Building on insights from the First 1001 Days webinar, there will be a series of four online action learning sets offered every Tuesday morning throughout May. These aim to provide a space for participants to reflect on their experiences leading and delivering services for babies during successive lockdowns, and to consider priorities as they move on to post crisis strategy and recovery planning. Specifically, they will enable participants to:

- reflect on the lessons of the crisis with peers, including local strengths that came to the fore and any gaps that were exposed in their own services and systems

- consider implications of post-crisis challenges, for example in relation to meeting the needs of the lockdown baby generation and any long-term repercussions on workforce

- think about how to capture and build upon positive advances and adaptations which took place during lockdown, and learn from strengths and innovative approaches taken by others.

The events will run online every Tuesday morning throughout May from 10.30-12noon.

They will be structured around the four themes identified within the Working for Babies report as being building blocks for enabling ‘baby-positive’ responses. Each session will start with a short introduction and warm-up ‘temperature check’ using an interactive visual tool to gather and share live participant questions and priorities for the session. This will be followed by a short presentation on the relevant insight from ‘Working for Babies’ and a set of issues/themes for consideration before participants are split into breakout groups for more in-depth facilitated discussion. Participants will then be brought back together for a final round-up. The four areas for exploration will be:

4th May: Strong, Committed Leadership

11th May: Mature Partnerships

18th May: Dynamic Understanding of Need

25th May: Innovative Cultures

4th May: Strong, Committed Leadership – This session will focus on the role of leaders and the strategic and operational management level and political leaders in supporting and enabling ‘baby positive’ responses. In lockdown what kind of leadership behaviours and actions made a difference in terms of enabling services for babies to be prioritised and protected and effective frontline adaptations to be made? And what kinds of leadership traits will be required of local systems and service leaders going forward?

Working for Babies: taking the lockdown lessons forward