A Children in Wales event

Research shows that the way infants and young children acquire languages is a complex sophisticated process that begins way before they can use verbal skills. The first year in the child’s life is highly influential in terms of cognitive development, social development and mental well-being. The quality of early childhood experiences is dependent on the relationship between them and the parents/carers and the environment in which they are raised. It is important that services that support young children and their families are alert to linguistic considerations and able to respond to the wishes and language use of the family.
This event will look at research findings about early childhood and language. There will be an opportunity to consider how to integrate this knowledge with everyday work tasks, whatever your own language skills may be. This is a bilingual event and there will be an opportunity to see how one service has managed to combine baby massage courses with best practice in terms of Welsh language use.
The aim of the event is to raise awareness of the need to be mindful of language considerations when offering a care service to babies and their parents/carers. The event will also offer information about the latest research findings on early language acquisition, and discuss the implications of this for health workers and for services such as Flying Start and Families First, there will also be an opportunity to discuss current practice and share experiences and knowledge. 

This event will be of particular benefit to all professionals working with infants and their families and those supporting parents, including:

– Health Visitors
– Midwives 
– Social Workers
– Mental health professionals
– Flying Start workers
– Early Years workers
– Those supporting parents

Anyone with a policy lead or interest in early years or family support