Valerie Sollars is an academic member of staff at the Faculty of Education within the Department of Early Childhood & Primary Education. Her interest in and promotion of early childhood education and care has led to her authoring several policy documents (2006, 2013, 2014), contributing to an Early Years Framework as part of the National Curriculum Framework (2008-2012) and developing the first undergraduate programme of studies for early years practitioners (2009-2016). She also co-ordinated the development of a post-graduate degree in Early Years with colleagues from six European institutions (2005-2008) and subsequently was a member of an international consortium delivering an Erasmus Mundus Master in Early Childhood Education (2010-2016). Valerie has been invited by different Quality Assurance agencies in Europe as an external reviewer for early years and primary school degree programmes.
In line with one of her research interests, Valerie has conducted research focusing on emergent literacy and young language learners and led a number of language-related projects at the ECML in Graz (1998-2007). Among her publications, Valerie has articles, commissioned reports and book chapters focusing on quality in early years from the parents'and practitioners' perspectives; transitions from kindergarten to compulsory school; comprehensive reports on the early years workforce drawn up for the SEEPRO-R project (2007; 2018; 2024) and an article for Oxford Bibliographies entitled Early Childhood Education in Europe.
Valerie was the Head of Department (Primary Education)(2004-2011), the Dean of the Faculty of Education(2007-2015) and the Pro-Rector for Strategic Planning and Sustainability (2023- June 2026). She has also served on various national and international boards including the Council for the Teaching Profession; the Institute for Education; the National Institute for Childhood within the President's Foundation for the Well-being of Society and the European Network for Teacher Education Policy (ENTEP).
