AN INAUGURAL childcare expo celebrating learner achievement and the “best of the industry” will be hosted by Coleg Cambria.
The Childcare Show is to be held on Wednesday May 14 from 5.30pm-8.30pm in the new £14m Nant building at Yale in Wrexham, a health and wellbeing Centre featuring the popular Iâl Spa, simulated hospital wards and virtual reality environments.
Organised by Childcare Assessor Lauren Lawrence, a former nursery manager with more than 10 years’ experience in the sector, the event is a first for the college, uniting more than 30 organisations and businesses with up to 100 students and their families, charities and relevant stakeholders.
“Ultimately it will be an opportunity for the learners and staff to showcase the amazing work that takes place here and out in the community,” said Lauren.
“We wanted to celebrate that while promoting best practice and bringing childcare providers all under one roof at our cutting-edge Nant centre to engage and encourage the next generation of workers in this arena, because there is so much demand.”
She added: “The providers see our learners in a workplace setting but not the amazing facilities we have here, so it will be fantastic to show them the building, the training, and demonstrate the academic side of our programmes.
“My vision is for there to be pockets of people gathering ideas and information, bilingual networking and groups sharing best practice, which due to the nature of the job and hours people operate – early morning until evening – they won’t usually get a chance to do.
“From the interest we’ve had already it looks like being an incredible event, so we are excited to welcome people on the night.”
Among those in attendance will be cohorts from Levels 2 and 3 of the Children’s Care, Play and Learning qualification.
Organisations including the NHS, Forest School, Wrexham Family Information Service, quality assessors and private nurseries have also signed up.
In Wales, the childcare sector faces high demand for qualified and trained practitioners, particularly for early education and childcare assistants and practitioners, due to government initiatives which have made provision more accessible.
Lauren says by working together they can make childcare a more attractive proposition for young people, given the jobs available within schools, day nurseries, the health service, play work and care settings, special needs units, the travel sector and with private families who require nannies.
“Childcare is an amazing and rewarding world to be in and can also act as a launchpad to many other areas due to the transferable skills, it is not just playing and looking after children, hence the need for these qualifications,” she said.
“There are so many options out there, but traditionally this hasn’t been seen as a viable long-term career, a perception we want to change, starting with this event.
“We are already being asked to make this an annual celebration so watch this space!”
