2020: A Year Like No Other
2020 has been a year like no other for many reasons and we recognise that our experiences of this pandemic will all have been different, life-changing for some, but significant for us all.
A lot has happened at BEYN since we launched our website back in May, at the height of the first national lockdown in England.
And whilst we’re looking forward to seeing the back of 2020, like many others, we couldn’t let the New Year roll in without acknowledging some of the fantastic work that’s happened throughout an incredibly challenging and uncertain time.
So, here are our 2020 highlights… It’s not been ALL bad this year!
10 Districts Established
Birmingham Early Years Networks is divided into 10 districts, based on the 10 parliamentary constituencies in Birmingham: Egbaston, Erdington, Hall Green, Hodge Hill, Ladywood, Northfield, Perry Barr, Selly Oak, Sutton Coldfield, and Yardley.
Each district is made up of several wards. Find your district here.
85 Steering Group Representatives Appointed
Each of the 10 districts in Birmingham has their own Steering Group, made up of representatives from across the Early Years community and childcare provision within the district.
Steering Groups meet at least three times a year where representatives discuss and develop action plans (based on the District Data Profiles) and work together to support communication, collaboration, and engagement across the sector.
Read more about our District Steering Groups here.
141 Early Years Professionals Trained
Our first professional development opportunities this term were offered free of charge for Birmingham practitioners, with 141 professionals attending. The ‘Conversation and Communication in the Early Years’ CPD courses, led by Helen Moylett, took place virtually via Zoom in partnership with Early Education.
100% of people responding rated these sessions as good or excellent! Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to find out about free CPD opportunities in 2021 and see what’s coming up here.
625 New Website Subscribers
Our subscribers lists has grown steadily each month since the website launched in May 2020 and includes people from across Birmingham, the UK, and other parts of the world! Thank you for your support - we love connecting with you all.
113 Emails Sent to Subscribers
Our subscribers have received regular newsletters, as well as information about professional development opportunities and upcoming events. Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to hear about what’s happening in your area, with tailored updates that suit your district and role.
236 Twitter Followers & 138 Facebook Followers
We launched our Twitter account in April 2020 and are delighted to have grown our following to 200+ people from across the Early Years Sector. If you’re on Twitter and not following us yet, you can connect with us here.
We also joined Facebook in April 2020 and recently launched a Facebook Group to share vital Coronavirus resources for practitioners and parents of 0-5s. We would love it if you would join us and like and share our posts!
63 District Language Champions
Each of our 10 districts have practitioners who have committed to undertaking further training and offering time to support the work of the Networks in their district. Thank you!join us
15 Early Years Network Events
District Network events have started to take place virtually and are likely to continue to be this way into the New Year and throughought the Spring Term. These events are a great way to connect with other practitioners in your district (and beyond!) without having to leave your setting or home! Check out our Upcoming Events page to see what’s coming up in the New Year.
105 Settings Attended WellComm Training
We’re supporting the Birmingham Early Years Speech, Language and Communication project in the rollout of their WellComm Toolkit Training sessions to settings across Birmingham, with 105 settings attending the training so far!
This fabulous, fully-funded programme led by Birmingham City Council Early Years & Childcare Team and the Birmingham Maintained Nursery Schools is being implemented in three stages, with practitioners and settings in cohort 2 (Hall Green, Northfield & Perry Barr) & cohort 3 (Edgbaston, Erdington, Selly Oak & Sutton Coldfield) eligible to attend training sessions throughout the Spring and Summer Terms.
10 Partnerships With Other Organisations
We’ve established 10 partnerships with other Early Years organisations across Birmingham, and that’s just the beginning! By working together, we can support each other and our work to ensure we offer the children and families across our amazing city the very best opportunties we can.
1,420+ Settings & Providers Across the City
Birmingham is a large and diverse city, with lots of different type of provisions for our youngest children. We’re looking forward to working with as many of you as possible in the New Year as we all go forward, together, for the children of Birmingham.
As we look ahead to 2021 there are still many uncertainties, but what we do know is that the Early Years practitioners across Birmingham will continue to go above and beyond! Your efforts for children and families deserve the highest praise, now and always.
Thank you for making a difference for children, parents, and the wider communities you serve. The Birmingham Early Years Networks will be here to support your professional development and learning in 2021.
We wish you all a restful break over the Christmas period and look forward to meeting more of you in the New Year.
Clare & Sue,
Joint Network Co-ordinators