Professionals working with children aged from birth to 5 came together to share best practice at Wolverhampton's inaugural Early Years conference.

More than 70 Early Years practitioners, teachers and health visitors took part in a series of workshops focusing on engaging with parents, good maternal health, early education and workforce development, and heard from key note speakers and early education experts Professor Christine Pascal and Helen Moylett.

The event, held at the Kingswood Trust, also saw the formal launch of the City of Wolverhampton Council's Early Years Strategy for 2017 to 2021, which outlines a multi agency approach to supporting children and their families.

The strategy seeks to further improve outcomes for young children in Wolverhampton.

Emma Bennett, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Service Director for Children and Young People, said: "We are committed to offering the highest quality help and support to our children and their families, and this conference - which follows similarly successful events for adults and children's social workers - is an important way in which we can further develop our workforce.

"It was also a great environment in which to formally launch our Early Years Strategy. We want to ensure that all children living in Wolverhampton have an equal chance to have a really good start in life, including supporting them to have a good level of development when they start school.

"Early Years services have an important role to play in ensuring this is the case, especially for those children of families who need support the most, and this new strategy will help us and our partners achieve our objectives."

The Early Years Strategy for 2017 to 2021 can be found here at  Type=links;Linkid=8472;Title=Wolverhampton Information Network - Early Years;Target=_blank;.

  • released: Wednesday 24 May, 2017