Hordes of eager early years practitioners and primary teachers swarmed into London's Business Design Centre for the latest Under 12s Exhibition on 5 to 7 October sponsored by Nursery World and TES Primary. They were greeted by colourful Groove and Iver from the 'Hoobs' and 200 stands laden with a huge range of resources, equipment and services.
The exhibition, attended by more than 9,000 people, received a seal of approval from early years and school standards minister Catherine Ashton. 'It's been fantastic to see all these resources, but of course the most precious resources in the early years are people like you,' she said. Baroness Ashton stressed the need to recruit more people into childcare to meet the national childcare strategy, and this message was echoed by exhibitors in the Careers Zone.
The Department for Education and Skills, Childcare Recruitment and Childcare Link were present to help increase awareness of the diverse nature of the profession and nursery chains Buffer Bear, Leapfrog Day Nurseries and Nurseryworks Family Solutions were recruiting.
Childcare students visiting from Hertford Regional College brought two special guests with them - Anwar and Jasmine, their virtual reality babies. Certificate in childcare and education programme manager Denni Morrison said it was a great opportunity for the students to deal with the babies in a crowded place.
Staff at the free Pre-school Learning Alliance creche also faced a challenge when 18-month-old identical triplets were left in their care. The girls were so alike that staff had to make a note of who was who!
Following the exhibition trail around stalls including LDA, Sherston Software and Spark Island proved a winner for Natalie Clarke from Honeysuckle Nursery School, Bedfordshire, and Jacqueline Alexander from Clore Shalom School, Hertfordshire who both won hundreds of pounds worth of resources to take back to their settings.
The exhibition was also a great success for Parenta, a new internet company making its debut at the exhibition. 'It's the best weekend ever in terms of sales,' said Nick Williams. For a 299 set-up fee and 35 a month, Parenta will set up a website that the nursery can update at any time, including a daily supply of the news on current affairs and child health.
Also on show for the first time were Community Playthings' prototypes of its new sand and water trays. The water tray allows the water to flow at different levels and has a canopy and bar with a funnel, pulley and bucket attached. Both come with storage space underneath and lids, allowing them to double as tables.
Popular children's author Gervase Phinn signed copies of his new book, What's the Matter, Royston Knapper? at the Child's Play stall. He commented on the exhibition's great atmosphere. Publisher Nelson Thornes sold out of some of its books during the show, while NES Arnold gave out thousands of catalogues. Also proving a big hit were Nursery World's tote bags that were being given out with the latest issue. Nursery World staff were left exhausted after their stall was deluged by eager childcarers.
The seminar and training programme was also a success with speakers including author, education consultant and trainer Penny Tassoni, special needs consultant Collette Drifte and child psychologist Jennie Lindon. NW