Sonia Waszczak: Early Years Adviser

We would like to welcome Sonia Waszczak newly appointed as Early Years and Safeguarding Advisory Teacher to Warwickshire's Early Years team and have invited her to introduce herself in this week's Heads Up....

I have been involved in early years education for over 40 years, initially starting out as a volunteer at a  summer playscheme at the tender age of 16 years before going on to complete my teacher training.  As an Early Years lead, I taught in a range of schools in Birmingham including a special school and a community day nursery.  I am passionate about giving all of our young children the best start in life and providing a stimulating and challenging environment.  My particular areas of expertise within early years are effective pedagogy, special needs and safeguarding. 

Following a successful teaching career I took a secondment, firstly to the local authority’s specialist under-five team, working with settings and families to support children under five years with special educational needs, then moved into advisory teaching and an Area SENCo role.  In 2001, I began working at Solihull Council as an Area Inclusion Coordinator, before taking on a role as an Early Years and School Improvement Adviser supporting schools and settings, including childminders, with all aspects of early years provision.  I developed and delivered an extensive range of training courses which were very well received by practitioners. 

I felt it was time for a change, and I left Solihull at the end of 2017, to take a short break and recharge my batteries.  I then took up a temporary position as an Early Years and Safeguarding Adviser with a charity in Birmingham before applying for the Early Years adviser post in Warwickshire.

I look forward to getting to know Warwickshire, meeting colleagues and practitioners, and working together to ensure achievement of Warwickshire’s new Education Strategy.