Now in its third successful year, the Bright Start Conference has provided hundreds of hours of inspirational content to participants to support them in their work with 0-5s.
To give you a taste of what to expect at the 2021 Bright Start Conference, the Bright Start Foundation has released the following resources from the 2020 Bright Start Conference.
The 2021 Bright Start Conference is an online event offering 60+ sessions – including practical workshops, live demonstrations and round-table discussions. This equates to more than 110 hours of live streamed content plus all associated handouts and other resources, which all participants will have access to for three months post-conference to revisit at leisure.
When you book your ticket for the 2021 Bright Start Conference don't forget to quote the code 'EdCentral' to claim a special discount.
In the meantime, if you want to register your interest in joining a global network of early childhood educators and carers to share ideas and discuss experiences, just leave your details here and we'll make sure we keep you posted.
We hope you enjoy these complimentary resources and hope to have the opportunity to welcome you to the 2021 Bright Start Conference.
Resource 1 – Practical Play Ideas to Develop Key Skills in the Classroom and at Home
Description and link to recording (opens in Vimeo)In this session the presenters practical play ideas to help develop key skills and character development in early years under the overall theme of parental engagement. Follow this link to view the recording of this 2020 Bright Start Conference Session.
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About the SpeakersLorraine Allman, Author, Educator and International Consultant at Can-Do Child®, UK (Facilitator) Author, Educator and International consultant, Lorraine has over 18 years practical business experience with a passion for, and specialism in, supporting parents and educators to nurture can-do children who are happy, creative, resilient and resourceful. he is author of ‘The Can-Do Child: Enriching the Everyday the Easy Way’ popular with both teachers and parents, which presents a fun, child-centred approach to nurturing children’s can-do potential through play from Early Years using her unique Three Es’ model of Engagement, Enterprise, and Enjoyment. Lorraine collaborates with UK and international child development, parenting, and early years experts, with a particular focus on parental engagement. She works internationally through workshops, as well as digitally with apps and online training and resources. Rowena Phair, Project Leadder in the Education and Skills Directorate at the OECD, France Rowena Phair is a Project Leader in the Education and Skills Directorate of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), based in Paris. She is responsible for initiating innovative studies, such as the International Early Learning and Child Well-being study and a survey on students’ social and emotional skills. She has focused on priority groups of students within education systems, in relation to gender, socio-economic status, migration history, and Indigenous and other minority ethnic backgrounds. Prior to joining the OECD, Rowena was the Deputy Secretary of Student Achievement in the Ministry of Education, New Zealand, and previously the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, New Zealand. Rowena has a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Auckland.
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Rowena Phair |
Lorraine Allman
Resource 2 – Pre-School Children and Online Media
Description and link to recording (opens in Vimeo)In this session David Kleeman introduces Dr Jacqueline Harding – who specialises in Early Childhood Studies at the School of Health Social Care, and Education at Middlesex University and is project lead for Tomorrow’s Child TV – and Dr Maya Götz of the International Central Institute for Youth and Education Television in Munich. Individually and in discussion they share findings from pre and post-pandemic research and observations and discuss what methods and strategies can help to make children media literate digital citizens – and keep them safe, productive and happy in today’s media-rich environment. Follow this link to view the recording of this 2020 Bright Start Conference Session. |
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About the SpeakersDavid Kleeman, Strategist, Analyst, Author, Speaker, Connector, US (Facilitator) David Kleeman has led the children’s media industry in developing sustainable, child-friendly practices for more than 30 years. He began this work as president of the American Center for Children and Media and is now Senior Vice President of Global Trends for Dubit, a strategy/research consultancy and digital studio. When he began this work, ‘children’s media’ meant television. Today, he is fascinated by, and passionate about, the wide range of possibilities for entertainment, engagement, play and learning that children have. David uses research, insights and experience to show that much may change, but children’s needs and developmental paths remain constant.
Dr Jacqueline Harding, Specialist in Early Childhood Studies at the School of Health, Social Care and Education at Middlesex University, UK Jacqueline set up Tomorrow’s Child (a specialised film production and media research company) following a successful career as BBC education editor, government consultant, head teacher, and author of best selling books for children and adults. Internationally known as a leading child development expert, she has extensive experience of advising programme makers, web and interactive media designers how to match content to the needs of the developing child. Tomorrow’s Child works with clients from across Europe to ensure that their media proposition for children is developmentally correct, engages the young developing brain in the nest way possible and offers an active experience. Maya Götz, Ph.D.,Head of the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI) at the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcasting Corp.), Munich, Germany, and of the PRIX JEUNESSE Foundation. Dr Maya Götz's main field of work is research in the area of ‘children/youth and television’. In addition to that she works and publishes in the field of gender-specific reception research. Empirical studies among others on: ‘The concept of girls in children's television’ (1999), ‘Teletubbies in children's everyday life’ (1999), ‘The significance of Daily Soaps for children and young people’ (2000/2001), ‘Children's fantasy and television’ (2001/2002), ‘What are children laughing about on television?’ (2002/2003; 2005), ‘Learning with television’ (2002/2003), ‘Children watching war’ (2003) and ‘Journalism with young people for young people’ (from 2003 onwards), ‘The significance of TV-characters for a cultural Identity’ (from 2004 onwards), ‘Television for TV beginners’ (2006), ‘What makes a TV character the favourite character’ (from 2004 onwards), Children’s Television Worldwide: Gender Representation (2007 -2008). ‘From Top Model over Hannah Montana to Avatar – Modern heroes and heroines’ (2009-2010), Documentaries, Casting shows and Scripted Reality through children’s and young people’ eyes (2011-2012). ‘Fears and nightmares from Television’ (2012-2015), ‘The Significance of Classics and Fairytales for Children’ (2015), ‘’Strong Stories for Strong Children – Resilience and Storytelling’ (2013-2018). |
David Kleeman
Dr Jacqueline Harding
Dr Maya Götz
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Resource 3 – Early Identification of Developmental Concerns and Raising Them With Parents
Description and link to recording (opens in Vimeo)In this session the speaker explains why Active Play is essential to every young child's health and happiness – to the benefit of the child, the family and the wider community. Within the presentation she:
She goes on to cover the many benefits of Active Play in children's healthy development – including how it helps them to learn cooperation, self-control and behaviour regulation; solve problems; improve their attention span; increase their self-esteem; and decrease anxiety, aggression and depression. Follow this link to view the recording of this 2020 Bright Start Conference Session.
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About the SpeakerDr Jane Warren trained as an Early Childhood Teacher and worked for ten years in a preschool setting with children aged 3-5 years of age where she became passionate about inclusion of all children, including those with disabilities. She strongly supports the importance of early learning on future outcomes for children (including positive attitudes), and believes that early intervention for children with disabilities takes many forms, including being part of an ECEC centre. Jane strongly believes in the importance of parents, educators and other community organisations working in partnership to meet the needs of individual children. She loves working with children and families in a supported playgroup environment as a stepping stone to further inclusion, and inspiring university students to be passionate, inclusive educators. |
Dr Jane Warren |
Resource 4 – Let's Build! Rethinking Block Play to Foster Young Engineers
Description and link to recording (opens in Vimeo)In this session the speaker will:
Follow this link to view the recording of this 2020 Bright Start Conference Session. |
Download this Handout
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About the SpeakerJo Grimmond, Community Engagement Coordinator, University of Wollongong, Australia Bachelor of Education Early Childhood (Honours); PhD Candidate UOW – Rethinking Block Play: The development of the Numeracy and Mathematics Block-Based Assessment (NUMBBA) Jo has over 25 years’ experience working in the early childhood education sector as an early childhood teacher and centre director. She has worked with educators and leaders to develop quality practice and learning environments. Jo holds a teaching role with the University of Wollongong Early Years team in the areas of numeracy and STEM. Her current PhD research focus is the development of a numeracy assessment tool for educators to use with children in ECEC settings. Jo has been involved in many Early Start research projects including the Fostering Effective Early Leaning (FEEL) study and the PRSIST validation study. Jo has a particular interest in the use of technology as a pedagogical tool in inquiry-based learning environments.
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Jo Grimmond |
Resource 5 – Introducing The Pyramid Model: A Practical Guide to Social Emotional Learning
Description and link to recording (opens in Vimeo)In this session the speakers look at how supportive classroom environments can be created to foster effective social emotional learning, including examining:
She goes on to cover the many benefits of Active Play in children's healthy development – including how it helps them to learn cooperation, self-control and behaviour regulation; solve problems; improve their attention span; increase their self-esteem; and decrease anxiety, aggression and depression. Follow this link to view the recording of this 2020 Bright Start Conference Session. |
Download this Handout
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About the SpeakersDr Michaelene M Ostrosky, Head of the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, former Early Childhood Special Education Teacher, Researcher, Professor and Mom (US)
Throughout her career, Dr Ostrosky has been involved in research and dissemination on inclusion and the acceptance of children with disabilities, social emotional competence, social interaction interventions, and challenging behavior. She is a former editor of DEC's practitioner journal, Young Exceptional Children (YEC), and the co-editor of several YEC monographs. In addition to more than 100 book chapters and peer-reviewed articles, she co-authored the Making Friends book (2016), highlighting strategies to support the acceptance of children with disabilities in inclusive kindergarten-2nd grade classrooms.As a former editor of the Division for Early Childhood's practitioner journal, Young Exceptional Children, Dr Ostrosky has much experience translating research into user-friendly materials for practitioners. Her more than 100 publications are evidence of her scholarly and applied work, particularly with preschool-age children with disabilities and their families.
Professor Patricia (Paddy) C Favazza, Senior Research Fellow of Early Childhood Special Education at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development, at the University of Massachusetts Boston, a former Preschool Special Education Teacher, former Early Intervention Director, Researcher, Professor and Mom (US)
Professor Favazza's research focuses on early attitude development with implications for a curricular intervention related to social inclusion of children with disabilities. She is a professor, former Senior Fulbright Scholar to Romania and former teacher of young children with disabilities. She is committed to development of tools and curricula that possess sound theoretical underpinnings and rigorous research, co-authoring the Acceptance Scale for Kindergarten - Revised, Inventory of Disability Representation, CASPER, Special Friends, Making Friends, Young Athletes Curriculum, CHAMPPS and numerous publications for researchers and teachers.
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Dr Michaelene M Ostrosky
Professor Patricia (Paddy) Favazza |
Resource 6 – Placing Children's Interests and Engagement at the Centre of a Creative Curriculum
Description and link to recording (opens in Vimeo)In this presentation the speaker considers:
The speaker explains how those working with young children can reflect about their individual interests to foster engagement and inquiry based learning.. Follow this link to view the recording of this 2020 Bright Start Conference Session. |
Download this Handout |
About the SpeakerDr Gai Lindsay, University of Wollongong, Australia Dr Lindsay worked as a preschool teacher and director for 22 years before completing her Ph.D. in visual arts and early childhood education at the University of Wollongong. She now lectures in the B.Ed – The Early Years at UOW. Gai’s research interests focus on early childhood visual arts education, John Dewey’s philosophy, and the Reggio Emilia educational project. Gai has received many awards, including the IER NSW Best Applied Research Project (2014) and the Jean Denton Memorial Scholarship (2011). |
Dr Gai Lindsay |
Resource 7 – Active Play! Practical Ways to Include Preschoolers with Special Needs in Physical Activities
Description and link to recording (opens in Vimeo)In this session the speaker explains why Active Play is essential to every young child's health and happiness – to the benefit of the child, the family and the wider community. Within the presentation she:
She goes on to cover the many benefits of Active Play in children's healthy development – including how it helps them to learn cooperation, self-control and behaviour regulation; solve problems; improve their attention span; increase their self-esteem; and decrease anxiety, aggression and depression. Follow this link to view the recording of this 2020 Bright Start Conference Session. |
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About the SpeakerProfessor Diane H. Craft, is part of the faculty of the Physical Education Department at State University of New York at Cortland, USA. Since 1998 she has been promoting developmentally appropriate, inclusive physical activities for toddlers and pre-schoolers with and without disabilities. Diane has co-authored four books on developmentally appropriate, inclusive physical activity for young children including Active Play! Fun Physical Activities for Young Children. Additionally, she is a past-president of the National Consortium of Physical Education for Individuals with Disabilities. In 2005, she was recognized as the National Professional of the Year in Adapted Physical Education. A former elementary and high school physical education teacher, Diane is a committed advocate of inclusion. She is currently consulting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the subject matter expert on Physical Activity in Early Care and Education. In this role she has worked with over 40 states to identify ways to further promote physical activity in early care and education settings. |
Professor Diane H. Craft |
Resource 8 – Creating Engaging Learning Environments
Description and link to recording (opens in Vimeo)In this hour-long presentation the speaker shares strategies and ideas re:
At the same time reinforcing the critical nature of play in the development of skills in social, cognitive, emotional, physical and language areas, and the importance of reflecting local context, culture, and individuailty. Follow this link to view the recording of this 2020 Bright Start Conference Session). |
Download this Handout |
About the SpeakerKaren Tonge is a Lecturer in The Early Years program at the University of Wollongong in Australia. With more than 16-years' experience working in Early Childhood, she specialises in a range of subjects, including Curriculum & Programming, Quality Interactions, Professional Partnerships and Physical Environments for Learning in the Early Years. Karen also leads the Early Years Professional Experience program, and has developed international partnerships. Karen is an Early Start Engagement Coordinator at the University of Wollongong, working with children, educators and communities in rural and remote contexts throughout Australia. Currently her research interests are children and educator sedentary behaviour and physical activity in Early Childhood Education and Care. |
Karen Tonge |
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