Early Years Conference 2024
Health, Wellbeing and Learning in the Early Years
Tuesday 12 March 2024
9am - 3:30pm
The Grand Hotel Gosforth Park
The conference will focus on health, wellbeing and learning for early years staff. It is a great opportunity for learning and professional development for early years staff working in school settings and organisations in Northumberland and Tyne & Wear.
The conference is targeted at staff working directly with children in the Early Years such as teachers (including Early Years leads), teaching assistants (TAs), nursery/preschool managers and practitioners, childminders, family centre staff, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VSCE) staff or similar roles.
During the conference you will hear from insightful and knowledgeable experts and take part in engaging and interactive workshops.
There will be a marketplace where you can gain information that can support you and the children you work with.
There will also be opportunities to network with other staff and settings to share knowledge and ideas.
Early bird offer
Early bird tickets are available for £30 per person - book before 26th January 2024. After that tickets will cost £40.
For further information please contact Dani Crispin Crook at dani.crispin@wearerise.co.uk
Keynote and workshops
Host – Ben Kingston-Hughes
Keynote – Ben Kingston-Hughes (45 mins)
The Power of Play
International keynote speaker, author and multi award-winning trainer Ben Kingston-Hughes examines the fundamental biochemistry of play and how we can use this knowledge to help children emotionally reset, build resilience and promote positive mental health.
He will explore how positive play can have the most profound effect on a child’s emotional wellbeing and can help children to overcome emotional obstacles and develop confidence and self-esteem. This intensely thought-provoking speech, combines up-to-date neuroscience and biochemistry with therapeutic play techniques to create a unique toolkit for helping not just vulnerable children but all children in our care.
Who is Ben Kingston- Hughes?
Ben Kingston-Hughes is an international keynote speaker, author and multi award-winning trainer. He is also the Managing Director of Inspired Children and has worked with vulnerable children across the UK for over 30 years. He has appeared on television several times working on a variety of children’s projects and his distinctive blend of humour, neuroscience and real-life practical experiences have made his training invaluable for anyone working with children. His game-changing book about play, “A Very Unusual Journey into Play.” is now available from bookshops and his new book, “Why Children Need Joy” is available to pre-order now.
It shows how positive play can have the most profound effect on a child’s emotional wellbeing and can help children to overcome emotional obstacles and develop confidence and self-esteem. The course also demonstrates how we can use play to help develop secure attachments with the children in our care especially if those children are struggling with attachments outside of our setting. The course is intensely thought-provoking, combining up-to-date neuroscience and biochemistry with therapeutic play techniques to create a unique toolkit for helping not just vulnerable children but all children in our care.
Workshops
All attendees will have the opportunity to attend all 3 workshops.
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Boosting movement and active play through loose parts play
Using open ended resources and loose parts play unlock imagination, creativity and divergent thinking and unlock children’s abilities to innovate, creatively problem solve and to think “outside the box”
Exploration of amazing low cost or free resources that we can use to support children’s development
Think outside the box whilst playing in a cardboard box!
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What does it mean to be Autistic?
Supporting children without diagnosis
Sensory processing, communication and emotional wellbeing
Strategies to support
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Defining Poverty
Some of the causes and consequences of poverty
What poverty can look like in the Early Years and how practitioners may be able to identify
Exploration of how staff can identify the barriers faced by children and families and workshopping ways to overcome this.
Our 2023 Early Years Conference was a huge success - nearly 97% of attendees agreed or strongly agreed that the conference would change or inform their practice.
“Fantastic information and activities that will inform my future practice”
“I loved everything about the conference, it was a great day. ”
“I feel energised and inspired (no mean feat after 30 years)”