London Early Years Conference
On Wednesday 6 March 2019, City Hall hosted its London Early Years Conference.
The conference celebrated the great work already happening across the capital, including the Mayor's three Early Years Hubs. It also explored what more can be done to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the early years.
Over 100 guests attended from across the early years sector, including local and central government, charities and membership organisations.
The conference was opened by Joanne McCartney AM, Deputy Mayor for Education and Childcare, who launched two exciting new programmes for London:
You can read the full press release here.
Guests then heard an overview of the Mayor's activities to improve access to quality early education in London.
Have a look at the agenda and slides below.
Access to quality early years panel
The panel, consisting of the members of the Mayors Early Years Hubs and chaired by Sian Elliott from 4in10, provided an opportunity to find out more about:
- the successes and challenges of setting up an early years hub
- top tips for engaging partners, including PVIs and childminders
- what is working best in engaging harder to reach families and increasing take up of funded 2-year-olds places
- the hubs’ work in promoting early years as a career choice and wider employability support to local parents
- how the hubs are supporting children with SEND
SEND in the early years
There was a chance to hear about the great work that is already happening to support children with SEND and their families from:
- Dr Adam Boddison, Chief Executive of nasen
- Anita Grover, Chief Executive of Auditory Verbal UK
- Lauren Press, a 12 year old student from Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls, who was born profoundly deaf. Lauren talked about her experiences and the impact the timely and quality support she received had on her life
You can read more about our fantastic speakers.
Throughout the day, Lily (age 7) and David (age 8), did a fantastic job of introducing all of the speakers. Both children are profoundly deaf and have been supported by Auditory Verbal UK.
Our roundtable discussion on SEND in the early years provided an opportunity to hear from the sector about:
1. Challenges and good practice around:
- early identification of need
- access to and quality of provision for children with SEND
2. What more can be done to support children with SEND in the early years
Find out more
Explore our website for more information on what the Mayor is doing to support the early years sector in London.
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