The 2006 Early Years & Primary Teaching Exhibition, taking place on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 September in London, promises to be essential for anyone with an interest in early years and primary education. This year's show is the biggest yet, featuring a packed seminar programme and more than 170 exhibitors previewing the latest products and resources.
Delegates attending the seminars will find information on a wide range of key topics, from government policy advice to inspiration on subjects such as sensory play, music and maths.
Friday's keynote address will be from Pauline Jones of the Children's Workforce Development Council, who will give a presentation on the new Early Years Professional role. Pauline will explain why the new qualification is needed, how Early Years Professional status can be achieved and what the role will entail. She will also discuss some of the issues surrounding professional status which have yet to be resolved.
The Government plans to have a children's centre in each community by 2010.
In Delivering Children's Centres (Friday 29 September, 12.30pm) Julian Gibbs, London regional development manager of the National Day Nurseries Association, will share his views on running a successful children's centre, including the need for partnership between local authorities, the PVI sector and parents.
He will suggest solutions to several problems facing the childcare sector such as sustainability and duplication of provision. He will also discuss concerns from the private sector that new government initiatives make running a profitable childcare setting impossible and says that there is 'ample opportunity for a good business case.'
On hand to discuss her experiences of delivering a children's centre will be Candy Daffern, the headteacher who managed Chichester nursery school and children's centre's transition last September. In Whole in One: Turning a School into a Children's Centre (Saturday 30 September, 3.30pm) Candy will offer practical advice to those in a similar situation, and discuss the challenges facing existing childcare centres, including the limitations of the governing structure for schools and the more complex budgeting requirements. Delegates may feel encouraged by Candy's view that despite the numerous problems she faced along the way 'overall it was well worth the extra work'.
'Managing an early years setting isn't the same as running a firm of accountants' says June O'Sullivan of Westminster Children's Society, who will discuss effective leadership in the childcare sector in the seminar The Pedagogical Leader (Saturday 30 September, 11am). June says that pedagogical leadership can improve practice, and she will discuss emerging evidence that suggests putting pedagogy at the centre of early years services can improve performance, with reference to recent case studies.
For many teachers and early years practitioners, inspections continue to be a daunting prospect. However, Laura Henry, childcare consultant and early years veteran of over 20 years, believes they do not have to be stressful.
Laura will be leading the Effective Inspection Preparation (Saturday 30 September, 12.30pm) seminar and will show how early years settings can ensure they are always ready for inspection through continuous reflection and self-evaluation. Laura believes the key is for every member of staff to be involved in the self-evaluation. She says, 'They need to demonstrate awareness of national stan- dards from a practical point of view, and awareness of key documentation.' Laura will discuss how staff can best prepare for inspection and aims to clarify how Every Child Matters relates to current practice
Delegates will hear more on Every Child Matters from Gail Ryder-Richardson of Learning through Landscapes who will be leading the seminar Every Child Matters: Looking at the Five Outcomes Outdoors (Friday, 29 September 11am).
Gail will discuss how these outcomes can be achieved in an outdoor environment and aims to offer ideas and inspiration and build confidence in delegates when it comes to the curriculum and taking children outside. 'I want people to feel it is something they can manage,' says Gail.
Gail argues that the outside is as important for the under-threes as for older children and she will discuss the benefits in a second seminar, Birth to Three: Outdoors Matters! (Friday, 29 September 12.30pm) She has worked with practitioners all over the country and has seen very young children flourish outdoors. 'They are fascinated with the natural world and things such as flowers and bugs,' says Gail 'The indoor world is manufactured and plastic by comparison and the outdoors offers a far wider range of experiences and stimuli.' Gail will discuss how the benefits of being outside link to the Birth to Three Matters Framework and the Early Years Foundation Stage, and the key features of quality outdoor spaces.
Other seminars feature Ten Easy Ways to Brighten Up Your Classroom, Nearly Instant Instruments and Creative Maths. But don't forget to visit our exhibitors to view the resources to help practitioners in their setting.
For further information on this and our other events visit the website, www.teachingexhibitions.co.uk.
Visit the exhibition to see new resources
Visitors to our exhibitors' stands can preview some of the latest, most exciting childcare resources, with books, toys, music, equipment and furniture among the products on show.
Esprit Holidays will be at stand G35 to discuss opportunities for nannies, nursery nurses and experienced childcarers who want to work abroad for a season in one of the top ski resorts in Europe. Members of the team will be on hand to answer questions, and interviews can be pre-arranged and conducted, even on the spur of the moment at the exhibition!
Those looking for new music resources should visit Frantic productions at stand V21. Frantic Productions publishes musicals and music resources for children aged three and above. This year the company launched a collection of festival songs especially for nursery- and reception-age children. The Little Song collection includes songs for Diwali, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Easter.
Inspiration for helping children with physical activity will be on hand at several of our exhibitors' stands. Zedbugs will be at stand M42 exhibiting sit-on toys for three- to 11-year-olds. The toys move when children swing the handlebars with the hands and feet. The swinging movement helps exercise the whole body and assists development, and the toys can be used in any safe outdoor area.
In addition, Reflections on Learning at stand M23 will be exhibiting some of the 100 new products it will be launching in September, including the Balance Stairs, a colourful set of eight steps which can be arranged in a variety of positions to help the child develop balance through the different play activities. Reflections on Learning specialises in award winning furniture and equipment for schools and nurseries and will be previewing a number of other new products including the First Computer Station, for pupils aged two to seven, and the Jumbo Mag, a construction set which uses magnetism to join different components together.
If space for exercise is in short supply in your setting visit Gym Kids at stand M21 who will be exhibiting three useful products to aid children's physical activity. The Infant Bike, the Treadmill and the Airwalker cover four of the Every Child Matters outcomes and are particularly useful for settings with no outdoor area.
Learning Resources at stand M55 will be previewing the new Radius Audio Learning System, which provides self-checking audio activities for children to help them with listening, reading, writing and recording. The Radius is suitable for all abilities and age levels, providing practice and reinforcement for subjects from Phonics and Reading Skills to Maths, Science and learning English. Learning Resources will be exhibiting a number of other new additions to its early years range.
Those on the lookout for new educational books will find plenty to choose from. Book publishers Featherstone Education will be at stand P25 with a whole host of new publications for early years practitioners and Child's Play International will be at stand M90 previewing new additions to its range of early years books and games, and offering special discounts on goods purchased and ordered at the show.
Finally Nursery World will be at stand M82 with exclusive subscription offers for guests. Sign up to make sure you don't miss out on our weekly mix of news, views, activity ideas, practical advice and careers.