The children of today will be making the choices of tomorrow!

We were really pleased to be invited to the Early Years Career Event at Gloucestershire College today. It was a pleasure to meet fellow professionals in Early Years, all striving to inspire the future Early Years and Health and Social Care workforce.

We spent two hours talking with students, discovering what inspires them and where they want to progress to.

We are really interested to find out what motivates people to study in this field. Over the last week we have worked with the University of Gloucestershire and now Gloucestershire College and one of our first questions to students is...

"Why did you choose this course?"

The responses have been wide and varied!

Our thinking here is to understand why you really want to work with children and what difference you can bring.

Those of us working with children must understand and value that we are contributing to the future society and we must all ask ourselves 'what sort of society do you want to live in when you're older?'

The children of today will be making the choices of tomorrow!

Our main message; think carefully before you choose a career where you are one of the main influences on how a child will view and act in the world.

We are not trying to put people off a career in Early Years but our children deserve quality interactions and must be listened to.

We would like to quote one of our favourite revolutionaries, Robin Balbernie;

'change others' outlook by making sure they cease asking'

"What is wrong with this child?"

and start asking

"What has happened to this child?"

(Robin Balbernie PIPUK)

So please value the impact you have and the changes you can make - what a privileged position to be in!

This is a sector that is increasingly overworked and underpaid, we must all raise the profile and give new understanding to Early Years Work.