We are extremely pleased to be able to welcome everyone back this year to our annual conference by offering free attendance to all our members and guests.

Please note that, due to unforeseen circumstances, our conference will now be online only. We will still be delighted to welcome all our members and guests from the comfort of their own homes.

The event provides excellent opportunities for CPD for early years lecturers, HE students, practitioners, employers, early years advisors and policymakers. Anyone with a professional interest in Early Years is welcome to attend.

Certificates of attendance can be requested and sent via email following the event.

Hosted once again by Staffordshire University, we are fortunate to have access to their state-of-the-art facilities created specifically for events such as this.

Attendees will be provided with an electronic link to the Teams meeting and will be able to watch all the presentations and contribute to the discussion in real time.

Please ensure we have a frequently used email address for each individual attendee to receive the link to access the event.

Here is the link for Saturday:

Press here to join the live event

The Programme Content

Our two keynote speakers this year will focus on the unique needs of babies and young children under three. They will share their research and practical experience to help us consider how we can best provide and support them in practice.

Time will be allocated for the audience, to interact with the speakers following each presentation.

A full programme schedule with timings will be made available to all attendees a week before the event via Eventbrite, but here follows an overview of the content.

1st Keynote Presentation:

Can you hear me? Can you see me? Empowering practitioners to find space for babies’ voice in early childhood education.

By Caroline Guard

2nd Keynote Presentation:

Growing up, not just catching up: Using Birth to Five Matters to support practice with under three’s impacted by the pandemic

By Donna Gaywood

Student Presentations:

Our annual student assignment competition is open to all students currently studying for an Early Years Foundation degree awarded by one of our member organisations. During our conference, we hope to include short presentations from each of the winning FdA students summarising the content of their assignments and reflecting on their own learning.

SEFDEY Research Project:

A team of SEFDEY members have recently conducted a collaborative small-scale research project and submitted a journal article for publication entitled

"Foundation degrees in early years: what difference do students say they make?"

Our programme will include a short presentation on the process and the dilemmas faced in conducting the research and reporting the findings.

The Final Programme:

11.00 Welcome and Introduction: Sarah Cousins and Caroline Jones

11.10 Keynote Presentation: Caroline Guard

'Can you hear me? Can you see me? Empowering practitioners to find space for babies’ voice in early childhood education'

12.00 L4 Student Assignment Winner Presentation: Melody Gater

12.15 L5 Student Assignment Winner Presentation: Ellie McCluskey

12.30 SEFDEY Research Project : Sarah Cousins, Jo Dallal , Maggie Crowley

"Foundation degrees in early years: what difference do students say they make?"

12.50 BREAK FOR LUNCH

1.30 Keynote Presentation: Donna Gaywood

'Growing up, not just catching up: Using Birth to Five Matters to support practice with under three’s impacted by the pandemic'

2.20 Student Assignment Special Award Winner: Matthew Richards

2.35 Research Presentation : Fran Cornwall

'Adult Perspectives on HIgher Order Thinking and the Smile and Laughter Response in Two -Year- Old Children: midpoint findings and the implications for parenting and professional practice'

2.50 Concluding comments: Sarah Cousins

3.00 Close

Meet our keynote speakers:

Caroline Guard

Caroline is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at Kingston University and PhD Candidate at the University of Roehampton.

Caroline has worked in the Early Childhood sector for over 20 years, progressing from practitioner to qualified teacher and manager before becoming Lecturer in Higher Education. Her research interests focus on Froebelian education, infant mental health, the rights of very young children (the voices of babies), dialogic interactions and the wellbeing and professional identity of early years professionals. She is in the final stages of completing her Doctorate in Education which explores how the voices of babies are situated in baby room pedagogy. The study examines how infant voice is positioned within the interactions that take place between babies and early years practitioners in nursery settings in England. Caroline’s PhD is funded by The Froebel Trust.

Caroline has extensive experience delivering work-based degree programmes in Early Childhood Education and Care. She is an advocate for supporting the early years workforce to find their voice, feel empowered by the work they do and to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions they make in a young child’s life. Emerging from her doctorate is a professional development tool to support practitioners who work with children under two years old reflect on the dialogic moments they have with babies with the view to improve and empower their relational work in settings.

Caroline was recently involved in the Early Years Coalition Birth to Five Matters: non statutory guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage project where she worked in collaboration with colleagues from across the sector to develop guidance for early years practitioners and those working with young children and their families

Donna Gaywood

Donna is a teacher with 30 years’ experience of working with children, young people, and adults to enable them to be resilient lifelong learners. She has worked across a wide range of settings: schools, PVIs, charities, local authorities and in private practice. Over the years Donna has developed a specialism for working with children and their parents who have encountered significant challenge in their lives and she continues to work in practice to support young children who are struggling with their social, emotional, and mental health, alongside their parents and early educators.

Donna was a member of the Inclusion and Equalities working group for the Birth to 5 Matters document and is currently working as the Birth to 5 Matters project co-ordinator. She is completing her PhD which is concerned with the lived experiences of very young refugee children. Donna is also a member of the National Education Union (NEU) and part of the NEU Early Years Reference group.