This weekend, on Friday and Saturday, we exhibited for the first time at the Childcare and Education Expo, at The Olympia, London.
Where to start? Well, firstly, it was so good to see and speak to people in real life. Here at SSES we support hybrid working (and 4 day working weeks!), and a lot can be accomplished this way, but nothing beats face-to-face meetings and casual discussions.
- We made some amazing connections and hopefully a few new friends. We cannot write a review without mentioning the 2 lads from Active IQ, Gavin and Stuart, who revelled in a spot of competition banter 😊 And how positive they were about the fact, that although we crossover on a couple of EPAs, they valued the importance of working together for the industry, not in silos.
- We enjoyed sharing our knowledge of Apprentices and End Point Assessments with employers who are new to working with the apprenticeship standards
- Bumping into George from Nursery World – we have some very exciting news to share on that front soon.
- On the Saturday morning we were treated to some singing, dancing and instruments being played by a group of children from the Langley Hall Academy.
- There was several areas throughout the arena allowing for a spot of mindfulness in the form of crafting, painting stones and colouring on a wall; as well as a great imaginative play are for children.
- There were seminars and workshops, which, although we couldn’t attend because we were on the stand, appeared to be very well received, we heard only positive reports.
- We found there was a very relaxed friendly atmosphere from the visitors, other stands and the organisers of the expo.
- At the end of the first day all exhibitors were invited to a drink at a nearby pub. Although we couldn’t attend, we were told by those that did that there was a great vibe. There was also a magician wandering around, and apparently his slight-of-hand tricks were so good, it was like something you would see on telly and assume it was trick photography – only it was actually happening a foot away from you.
We cannot wait for the next expo – the Nursery World Show at the end of April – but in the meantime, if you would like to know more about our End Point Assessment Organisation, please email contact@sseducationalservices.co.uk
