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Buckinghamshire Early Years Annual Conference
Starting Strong! Well-being and Inclusion across the EYFS
Booking window to open from 30th June 2025
Join us for our annual Early Years Conference on Friday 14th November 2025 where professionals from across the sector will come together to share best practices, network, and explore key topics shaping the future of early years education. It is a day of engaging and interactive practical sessions led by team of early years experts, and inspiring keynote speeches. Don't miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and be inspired!
During the conference you will hear from insightful and knowledgeable experts and take part in engaging and interactive seminars. There will be a marketplace where you can gain information that can support you and the children you work with. There will also be opportunities to network with other staff and settings to share knowledge and ideas.
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To help ensure your conference experience is comfortable and enjoyable, we ask that you complete a pre-event questionnaire before 24th October 2025. The information you provide will be used to arrange adequate levels of workshop places, print name badges, and confirm catering. A Microsoft Questionnaire link will be provided soon after booking a place |
Building a Unique Curriculum
A coherently planned and well-sequenced curriculum enables children to make progress by knowing more, understanding more and being able to do more. In the early years, the curriculum enables all children to make progress in the areas of learning. In this way, early education provides the building blocks of knowledge for subjects that children will study in later years. (Ofsted, Best Start in Life: Settling the Scene, November 2022)
This session will focus on how to build a unique curriculum, what needs to be considered when planning one, as well as how to put your curriculum into practice.
Building a Unique Curriculum for Childminders - Webinar
A coherently planned and well-sequenced curriculum enables children to make progress by knowing more, understanding more and being able to do more. In the early years, the curriculum enables all children to make progress in the areas of learning. In this way, early education provides the building blocks of knowledge for subjects that children will study in later years. (Ofsted, Best Start in Life: Setting the Scene, November 2022)
These two sessions will focus on how to build a unique curriculum for your childminding setting, what needs to be considered when planning one, as well as how to put your curriculum into practice.
This course will help you to identify your main curricular goals that you would like the children to achieve whilst they are with you. Consideration for your community of children and their needs and experiences will be taken into account. What do you want to teach them? How is your curriculum reflected in the opportunities that you give your children?
As part of the course, we will also be considering how to introduce new vocabulary through the use of books, songs, poems and rhymes.
Communication and Language for Babies & Very Young Children
Getting it right from the start ...... This is a brand new course exploring supporting communication and language from babies onwards.
As communication is vital to all other areas of development it is vital that we get it right from the start to ensure that all children can reach their full potential.
The aims of the training are
- To understand stages of young children’s communication and language development
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To develop strategies to support young children’s communication and language development including those with EAL and speech and language difficulties
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To be able to work with parents and other professionals to support speech hand language development in very young children.
Developing Early Mark Makers
This training is designed specifically for Practitioners in Preschools and Nurseries.
Laying the foundations to develop keen and enthusiastic mark makers in nurseries and preschools.
Practitioners will focus on the first steps of early literacy and will explore the development of gross motor skills to mark making. We will consider the experiences and activities that will enable children to secure these core skills to become enthusiastic mark makers. We will consider the importance of communication and language, physical skills and how these impact children’s ability to mark make. There will be links to the revised EYFS Statutory Framework and Early Years Inspection Framework.
Effective Leadership and Management
An interactive course aimed at all management roles including managers, deputies and committee trustees, whether you are new to the role or require a refresh.
The course covers key topics including, statutory requirements, leadership and team styles, staff performance management and how to manage a sustainable provision.
Discussions around leadership techniques, dealing with conflict, challenging conversations and disciplinary & grievance procedures will also be included.
Please note, lunch is not provided on this course.
Excelling Outdoors
This course will demonstrate how to plan, resource and support children’s learning outside. It engages learners in a series of practical and interactive activities that allow them to confidently include purposeful and open ended outdoor play and exploration, incorporating risk and challenge. The ideas are based on current research and practice to improve learning outcomes, with opportunities to share current provision arrangements. This course will focus on risk and challenge, communication, language and literacy and mathematics aspects of the EYFS especially.
The benefits of attending this training are:
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To increase practitioner knowledge and confidence of delivering engaging and challenging EYFS experiences outside, especially to boost and embed communication, language and literacy and mathematical skills.
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To recognise the web of benefits learning outside brings and how this allows children to thrive in different ways than indoors.
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To plan for and implement quality learning outside, including those arising spontaneously, tailored to meet the needs and development of the children.
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To understand the benefits of risk and challenge and how to support this for children and as a staff team.
£62.00
(excl. VAT)
Excelling Outdoors - Beyond the Back Garden
Bespoke for Buckinghamshire Childminders
This course will demonstrate how to plan, resource and support children’s learning outside. It engages learners in a series of practical and fun activities that allow childminders to confidently include outdoor play, incorporating risk and challenge, to make learning through play more exciting. The ideas are based on current research and practice to improve learning outcomes. This course will focus on risk and challenge and all areas of learning and development from the EYFS. As a result of attending this course you will have discussed the following:
- To increase practitioner knowledge and confidence of delivering engaging and challenging EYFS experiences outside.
- To plan and implement quality learning outside, including those arising spontaneously, tailored to meet the needs and development of the children.
- To understand the benefits of risk and challenge and how to support this for children and any assistants you may employ.
EYFS Profile Professional Dialogue Meeting
These events are aimed at Reception class teachers.
This professional dialogue meeting will give those reception teachers completing the EYFSP for 2025 the opportunity to discuss the early learning goals as well as their judgements to ensure accuracy and consistency in EYFS profile for parents and year one teachers. The course will use the EYFS profile handbook, it will have an element of evidence sharing through professional dialogue.
Foundation in Phonics
Children’s literacy skills in school are generally influenced by their earlier experiences. Adults working with younger children can support them to develop a strong foundation from which to learn the specific skills needed to be successful readers and writers.
This session will explore ideas for developing children’s early phonics skills through:
- Adult-led activities
- Fun, practical games
- Resources which can be differentiated depending on a child’s age and stage of development
Getting started - Support for Early Career teachers in Early Years
This recently developed course, consists of 4 in person meetings throughout the year, and has been designed to provide a highly informative introduction to teaching and learning in the Early Years, helping support ECTs at the beginning of their career
- Autumn: Session 1 - Continuous provision, enabling environment, successful transitions and structuring the day. Reflect on how carefully planned routines, organisation and resources promote a broad range of learning and development opportunities.
- Spring: Session 2 - Enhancing the environment based on the skills your children need to develop and have been taught so far, including the use of Buckinghamshire Early Years audit tools.
- Summer 1: Session 3 - Professional dialogue around the EYFSP
- Summer 2: Session 4 – Reflection and celebration of the year.
This is a fantastic opportunity for those teachers beginning their journey to network with other ECTs in Early Years throughout Buckinghamshire and with members of the Early Years Service to support with developing good practice and teaching within the EYFS. Benefits include:
- Deepening your knowledge of child development theories and shape your early years pedagogy
- Exploring the connection between the learning environment and developing routines for learning within your provision
- Understand the holistic nature of the early years and develop strategies to support and extend children’s learning and development
Leading the Early Years with Confidence
This course is aimed at Early Years Managers and Leaders in the EYFS and will identify the key changes within the revised EYFS statutory framework. Through discussions we will explore effective ways to develop a shared understanding of what is quality practice within EYFS and effective strategies to improve teaching across a team. It will look at the requirements of Ofsted and how both the EYFS framework and Ofsted inspection framework work together, identifying key features of both documents. We will reflect on current trends, curriculum, and the enabling environment to enrich your professional knowledge of outstanding early years and focus on how to shape actions for the future development of your EYFS.
Let’s get talking, Communication and Language in the Early Years
This training is to support practitioners
- To understand the importance of communication and language for children’s wider development and future attainment
- To maximise opportunities to develop children’s communication and language skills
- To recognise a high-quality adult: child interaction
- Gain ideas to develop your setting to provide rich communication and language
Making Maths Matter
An excellent course that will help practitioners and teachers recognise the importance of a solid grounding in number. There will be lots of practical examples of how to use concrete materials to support counting and how we can develop children’s spatial reasoning skills. Along with suggestions to support problem solving through everyday opportunities. It will include links to the EY Inspection Framework, revised EYFS Statutory Framework and non-statutory guidance. You will learn:
- To understand the importance of a solid grounding in number, mastery of maths
- To know how to support the development of counting
- To recognise how we can support problem solving as a part of everyday practice
- To learn how to develop children’s spatial reasoning skills
Delegates will increase their knowledge and skills so they can:
- Help children to develop a strong base knowledge of number
- Encourage children’s spatial reasoning skills.
- Make problem solving a part of everyday practice.
Nurturing Successful Writers
This course is designed specifically for Practitioners in Reception
How to develop enthusiastic and independent writers from early mark making to confident writing in reception.
This course will explore how to develop enthusiastic and independent writers from early mark making to confident writing. Practitioners will focus on the first steps of early Literacy and will explore the development from early mark making to independent writing. We will reflect on the interconnected relationship between phonics and early writing and consider the experiences and activities that will enable children to secure these connections to become enthusiastic, confident, and independent writers. We will consider how to best support vulnerable groups.
- To gain teaching strategies and practical ideas to develop and support writing indoors and outdoors
- To plan teaching opportunities to support children make connections between phonics and writing
- To understand how to promote literacy through creating an enabling environment.
Practitioners New to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Webinar
This course is designed for practitioners new to a setting and new to the EYFS. Suitable for childminders, nursery and preschool staff and those working in school in the Early Years.
- Gain an overview of the ‘Statutory Framework for the EYFS’ and other non-statutory documentation
- Observation, assessment and planning a cycle
- Ensure that the characteristics of effective teaching & learning are at the heart of your practice
- Cultural Capital and implementing a curriculum within the setting
- Understand what we mean by adult-led and child-initiated activities
- Understand the importance of partnership with parents and others
- How to create an enabling environment