Amanda Crow is a Senior Lecturer working in the School of Education and Professional Development and currently teaches on the BA (hons) Early Years, BA (Hons) Childhood Studies and Early Years Teacher programmes. She joined the University of Huddersfield in September 2014 after working for many years in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care. Amanda has a strategic responsibility for placements which involves developing and maintaining partnerships with schools and settings. Her role also involves preparing students for placement and offering support to ensure they have the best possible opportunities to gain the experiences needed for future employment.

Prior to joining the team in Huddersfield, Amanda was a part-time visiting lecturer at York St John University and worked full-time in Integrated Services in North Yorkshire. Amanda has developed community based services and project managed Children’s Centres including developing buildings and recruiting staff from a range of professional backgrounds. The role involved working at a strategic and operational level developing universal and targeted services with partner agencies to support vulnerable children and their families. Amanda facilitated multi-agency team work with health, education, social care and private and the voluntary sector agencies and had responsibility for leading ‘Common Assessments’ for children and young people.

In her early career Amanda developed childcare and family support for the first Sure Start Local Programme in Seacroft Leeds. She was responsible for recruiting, coordinating and mentoring parents and local volunteers; creating a childcare team that was responsive to the needs of the children and families accessing support through the programme. Amanda developed and delivered a bespoke training programme enabling the volunteers to become qualified for their childcare role. In 2005 she became the manager of East Leeds Integrated Children's Centre responsible for a full day care nursery, early education, integrated family support and coordinated parenting programmes in the community.  Previous positions include roles with children and families including full day care, sessional pre-schools, maintained schools, special educational needs and also as a self- employed Registered Child-minder.

• Working with parents and carers to develop children’s early home learning
• Improving quality practice for ‘2’ year olds including developing experienced practitioners to support the most vulnerable children
• Multi-agency working, supporting coordinated services to create a ‘team around the child’ approach
• Early intervention and family support
• Supporting students to develop peer relationships