Dr Kay Heslop

Assistant Professor

School: Communities and Education

Kay has worked with people of all ages in her roles as Early Years Professional, Teacher, Youth Leader and Police Officer over the past 40 years. Throughout this time, Kay has endeavoured to develop inclusive, authentic and motivational educational activities which meet personal interests and build upon current skills.

Kay’s current role is of Assistant Professor within the School of Communities and Education at the University of Northumbria (Newcastle).

Kay’s doctoral research, completed at the University of Sheffield, involved Early Years Practitioners as co-researchers. Together, Kay and her co-researchers investigated the inclusion of older adults in the lives of young children in an urban Forest School Environment. In doing so they explored interactions, knowledge exchange and the benefits of such activity.

Kay's national and international research into intergenerational practice, in its many forms, continues.

Campus Address

Manor House
Coach Lane Campus West
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE7 7XA

Email Kay

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Living Lives Together: The impact on children’s holistic development when learning alongside grand-friends in a Froebel inspired intergenerational nursery, Heslop, K., Agius Ferrante, C., Egersdorff, S., Ludden, L. 24 Apr 2026
Born4Life: creating and supporting meaningful, authentic, Intergenerational Experiences, Heslop, K., Caes, L. 3 Jul 2025, In: Journal of Intergenerational Relationships
‘I want to go to the bat den… are you coming?’: Investigating opportunities for intergenerational participation in Forest School’, Heslop, K., Friedman, S. 1 Sep 2025, In: Journal of Early Childhood Research
“We would just assume the wolf would be a boy…”: critical engagement with children’s literature by Early Years Educators, Davenport, C., Heslop, K., Padwick, A., Shimwell, J. 2 Oct 2025, In: International Journal of Early Years Education
What does transformation in Higher Education research culture look like? Evidence from action research within a diverse post-1992 department, Mulholland, K., Robson, I., Nichol, D., Counihan, C., Gray, W., Luke, C., Meller, S., Anderson, A., Heslop, K., Davies, J., Graham, P., Johnson, S., Hwang, S., Chan, W., Johnson, E., Hudson, K., Haighton, C., Littlefair, D., Defeyter, M., Kellehear, A., Atkinson, J., Johnson, M. 26 Nov 2025, In: Routledge Open Research
How can academics remove barriers for the most excluded? A call for advocacy from lived experience in the UK and Ireland, Efemini, C., Forster, N., Gallagher, M., Hardill, I., Heslop, K., Littlefair, D., Marsden, N., Meller, S., Ó’Tuama, S., Toyne, A., Johnson, M. Nov 2024, In: Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
Presenting frameworks for early learning, development and care in an intergenerational care village – position paper, Egersdorff, S., Ludden, L., Heslop, K., Caes, L. May 2024, In: Norland Educare Research Journal
‘Take care everyone!’ Care ethics at work whilst homeschooling and caring for children during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grimshaw, L., Heslop, K., Mulholland, K., Park, V., Duncan, J., Allan, J., Meredith, C., Warnock, C. 2 Dec 2024, Care and Coronavirus, Leeds, Emerald Publishing
The Knowledge Exchange Framework and Levelling Up: understanding the importance of engagement for students and employers, Heslop, K., Meller, S., Johnson, M. 17 Sep 2024, How to Enable Engagement Between Universities and Business, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar
'Water is Everywhere', Heslop, K. 16 May 2022

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: Invited Speaker - The Froebel Trust Conference 2026
Visiting an external academic institution: Oslo Metropolitan University 2025
Visiting an external academic institution: OsloMet University 2025
Invited talk: 'Everyone Wins in this Generation Game' (Intergenerational Practice) 2024
Visiting an external academic institution: University of Sheffield 2024
Invited talk: Jersey - Delivery of Lecture: Intergenerational Practice 2024
Other: International - Vibrant Connections - Trall Project - external member of advisory board 2024
Invited talk: Invited Speaker - Born4Life: creating meaningful, authentic, and sustainable intergenerational relationships. 2023
Visiting an external academic institution: University of Hull 2023
Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: Intergenerational Creativity Conference 2023