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Annual conference 2011
Annual childcare policy conference 2011: Contented collaboration? Partnership and the role of the wider community in the Foundation Years
22 November 2011, Westminster
Daycare Trust’s Annual childcare policy conference “Contented Collaboration? Partnership and the role of the wider community in the Foundation Years” took place on 22 November 2011 in London.
Lisa Aziz, Ambassador for Daycare Trust and Zoe Williams from The Guardian chaired the conference which was addressed by speakers from the government and opposition, as well as experts from the early education and care sector.
Daycare Trust’s Chief Executive Anand Shukla set the scene for the day with his opening remarks and observations on current childcare and early years policy. Anand commented
“It was fantastic to be able to come together with so many opinion formers, policy makers, local authorities and childcare providers to discuss the issues that really matter to Childcare. One of the most important aspects of conference is the opporunity to benefit from different perspectives from across the sector. I would like to thank all of our speakers and delegates that made the day so informative. Daycare Trust has taken a lot of useful information away from today, and will look to build on that knowledge to inform our work moving forward.”
Ann Gross, Director, Foundation Years and Special Needs Group at The Department for Education set out the details of the Government’s consultation on the free early entitlement and the feedback from delegates’ discussions was fed directly into the consultation. To find out more about the consultation, visit the DFE website.
Sarah Teather, Minister of State for Children and Families, made the keynote speech of the day, where she set out the Government’s policy in detail, in particular focusing on the opportunity offered by the extension of the free entitlement to the most disadvantaged two year olds.
Delegates also got the parent perspective on current government policy from Kate Groucutt, Policy Director at Daycare Trust, as well as the provider view from Neil Leitch, Chief Executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance
View Kate Groucutt’s presentation
View Neil Leitch’s presentation
Harriet Harman MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party set out the Labour Party’s achievements between 1997 and 2010 and urged the Coalition to continue to strive for universal childcare. The Shadow Minister highlighted the increased numbers of women in parliament and linked this to the increased investment for childcare in recent years.
Professor John Mohan the University of Southampton gave an overview of volunteering in the UK, setting out key demographics and patterns in the area. Simon Wake from Gateshead Council and Kim Garthwaite from Liverpool Children’s Centre shared examples of good practice in relation to working with volunteers from their areas of work. To round off this session, Lynn Chesterman from the Grandparents Association highlighted the important role which grandparents play in supporting parents by providing childcare.
Presentation from Professor John Mohan to follow
View the presentation from Simon Wake, Gateshead Council
View the presentation from Kim Garthwaite, Liverpool Children’s Centre
View the presentation from Lynn Chesterman, Grandparents Association
Professor Pat Thane shared the development in family policy and lessons for today. View the presentation.
Alex Mills from KIDS set the tone for the afternoon with her presentation focusing childcare for disabled children. View her presentation.
The final session of the day looked at the future of Sure Start and Tracey Sanders from Hampshire County Council set out its policy in relation to children’s centre provision. View the presentation.
Dave Munday, representative from the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association and Officer for Unite discussed the role of health visitors and Ben Thomas at Unison set out his – generally positive – perspective on the future of Sure Start. View Dave Munday’s presentation.
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