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Helping practitioners prepare children to live in the complex world of the 21st century

Back in March 2021, we saw the launch of the Birth to 5 Matters Guidance from the Early Years Coalition. One of the aims of the document is to support practitioners to develop their curriculum and pedagogy to reflect contemporary issues such as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Black Lives Matter, ensuring sustainable development and growing up in a digital age. 

The Coalition believes that equity, citizenship and rights education should be clearly reflected in the implementation of the EYFS curriculum and its pedagogic approach to listen to children’s voices on these and other issues from as early an age as possible. Children entering the early years now will need the much-discussed “twenty-first-century skills” and will grow up in the context of the “fourth industrial revolution” where digital skills are central. They may live to see further changes we cannot yet imagine. Practitioners need to take account of this wider, ever-changing context in early childhood education.

Now, a year on from the launch of the Guidance, the Coalition is now celebrating its work by launching a FREE Birth to 5 Matters Spring Festival to provide further training and guidance on how to help children to live in the complex world of the 21st century. The spring festival includes 20+ sessions over 10 days, including inspirational keynotes and practical sessions from early years experts available, live and/or on-demand. 

View the schedule: https://birthto5matters.org.uk/spring-festival/ 

Here at Connect Childcare, we’re also on a mission to improve the lives of children, globally. That’s why we are so proud to be the sponsoring partner of the ‘Equity’ strand of the Festival.

Equity is one of six strands running through the festival which are at the heart of Birth to 5 Matters. These strands aim to raise aspirations and expectations for this generation of children, growing the skills, knowledge and understanding that they will need to become active citizens in a fast-changing world.