Southern Regional College (SRC) hosted its fourth annual Childcare Conference on Tuesday 19 June, bringing together 200 early years professionals, educators and sector organisations to explore this year’s theme, “All Together Now.”
The conference focused on promoting inclusive practice across early years settings, particularly those supporting children aged 0–5 years. Designed to inspire collaboration, innovation and shared learning, the event welcomed a wide range of speakers and organisations from across Northern Ireland’s childcare and education sectors.
Speaking at the event was guest speaker Chris Quinn, NI Commissioner for Children and Young People, who spoke of challenges currently being faced by children and solutions he believes are needed to better support young people and families. Also speaking was Rowena Hicks, author and former educator with over 30 years’ experience working with children across the UK, Poland and East Africa. Drawing on her extensive professional background, Rowena spoke on stressors within the sector and managing that stress.
The event was hosted by comedian and presenter Emer Maguire who spoke candidly about her own personal experiences as a child with additional needs and how that led her to qualify as a Speech and Language Therapist, delivering workshops to universities and many other public audiences, all before regaling the audience with her trademark humorous, catchy song covering everyday life and autism awareness.
Also in attendance were representatives from All of Me Sensory, Angel Eyes NI, Childcare Partnership, Clandeboye Nature Rangers, Department for Economy, Diverse Minds, Early Years – the organisation for young children, Eden Consultancy, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, Mencap, Messy Play NI, Northern Ireland Childminding Association (NICMA), Playboard NI, Southern Health and Social Care Trust and SRC’s Business & Economic Engagement and Careers Teams.
Lisa Browne, Curriculum Area Manager for Early Years commented:
“What a night! So proud of our Specialist Lecturers and Faculty taking the time and effort to organise and deliver this outstanding conference. The theme for this year’s was inclusion, and our Conference, ‘All Together Now’, highlights the importance of collaboration across the sector to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive, to feel valued, heard and reach their full potential.
This year marks our fourth successful annual conference, and we are delighted to welcome so many participants, absolutely overwhelmed with the turn out this year with over 200 attendees present. It’s encouraging to see so many professionals, organisations and advocates coming together to share ideas, experiences and practical approaches that can make a real difference in the lives of children and families across our communities.
We are blown away by the kind words from attendees and thank you to all those who took the time to share their feedback on the night, we’ve set the bar high for ourselves and we are rearing to go for next for our 5th annual conference ‘All You Need is Play”.
Planning has already commenced for next year’s conference which is planned to take place on Tuesday 18th May 2027 at the College’s Banbridge campus.
