Queues stretched along the outside of the G-Mex Centre in Manchester last week, as more than 6,000 eager visitors flocked to get a glimpse of the latest products on offer at the Early Years and Primary Teaching Exhibition (14-15 May).
With more than 130 leading educational suppliers under one roof, childcarers and teachers used every opportunity to exchange ideas about the latest developments in the sector.
The new KinderVan by Community Playthings, a six-seat children-carrier, was on display at the entrance of the exhibition. Catherine Quinn of Greentop Private Day Nursery in Bradford was the lucky winner of KinderVan in the Community Playthings' prize draw. She said, 'It's a fascinating product and I know that my nursery will get so much use out of it. Also, we'll be the talk of the village, which is great promotion for the nursery.'
Hundreds of people attended the free 40-minute workshops running throughout the day on topics such as 'Bringing imagination to life' and 'Colourful support for the curriculum'. KidsMusicEducation.com put on a lively music and movement workshop with songs about teddies, clowns and counting butterflies. Julie Kidd, UK director, said, 'Our CDs and accompanying books meet the Ofsted early learning goals of music, movement, mathematics, literacy and culture - and they achieve all aspects and components of the Birth to Three matters framework.'
The seminar programmes were packed. Visitors flocked to Julie Mountain's seminar, 'Outdoor play: Learning through Landscapes' on Saturday. Other favourites were Alice Sharp's session on working with birth to threes, Penny Tassoni's 'Developing children's creativity', Jennie Lindon's 'Using topics and themes to support children's learning' and Miranda Walker's seminar on playwork.
Nursery World was inundated with people buying the magazine at a special show price, which also came with a free duffle bag and pen.
Active Designs proudly displayed Weather Window, an educational product that was awarded a bronze certificate in the Nursery World Equipment Awards, presented by editor Liz Roberts at a lunch reception on Friday.
Educational designer and company director Rebecca Lancaster said, 'The award has attracted a lot of attention this year although the Feely Bags and the Shape Bags are still the biggest sellers.'
Childcare students couldn't resist a chat with representatives from Esprit Holidays, which was looking to recruit 300 childcarers for the winter 2004-2005 season in France, Italy and Austria. Jo Gray, a representative, said, 'We've had a lot of interest from lecturers wanting us to come into the college to talk about working abroad.'
The Mouse Club was there to launch its new product, 'It's About Time', an educational resource for three- to 11-year-olds to be used in primary schools. Mouse Island, a fun-packed adventure game featuring 38 maths-based puzzles, was awarded Gold in the Foundation Stage category of the Equipment Awards. In the under-threes section, Asco's Rainbow Minihouses, a set of five stacking houses designed to help children learn size and colour discrimination, received the Gold award.
Newcomers included Worldwide Inca, a collection of authentic handcrafted Andean artisan products, selected by UK teachers for educational purposes, and Grid Club (www.gridclub.com), an educational website for primary school children, where they can communicate with each other and work together online in a protected, mediated club.
According to the creche manager from Pre-School Learning Alliance, the excitement of the day got too much for some people. She said, 'Two brothers came into the creche and within minutes of sitting down on the beanbag, they were both fast asleep.'
If you couldn't make it to Manchester, but want advice and information about products and services for your setting, don't miss the next Nursery Equipment supplement, which comes out on 9 September.
