10 – 12 November 2026
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Dubai World Trade Centre Sheikh Saeed Halls 1, 2 & 3
Lara Hudson
Director of Early Childhood and Development - Innoventures Education
Lara is a distinguished early years professional with over 25 years of international experience, including more than 20 years in the UAE education sector. Holding an LLB in Law and a diverse range of education qualifications—including FE Trainer, Assessor, and Teacher—Lara’s expertise spans across various educational levels and sectors. In the UK, she has served as Head of Education for a Zoo, guiding students from birth to university in all areas of Zoological education. In the UAE, Lara has been a Chief Operational Officer for two prominent training companies, delivering an array of UK qualifications from various awarding organizations, Country Manager for a large European education group. Lara is now Director of Early Childhood and Development at Innoventures Education, a role which sees her supporting all aspects of early years education. Lara is firm believer early experiences shape a child’s attitudes toward learning, influencing their motivation, resilience, and curiosity throughout life. Our role is to ensure that we maximize this crucial ‘early years’ window for cognitive, emotional, and social development, setting the stage for future learning.
Speaker Sessions
GESS Talks Live
1628
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Panel Session: Quality in Early Childhood Panel by IECE
Session Summary:
This talk explores what "quality" truly means in early years education and beyond, beyond curriculum checklists, compliance, the classroom walls and extending it to the outside environment as well. The panel aims to share practical insights into building a culture of quality that is inclusive, reflective, and sustainable.
The discussion will highlight key drivers of quality, including responsive educator-child relationships, pedagogical approaches, continuous professional development, and strong parent partnerships. We will also discuss how structured leadership, process management, and thoughtful environment design contribute to ongoing quality enhancement.
This talk aims to inspire early years professionals and leaders to view quality not as a fixed goal, but as an evolving journey - one that requires collaboration, curiosity, and a commitment to every child’s right to belong and thrive, high-quality early years education is a holistic approach one that lays the foundation not only for academic success, but also for emotional resilience, social awareness, and lifelong well-being, raising tolerant, confident individuals equipped to prosper in a diverse and evolving world.
Speakers:
May Zalat
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Inclusion Director - Kids First Group (KFG)
