Early Years Visioning Event 28 February 2018
Forty delegates worked in locality groups to co-produce an early years vision for Warwickshire, driven by the draft Education Strategy priority ‘the best possible start in life’. Facilitators from the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC), Professors Chris Pascal and Tony Bertram led the session, contributing from their national and international work in early years (see below). 
Chris Pascal talked to us about:
- a can do approach; being tiggers not eeyores
- the values that drive decisions about spend
- every strategic decision should be checked back against principles and values
- early years as the foundation of democracy – children learn if they have a voice
- advocacy: asking 'what am I living out on my daily practice?'
- 'professional generosity' and collaboration rather than competition
- aspiration rather than competence
- teaching schools as an engine for the local authority to energise the system.
A prioritisation exercise resulted in the following, ranked, shared priorities:
- a professionally trained workforce
- a child-led approach that is responsive to need
- an integrated, multi-agency system
- inclusivity; a system that works for everyone
During discussion the following two priorities were added:
- language-led learning in language-rich settings
- working with parents
Attendees also asked for more development opportunities for headteachers, to help them to better understand early education.
Finally it was agreed that localised networks of professionals would be the way to promote a shared understanding of the vision across different professional cultures, building on the Smartstart vision.