{"id":19739,"date":"2026-04-30T11:00:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/?p=19739"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:04:33","slug":"early-years-foundation-stage-conference-connection-is-the-foundation-8-october-exeter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/early-years-foundation-stage-conference-connection-is-the-foundation-8-october-exeter\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Years Foundation Stage conference: connection is the foundation &#8211; 8 October, Exeter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Connection is the foundation for everything in the early years \u2014 learning, wellbeing, behaviour, communication and belonging. This year\u2019s conference explores how we build and sustain meaningful connection across all the places it happens: in the adult\u2013child relationship, through peer play, in partnership with families, and in the everyday routines and experiences that shape children\u2019s sense of safety and identity.<\/p>\n<p>Across our keynotes and workshops, delegates will return again and again to one common thread: connection isn\u2019t a single strategy \u2014 it\u2019s a way of being, woven through language and interaction, creativity and curiosity, storytelling and music, and the relational moments embedded in the day (including mealtimes and transitions).<\/p>\n<h2>Keynote speakers:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fl30relationalsystems.co.uk%2Fabout&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ceducate.earlyyearscommunication-mailbox%40devon.gov.uk%7Cac28ac80b4084ecec04b08dea459274c%7C8da13783cb68443fbb4b997f77fd5bfb%7C0%7C0%7C639128899977334895%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=9k4r1yeMxoZfG%2Fi%2Bbbxx%2BEE9Cd1cO0JkxBRhPqY%2B4h4%3D&amp;reserved=0\" rel=\"noopener\">Mark Finnis<\/a>\u00a0who will discuss relational practice<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Falicesharp.co.uk%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ceducate.earlyyearscommunication-mailbox%40devon.gov.uk%7Cac28ac80b4084ecec04b08dea459274c%7C8da13783cb68443fbb4b997f77fd5bfb%7C0%7C0%7C639128899977360648%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=FzhYrHVFXh%2FTWsCP6UbM7T7rYf2zPUDAhA%2FVJNQcOQc%3D&amp;reserved=0\" rel=\"noopener\">Alice Sharp<\/a>\u00a0who will discuss early engagement and connection<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>When and where?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>8 October 2026 (9:30am \u2013 4:15pm) \u2013 Sandy Park, Exeter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Who can attend?<\/h2>\n<p>EYFS practitioners, including Childminders, leaders and managers in settings and schools.<\/p>\n<h2>Cost:<\/h2>\n<p>Early Bird Price \u00a375 (expires 23 May 2026) (Full Price: \u00a3125)<\/p>\n<p><em>Early years and childcare providers \u2013 look out for your promotional code in an email.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>How to book:<\/h2>\n<p>View the full conference programme here and book now: <a href=\"https:\/\/devoneducationservices.co.uk\/training-downloads-v2\/conferences-programmes\/early-years-foundation-stage-conference-2026\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Early Years Foundation Stage Conference 2026 | DES<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19457 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2026\/03\/EYFS-conference-2026-promo-slide.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2026\/03\/EYFS-conference-2026-promo-slide.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2026\/03\/EYFS-conference-2026-promo-slide-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2026\/03\/EYFS-conference-2026-promo-slide-800x450.png 800w, https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2026\/03\/EYFS-conference-2026-promo-slide-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Connection is the foundation for everything in the early years \u2014 learning, wellbeing, behaviour, communication and belonging. This year\u2019s conference explores how we build and sustain meaningful connection across all the places it happens: in the adult\u2013child relationship, through peer play, in partnership with families, and in the everyday routines and experiences that shape children\u2019s sense of safety and identity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-updates"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 12:56:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19739"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19742,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19739\/revisions\/19742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}