Catch Up On Our Virtual Conference 

Merle Davies – Director of the Centre for Early Child Development – takes us through the impact to-date of the Blackpool Better Start partnership over the past five years, with Deputy Director, Clare Law, presenting plans and developments for the next five years of the project.

Professor Leon Feinstein’s keynote ‘How Do We Use Data and Evidence to Know That it’s Working?’ 

Professor Feinstein explains why he thinks data and evaluation is important to the work in Blackpool and discusses principles that make it worthwhile for all participants.

The Better Start Partnership panel shares how Better Start has impacted their organisation over the past five years.

The panel was chaired by Merle Davies – Director of the Centre for Early Child Development and  joined by panel members: Neil Jack, Peter Wanless, Pauline Tschobotko, Inspector Jonathan Smith and Diane Booth.

The Brain Story from The Palix Foundation followed by a keynote from Max Stanford

The Brain Story – made by The Palix Foundation and the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative, followed by a keynote from Max Stanford: ‘From an Early Years Outsider to a Better Start Insider – What Others Can Learn from Blackpool and What Blackpool Can Learn from Others’.

Programme Delivery During Covid-19 

The workshop details the changes which have been made to services as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic from the perspectives of Blackpool Better Start frontline practitioners delivering services as well as the CECD Community Connectors. Topics cover adaptions to services, challenges with digital technology and the importance of relationships and sharing of physical space.

Developing Trauma Informed Maternity and Perinatal Mental Health Services

NHS England asked us to write a universal good practice guide to support implementation of trauma-informed care in the perinatal period. This session is a panel discussion that talks through why it was needed, what we did, what we recommended, and how we are going to implement it in Blackpool and beyond.

Evidence, Pragmatism and Collaboration – The Ingredients We Needed To Adapt Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) in England

Learning from the Family Nurse Partnership – delivering programme improvements and implementing change at scale to an embedded evidence based programme, the challenges and learning shared with a human touch.

Early Years Volunteer Academy and The Town We Want

This workshop explores the role of volunteering in achieving the goals of the Blackpool Better Start Partnership. This session looks at the Early Years Volunteer Academy – which helps parents develop skills and training so that they feel confident in their own abilities – and how it is creating opportunities and raising the standard of volunteering throughout the town.

10 Minute Introduction to – Support for Early Years Settings

The Support to Early Years Settings will outline the intended newly developed support offer for early years settings and the importance of partnership, relationships and self-evaluation through this to improve outcomes for children and their family.