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Childcare & Education Expo Midlands

  • Childcare & Education Expo Midlands

There is always something new to learn every day, which is why Childcare & Education Expo is passionate about bringing you the most up-to-date information in the early years and primary education sectors in its seminar programme.

This year, at Childcare & Education Expo Midlands, there is a fantastic selection of experts across the sector, speaking on a variety of fascinating topics.

Join your childcare community on the 23rd-24th September 2022 at Coventry Building Society Arena to learn and grow in knowledge together.

Here’s what you can learn about over the two-day event…

Panel discussions

Take the opportunity to share your thoughts with speakers and other childcare professionals in collaborative panel discussions.

The Friday panel will be centered on recruitment and retention in the early years and primary education sectors, providing invaluable advice on how to re-build your workforce, raise the profile of childcare professionals and retain staff.

On Saturday, explore the importance of really listening and noticing the children we work with.

This panel will bring to the light the role educators have in supporting children’s social and emotional wellbeing, behavior, communication, and language.

Inspections and Ofsted

Preparing for inspection may often feel overwhelming and time-pressured. Join power duo Preeti Patel, head of education at Montessori Centre International, and Karen Chetwynd, chief operating officer from the Montessori Group, as they share their insight into feeling fully prepared and confident to respond to the challenges inspections might bring.

On Friday, you’ll have the privilege of hearing from the home of inspections – Ofsted! Phil Minns, HMI and Ofsted specialist adviser for early years and primary, will provide attendees with an understanding of the current issues regarding inspection, as well as answer any questions you would like to ask.

Play and forest school

Children need play more now than ever. Don’t miss the brilliant Ben Kingston-Hughes, managing director at Inspired Children, as he delivers a transformative and thought-provoking session examining play not as an optional extra to a child but as an essential building block for every single aspect of their development.

Next, discover the importance of outdoor learning with Umbareen Daniels, forest school tutor at Forest School Learning Initiative.

This session will look at the practical implementation of forest school in a setting, nature pedagogy and the theory underpinning its ethos and practice.

Join Umbareen as she delves into the impact of forest school and outdoor learning on post-pandemic children.

Reflective learning

We need our children to make progress – but how much more powerful would it be if they understood how they were learning?

The lovely Ali McClure, education consultant, teacher trainer, author and SENCo, will be reviewing the need to assess children’s progress and how empowering it would be if children had the tools to narrate their own as well as their classmates learning.

Safeguarding

Child cruelty and neglect offences have jumped by an astonishing 25% in a single year, revealed by new data published by the NSPCC.

Every child has a right to be protected and the desire to protect that right is present in everything we do.

Hear from Esha Johnson, counsellor at Luminous Counselling, as she tells her extraordinary experience in child sexual abuse to consider the dangers of autopilot that can cause us to miss safeguarding signals.

This session will be covering how we can support children to become aware of and be empowered to set their own physical boundaries and the way this supports children to keep themselves safe from abuse.

Special guest seminars

The award-winning early years author and advocate of play, Alistair Bryce-Clegg, will be running two seminars focused on play and wellbeing.

Alistair’s Friday session will be using examples of provision and practice from settings all over the world to look at the impact of the environment on the wellbeing and attainment of children.

On Saturday, he will be looking at how continuous provision can be the key to high levels of engagement and attainment, drawing on current science and research to reveal the impact of effective play provision.

Get ready for a whole lot of laughs but be quick – these sell out fast!


If you would like to join in, ensure to save your seat by registering to attend the show.

Once registered, you can then book onto any of the above sessions in the Visitor Hub.