A successful conference for childcare sector staff took place on 16 November 2019. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Enabling Children’s Rights’.
Guest speakers from University of Wales Trinity Saint David delivered the morning workshop, which provided opportunities for plenty of discussion amongst staff. After the conference, providers reported that they felt more confident in making sure that children’s rights will be put into practice in their settings.
Children’s rights was a timely theme for this year’s conference as November 2019 marked the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Children’s Rights. Wales was the first country in the World to enshrine those rights into law. The law gives children and young people the rights to be free from discrimination, violence and neglect, and to grow up happily, healthily and safely.
Councillor Catrin Miles is Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet member responsible for Learning Services. She said, “The council’s Childcare Unit is going from strength to strength and has been a trailblazer in implementing the Childcare Offer. I think it’s excellent that they organise an event for childcare providers from across the county to come together and learn. This can only support the sector in the county, and lead to better levels of care for our children.”
One provider said that they “will offer more options and choices, and let children lead the way more” after learning about the Children’s Rights, whilst another added that it was a “good informative day”.
The afternoon workshops covered information about the Welsh Government’s Childcare Offer for Wales and updates on the Care Inspectorate Wales Self-Assessment of Service Statement and Quality of Care reviews. The Family Information Service gave a presentation on Dewis Cymru and the importance of ensuring information is updated regularly on their website. Dewis Cymru is a directory for families to find out what services are available in their area.
More information about local childcare providers in Ceredigion is available on the Childcare pages on the council website.
The annual Childcare Conference is organised by Ceredigion County Council Childcare Unit and is open to all kinds of childcare providers. This includes providers such as Childminders, Day Nurseries, Cylchoedd Meithrin, Playgroups, After School Clubs and Holiday Playschemes. The Welsh Government’s Children and Communities Grant fund the conference.
23/12/2019