Why am I so energised? Because I have spent three days surrounded by people who are passionate about the early years, who have translated their passion into knowledge that comes from their own research and a willingness to think about what we do and why. The result was a dynamic that was uplifting and inspired.
Listening to colleagues from across the world as they debated the challenges they face, such as meeting huge and often ludicrous performance targets, gave me the courage to lift the clouds that can suffocate our passion. I felt able to acknowledge that everyone has low points and this is not a sign of failure.
Conferences and visits are often seen as exotic and way beyond the grasp of ordinary staff. But if we really want to improve the service and keep our passion for giving children the best, we must look at all the ways staff can learn. Visits and conferences are not an 'extra' but are essential.
They provide the combustion that lights the passion flame, which is so easily lost when we are weighed down with demands, regulations and domestics.
A conference doesn't have to be a huge group of people at a smart venue - it could be the nursery team having a meal, going away for a day, doing a shared visit and having fun. It is fantastic when it can happen over a few days, and all the better if it is abroad.
But what matters is that the conference ethos of talking, challenging, introducing new ideas and batting ideas with each other happens in an uninterrupted way. It's different to staff meetings or those brief conversations in between changing nappies or over a brief lunch break. We have to find those special times to allow staff members to reflect and to surprise them, challenge them, re-excite them, re-inspire them and rekindle their passion.
Patrick Whitaker from Pen Green put it beautifully when he said, 'Martin Luther King said "I have a dream", he didn't say "I have to see a performance indicator".'
Let's find as many ways as possible to recapture these dreams.
* June O'Sullivan, chief executive, Westminster Children's Society, London
