This account considers the need for qualified teachers and headteachers in Children's Centres in England. It describes the ongoing decline in the importance of nursery education, and the concurrent expansion of childcare. The author argues that the best response to increasingly formal approaches in the early years is to maintain the role of the specialist nursery teacher and headteacher. The best tradition of the nursery school is the close observation and study of young children, leading to the development of an appropriate curriculum. That tradition is now in danger of extinction. Current government proposals for the early years are undermining the connections between the early years and the rest of the educational system; the author argues that teachers need to re-assert the importance of their position.