The Alliance team were pleased to attend the Childcare & Education Expo at Olympia, London, on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 March, where we were happy to once again run the “Joy of Doing” feature area in addition to our own stand.
Catching up with members and interested non-members is always a joy and gives us an opportunity to discuss the things that matter to the people working in settings day-to-day. It’s important not only in our work to support our members, but also in our advocacy work, that we know what truly matters to the sector and the people working in it.
Funding rates, premises costs, the new entitlements and recruitment were issues that keep coming up in every conversation – so we know, when we speak to decision makers, that these are the things that the sector desperately needs better answers to.
And in between important conversations, we also had time for fun interludes through our partnership with TTS. Members collected their potion bottle stoppers that they could then take over to the TTS stand to receive the rest of the potion bottle. The choice of a pink, blue, or green bottle stumped more than one member on the day!
We were also delighted to be asked to host the "Joy of Doing" feature area, where we highlighted the joy that children find in the act of doing, rather than the outcome. And the popularity of the feature area spoke for itself – educators and parents alike wanted more ideas on how to incorporate play into learning. Alison, Heather and Fiona's display of mainly natural materials and demonstrations of how these can spark children's creativity and promote learning led to interesting conversations and observations.
If you weren’t able to attend the show, don’t worry – you’ll have another chance to speak to the Alliance at the on 28 and 29 September. Get the dates in your diary and get your ticket now!