Denise Kingston is senior researcher at the University of Oxford, honorary research fellow at the University of Sussex and an educational psychologist. She has a special interest in children's development, including their mathematical and scientific understandings, as well as other important school skills such as self-regulation, socialisation and inclusion. Denise has previously published The Early Childhood Quality Rating Scale - Emergent Curriculum (ECQRS-EC) (2026, Routledge), The Pedagogical Leadership in the Early Years (PLEY) Quality Rating Scale (2026, Routledge) and The Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Well-being (SSTEW) Scale (2024, Routledge). Iram Siraj is Professor of Child Development and Education at the University of Oxford and Research Professor at the University of Maynooth, Ireland. She has run trials using the Curriculum, Leadership and Interaction Quality Rating Scales (CLIQRS) in Australia, Singapore, China and the UK. She specialises in researching environments which enhance young children's learning, especially as part of mixed-method, longitudinal studies. Her previous publications include The Early Childhood Quality Rating Scale - Emergent Curriculum (ECQRS-EC) (2026, Routledge), The Pedagogical Leadership in the Early Years (PLEY) Quality Rating Scale (2026, Routledge), The Movement Environment Rating Scale (MOVERS) (2024, Routledge) and The Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Well-being (SSTEW) Scale (2024, Routledge). Judy Barrett is a former primary school teacher. She has taught in state-run nurseries, Reception and Year 1 classes in areas of social deprivation in the UK. Alongside her PGCE (specialising in early years mathematics), she has a Master's in Pure Mathematics and is a keen advocate of empowering and inspiring girls to overcome maths anxiety. Over the past decade, Judy has worked on a number of education-related research and outreach projects across the UK, mainland Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. She has previously published in the citizen science sphere.
