Another year – another Childcare Expo by Sarah Neville

21st June 2017

Another year – another Childcare Expo comes and goes – and with it comes another opportunity to reflect on what I learned from the show and how it will impact on my practice in the weeks and months to come. I was honoured this year to be invited to Childcare Expo as a Brand Ambassador! It made me feel very special and I enjoyed chatting to Emma from Broadway Events about the Expo and future plans for blogs and articles.

I attended a seminar this year presented by Di Chilvers from ‘Watch me grow’ consultancy. As an early years trainer myself it is great to go and listen to someone else present on a subject that has long been one of my favourites (assessing children’s learning) and find she is saying exactly the same things as me! I have come away inspired to focus more on this subject during future webinars and training sessions I present… lucky participants!

The stalls and stands around the room were interesting too and it was good to catch up with friends old and newer. I stopped for a chat with Pre-School Learning Alliance and introduced myself (I have recently signed up as one of their trainers) and I was excited to spot some new posters for our garden at a reduced price – did I really say I wasn’t going to spend any money this year? Silly me!

I think my favourite stalls were the healthy eating ones: gathering leaflets for our families so they can promote healthy eating at home and getting some new menu ideas for the future. I also have a long ‘wish list’ now – things I didn’t really think I should buy at the show but I will come back and look at again when I have some budget for resources.

Thank you to Broadway Events for inviting me to Childcare Expo Manchester 2017 and to the exhibitors for making it a worthwhile visit! I am already looking forward to the show next year which I am sure will be bigger and brighter than ever.