Associate Professor Sally Peters is Head of School Te Kura Toi Tangata School of Education at the University of Waikato. Sally’s passion for the early years began as a childminder in Scotland and developed further as an early childhood teacher in New Zealand. Her desire to understand more about children’s learning and development led to a research focus on children’s thinking and how learning can be fostered within and across settings. This work highlighted the importance of transitions for children, their families and teachers. Joining the university sector allowed these research interests to flourish and Sally has led a number of projects researching different aspects of transition as children move from early childhood education to school. Most of this research has involved working in partnership with teachers. In 2017 her research in ECE and school settings led to being part of the writing team for the update of the New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki, with particular responsibility for the ‘Pathways to School and Kura’ section. She recently completed an evaluation of a pilot project aimed at supporting young children’s wellbeing.