COVENTRY will play host to a major national conference where early years leaders and nursery practitioners will discuss staffing and budgetary issues with the government.
The national day nurseries association (NDNA) conference will take place at the Coventry Building Society arena on Friday (June 9).
The conference comes months after Government plans were announced in the spring Budget to expand funded childcare entitlement to two-year-olds from next April and to children of nine months old from September 2024.
The minister for children, families and wellbeing, Claire Coutinho, will address sector workers at the annual conference.
Hundreds of leaders from the early years and nursery sector are set to attend for advice and guidance.
They will also have the chance to ask questions to Ofsted’s Alex Magloire, who is the deputy director of early years regulatory practice, as well as the principal officer for early years, Wendy Ratcliff.
The conference will be hosted by Liz Roberts, former editor-in-chief of Nursery World and will feature a keynote talk by author Dr Gervase Phinn, who will discuss how stories and poems can help to extend children’s thinking, foster new knowledge and validate emotions.
And the NDNA awards will take place in the evening where the industry’s best will be honoured.
The NDNA chief executive, Purnima Tanuku OBE, said: “The Department for Education has pledged to work with the early years sector to make sure the expansion will work for both parents and providers.
“Key to this will be making sure there are enough qualified practitioners to support children’s learning and development.
“We want to know from the Minister herself what the Government will be doing to support the sector to be able to recruit and retain enough staff in time for the first big influx of new children expected from April next year.”
Visit www.ndna.org.uk/conference for more information.
