NCB brought together more than 60 senior representatives this week from across the early years sector to reflect on the developments since our successful first summit in May.
The meeting focused on translating the government’s Best Start in Life policy commitments into coherent, system-wide action, strengthening cross-sector collaboration and maintaining a focus on improving outcomes and narrowing inequalities for babies, young children and their families.
Attendees included officials from the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) alongside leaders of a range of early years organisations.
Marc Rooney, DfE’s Deputy Director of the Best Start of Life strategy, provided the group with an update on the progress of the government’s plans and thanked attendees for their collaborative contributions in this space.
Karla Capstick, the former director of Small Steps, Big Changes, Nottingham’s A Better Start programme, opened a discussion on integration, an essential requirement if the Best Start in Life strategy is to achieve its ambitions. Families experience the early years system as one journey, not a set of services. When the system is integrated, families receive the right support at the right time, practitioners work with shared goals and data, and the whole system becomes more effective and efficient.
Sandra Igwe, Chief Executive at The Motherhood Group, delivered a presentation exploring the impacts of race and racism in early years policy and practice as part of the event’s second theme: The impact of the colour-blind approach. Following the presentation, participants discussed practical steps and recommendations for government and local practitioners to ensure early years policy and practice actively address racial inequality rather than ignore it.
Emily Hackett and Flora Wilkie of the Local Government Association opened the third and final area of discussions - identifying priorities and practical next steps for implementation. Participants were given the opportunity to discuss with their peers how their organisations have interpreted this call to action, what their priorities and next steps will be in achieving the Best Start in Life vision, and how this can be facilitated and barriers overcome.
We are currently collating the insights from the event and will share these as soon as we are able as we continue our support to turn government policy into implementation and give every child the best start in life.