the reader to critically consider the complexity of 'being professional' in contemporary early childhood practice by providing a strong theoretical and practice-based framework of the role and context of the early childhood professional. Key features of the book include: * Reflective tasks to support critical thinking about key aspects of professional practice * Case studies to enable the reader to learn from stories and situations about real professionals and their practice * Positive Practice Impact (PPI) boxes to provide specific examples of good professional practice in early childhood. Each chapter of this essential text concludes by signposting further reading - book chapters, journal articles, websites - to build greater depth of knowledge and extend the reader's understanding of early childhood theory and practice.

Ex-secretary and ex-mistress of a wealthy businessman who committed suicide, the unpleasant Laura complains to her neighbour that she would have inherited much more than her cottage if a certain will had not disappeared. The arrival of a strange woman with threats of blackmail results in Laura being deprived of her cottage - and more as she receives her full deserts.4 women

A sweeping Liverpool saga following the fortunes of one woman from the 1940s to the 1990s, by the ever-popular, award-winning author. Annie Harrison has a difficult childhood, and she eventually goes to live in the Grand Hotel with a rich schoolfriend. Marriage follows and when her husband dies, she throws herself into providing for her children. Starting with a market stall, she discovers a talent for designing clothes that develops into a successful business. But there comes a time amid the success when Annie feel she can no longer go on. Then a chance meeting leads to events she has no control over, and at last she finds the happiness that has previously eluded her.

It should have been the start of a brand new life in Liverpool... Patricia, Tara and Aideen couldn't be more excited about leaving Dublin with their father and heading for a new life in Liverpool. Yet it soon becomes clear that all is not as it seems. The day after the family arrive in England, father Bernie hastily sweeps the girls onto a huge ocean liner heading to New York. When Bernie tragically vanishes midway across the Atlantic, the grieving sisters are forced to prepare themselves for a new life far away from home, friends and family. What was their father running from? Can the girls put the tragedy behind them and build new lives in New York? A heartwarming family saga from Sunday Times bestselling author Maureen Lee - perfect for readers of Katie Flynn, Dilly Court and Kitty Neale. What readers are saying about Maureen Lee - the queen of Liverpool sagas 'A great storyteller' Liz, Amazon reviewer 'The characters jump off the page, I would definitely recommend' R, Amazon reviewer 'I never want to put Maureen's books down' Whitehouse, Amazon reviewer 'I couldn't put this book down' Pat, Amazon reviewer 'Kept me gripped from the very first page...highly recommend' Diana, Amazon reviewer

Two families - and their secrets . . . A superb Liverpool saga from bestselling author Maureen Lee 'The queen of saga writing' MY WEEKLY 'Maureen Lee is one of those hugely talented authors who writes great women for women readers. Her books don't just have one heroine, they have several. But even by her popular standards, The September Girls is exceptional. ... a thumping multi-generational saga' DAILY RECORD In Liverpool, on a stormy September night in 1920, two women from very different backgrounds give birth to daughters in the same house. Enemies at first, they later become friends when separate troubles unite them. But friendship between their daughters, Cara and Sybil, is a different matter. Nineteen years later, at the beginning of the Second World War, Cara and Sybil find themselves thrown together when they enlist and are both stationed in Malta. It is a time of live-changing repercussions for them both while, back home in Liverpool, the bombs rain down on a defiant city.

A powerful First World War story of a woman's quest for justice, from the bestselling author of NOTHING LASTS FOREVER and THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL. Liverpool 1915. Martha Rossi lives in a tenement with her husband and their five children. Despite working all the hours she can, the family don't have much to get by on. When Martha's fourteen-year-old son, Joe, proudly enlists to fight for his country just to earn his mother an extra shilling, Martha is horrified. She realises the government is turning a blind eye to the scores of young boys who are joining the army. Despite her pleas and protests, Joe is dispatched to France within weeks. Unbeknown to them all, Joe's act of selfless heroism will have huge implications for Martha and all the family. As the dreaded telegrams begin to arrive from the front in France, mothers' hearts are broken across the country. Spurred on by grief of her own, Martha Rossi begins a quest that will take her right to the doors of No. 10 Downing Street. Martha's journey there will be a tough one, but with courage and the support of her friends and family, it will be the most important undertaking of her life.

A warm-hearted story of one idyllic summer and four very different women - from the bestselling author of MOTHER OF PEARL. Brodie Logan's seemingly idyllic life with her once-loving husband is suddenly turned upside down - so she moves to a big shared house in Liverpool, and there meets a remarkable group of people. Twenty-five-year-old Diana seems so innocent and childlike, yet she was responsible for raising her three younger brothers. But suddenly there is no place for her in the only home she has ever known. Vanessa, once a successful career woman, still can't get over the shock of an unexpected rejection. And Rachel, barely fifteen, with her baby daughter, Poppy, is determined to keep the child some people seem set on taking away from her. As they while away the brilliant summer under the trees in the lovely garden of the big house, friendships form that will last a lifetime - but there are troubles on the horizon; after all, nothing lasts forever...

From 1930s Liverpool to London, then California and finally back to Liverpool, the powerful and compelling saga of one woman's turbulent life. Kitty O'Brien's husband is a drunken thug, and in order to feed her starving children, she sells her body on the Liverpool docks. Her daughter Lizzie is pregnant by her father and, still weak after her abortion, she kills him. Her mother takes the blame, but Lizzie cannot blot out the painful memories of her childhood. Eventually, with a failed marriage behind her, she finds fame, fortune and friendship in Hollywood - but happiness still escapes her. And so she returns to her roots, and it is her final marriage and its disastrous consequences that, at last, force her to face her past and find the happiness and peace of mind that have always eluded her.

Another wonderful Liverpool saga from bestselling author, Maureen Lee. At the age of nineteen, Kitty McCarthy has decided she is going to live a life less ordinary - although she doesn't know quite how to go about it. What she does know is that she doesn't want to get married and raise children in Liverpool like her elder sisters: Claire, who is a mother-hen; easy-going Norah and elegant Aileen. But Kitty's resolve is tested by the unexpected direction her life takes. The combination of an impetuous youthful decision and a chance meeting twenty years later are to have momentous repercussions that will stay with her for ever, and it is her sisters who are the constant thread when other relationships come and go. They know her best, they say, and in the end they know what's best for her - although Kitty would almost certainly disagree...

A wonderfully involving family story that begins in Liverpool at the beginning of the Second World War and spans forty turbulent years. Liverpool, 1939. The Second World War is about to start when pretty Laura Oliver meets Queenie Todd. Laura is twenty-one and happily married. At fourteen, Queenie lacks Laura's confidence and has been deserted by her good-time mother. The two become friends, but when the air raids begin Queenie is trusted to look after two young children, and the three of them are evacuated to a small town on the coast of Wales. At first, it is a haven of peace and quiet. The girls have a wonderful time - and then something happens, so terrifying that it will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Victoria Macara is twenty-seven and lives in the old house on the corner that was once home to the family removal business. When the land is sold, she finds herself surrounded by a small estate of new properties called Victoria Square. The newcomers who move in bring with them their own dramas: the mismatched lovers, Kathleen and Steve; Rachel, who is attempting to forget a terrible tragedy; upper-class Sarah arrives with her children after running away from an abusive husband, while Anna and Ernie are just after a quiet life. For Marie, Victoria Square is a refuge from the men who murdered her husband; for Judy, it means a fresh start after forty years of marriage to a man she'd thought she'd love for ever. But it is to Gareth - trapped in a hopeless marriage - that Victoria is particularly drawn ...

The Second World War - a mother must make a heart-breaking sacrifice in order to save her child... 'Maureen Lee weaves intrigue, love and warmth into every page' MY WEEKLY 'A fine writer' EVENING TELEGRAPH 1944. It is spring, late morning, when Flora's life changes for ever. She is standing on a platform in the Swiss mountains, watching as a cattle train draws near. From within the wooden trucks she can hear human voices - groaning, pleading and desperate. Horrified, she begins to run alongside the train, frantically trying to help. But as the train picks up speed, a filthy bundle of rags is thrust through the slats and into her arms - 'Take him. His name is Simon.' Flora stands on the platform, a baby boy cradled against her. And although everything looks exactly as it did moments before, nothing will ever be the same again. Sunday Times bestseller Maureen Lee has written a powerful, moving story of war, motherhood and love.

A brilliantly compelling Liverpool saga following the lives of two women - three generations apart. Millie Cameron is not at all pleased when she finds herself obliged to sort through the belongings of her aunt Flo, who has recently died. She hardly knew her aunt and besides, she has her own career to think about. But when she arrives at Flo's basement flat, Millie's interest is awakened. As she sorts through her aunt's collection of photographs, letters and newspaper cuttings she finds herself embarking on a journey - a journey to a past which includes a lost lover and a secret child. Picking through the tangled web of Flo's life, Millie makes the startling discovery that all the threads lead to herself...

A compelling Liverpool story of deep emotion and tangled family relationships which hide a dreadful secret. Alice Lacey couldn't be more different from her sister-in-law, Cora. Alice is married to John, Cora to his hapless younger brother Billie. Both women give birth to sons on one chaotic night in 1940. It is Cora's jealousy and resentment that prompts her to swap her puny baby for Alice's beautiful son. With Alice's marriage in tatters, she borrows money from Cora in order to purchase the lease of the tiny hairdresser where she works. Alice is talented; the business thrives and a chain of salons becomes Laceys of Liverpool. The relationships between the cousins Cormac and Maurice, their parents, Alice's three girls and their eventual husbands and children, combine to give a unique picture of Liverpool in the last sixty years of the twentieth century.

The third novel in bestseller Maureen Lee's outstanding Liverpool sequence about family life during World War II Two years of war have taken a terrible toll on Pearl Street, Liverpool. German bombs have reduced some houses to rubble and most of the inhabitants have lost friends and family. While sisters Eileen and Sheila share the anxious burden of absent husbands, the conflict for others brings excitement and freedom. Kitty Quigley, stuck at home for years with an invalid father, is forced to register for war work and is delighted to become an auxiliary nurse. And Jessica Fleming, struggling to earn a living, finds herself and friend Rita increasingly drawn to the glamour and excitement of the Yanks.

The second novel in bestseller Maureen Lee's outstanding Liverpool sequence about family life during the Second World War September 1940 - the cruellest year of war for Britain's civilians as the Luftwaffe mercilessly blitz their cities. In Pearl Street, near Liverpool's docks, families struggle to cope the best they can. A nasty surprise for ever-cheerful dressmaker Brenda Mahon, and flighty Sean's love for little Alice, show how life goes on even when it appears to be falling apart. Yet while Eileen Costello tries to hide her ruined hopes of happiness with Nick, and do her best by the husband she hoped had gone for ever, Ruth Singerman returns, having escaped from Austria. Even the joy of seeing her father again cannot make up for the bitter loss of her children.

A devastating tragedy tears a family apart - a superb novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE SEPTEMBER GIRLS. Pretty Amy Curran was just eighteen years old when she met Barney Patterson, the love of her life, on Southport Pier in 1939. Their romantic, passionate marriage was made in heaven - but with the outbreak of war, Barney volunteered to fight, and the couple were separated for five long years. When he returned to Liverpool after VE Day, he wasn't the same person - and neither was Amy. How could things have become so twisted that one day Amy would kill the husband she once so adored? And what happened to their little girl, Pearl, just five years old at the time? In 1971 Amy is released from prison - although her freedom will change the lives of others, not least that of her daughter. But Pearl has her own demons to exorcise in her quest for happiness. And the greatest question she must ask herself is this: can she ever love her mother after what she did?

On a cold February night in 1925, Mollie and Annemarie Kenny escape from their home in a tiny Irish village. Their beloved mother has died and the girls have suffered shocking abuse at the hands of their doctor father. With sensitive, creative Annemarie so traumatized she can barely remember her name, Mollie decides they should make a new life for themselves, taking her younger sister to Liverpool to board a ship bound for New York and, she hopes, safety. But the smallest, cruelest twist of fate conspires to separate the girls just as the boat is about to sail, leaving Mollie stranded in Liverpool and Annemarie at the mercy of strangers in America. The subsequent paths of their lives could not be more different. Annemarie discovers her future, her fortune, and her raison d'etre on Broadway, while Mollie, devastated by guilt and grief at the loss of her sister, eventually carves out a life of family, hearth, and home in Liverpool, a city of warmth and humor that she grows to love. As the 1920s make way for the Depression and the edgy 1930s, the specter of another war looms. The Second World War will separate many more people from their loved ones, but, as Mollie sees in the cheerful, stoical camaraderie of blitzed Liverpool, it can also bring people together.

At sixteen she runs away with a farmworker, and two years later she is alone and homeless with her two daughters.Her friend, Mrs Hart, leaves her big friendly house for Ruby to look after, and it is here that her life unfolds. Her children leave but return when tragedy befalls them. Through all this, the enigmatic Matthew Flynn drifts in and out of Ruby's life. She ignores him until it is almost too late.

A powerful and compelling Liverpool saga of one woman's life from bestselling author Maureen Lee. For Josie Flynn, the war was just the start of a journey that began in heartbreak when she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle. Life took her to Barefoot House as the paid companion of an elderly woman, and seemed to promise lifelong happiness in New York with the handsome, charismatic Jack Coltrane. But once again, life is not turning out the way Josie has imagined and she finds herself back in Liverpool, alone. As she renews old loves and former friendships, and reflects on her time at Barefoot House, she embarks upon a career which is as unlikely as it is successful.

Another wonderful Liverpool saga from bestselling author Maureen Lee. The product of an affair between a nurse and an injured American soldier during the Great War, Ruby O'Hagan's early life is spent in an orphanage. At sixteen she runs away with a farmworker, and two years later she is alone and homeless with her two daughters. Her friend, Mrs Hart, leaves her big friendly house for Ruby to look after, and it is here that her life unfolds. Her children leave but return when tragedy befalls them. Through all this, the enigmatic Matthew Flynn drifts in and out of Ruby's life. She ignores him until it is almost too late.

Three Liverpool families--the Flowers, the Baileys, and the McDowds--are all very different, yet inextricably linked. It is 1960s Liverpool, and the glamorous world of music is the place to be. So, when Sean, Lachlan, and Max form "The Merseysiders" and Jeannie and Rita become part of "The Flower Girls, " they put their hearts and souls into their performances and achieve success beyond their wildest dreams. The greatest star of all is Sean McDowd, adored by women everywhere, yet unable to get his first love out of his mind. But Jeannie Flowers has married Lachlan, and no one is prepared for the deceits and betrayals that lie ahead.

At the age of nineteen, Kitty McCarthy has decided she is going to live a life less ordinary - although she doesn't know quite how to go about it. What she does know is that she doesn't want to get married and raise children in Liverpool like her elder sisters: Claire, who is a mother-hen; easy-going Norah and elegant Aileen. But Kitty's resolve is tested by the unexpected direction her life takes.The combination of an impetuous youthful decision and a chance meeting twenty years later are to have momentous repercussions that will stay with her for ever, and it is her sisters who are the constant thread when other relationships come and go. They know her best, they say, and in the end they know what's best for her - although Kitty would almost certainly disagree...

Liverpool, 1920, and on a stormy September night two women from very different backgrounds give birth to daughters in the very same house. Enemies at first, they become friends, united by their own separate troubles which turn their lives upside down. But friendship between their daughters is another matter...Nineteen years later, at the start of the Second World War, Cara and Sybil find themselves thrown together when they both enlist and are stationed in Malta.

Number One bestseller Maureen Lee's first novel of the hugely popular Pearl Street series. 'With her talent for storytelling, queen of saga-writing Maureen Lee weaves intrigue, love and warmth into every page' My Weekly As Britain stands alone against a monstrous enemy, the inhabitants of Pearl Street, in Liverpool, face hardship and heartbreak with courage and humour. The war touches each of them in a different way: for Annie Poulson, a widow, it means never-ending worry when her twin boys are called up and sent to France; Sheila Reilly's husband, Cal, faces the terror of U-Boat attacks; Eileen Costello is liberated from a bitter, loveless marriage when her husband is sent to Egypt and she goes to work in a munitions factory - and falls in love. And Jessica Fleming, down on her luck, is forced to return to the street she'd hoped never to see again.