Early Words Matter conference

Over the last 20 years, we have proudly delivered our annual Talk To Your Baby conference to early years, education, academic, policy and public health professionals from across the UK and beyond.

Our mission has been to:

• explore language development in the first 1,001 days of a child’s life
• celebrate the language and learning opportunities arising during this vital window of development, and
• consider how to maximise positive life outcomes.

The election of a new Labour government on 4 July 2024 has ushered in an era of new possibilities for the early years sector. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said that “Early years is [ ] about giving every child the best possible start in life, which is why it’s my number one priority and right at the centre of my vision for education in this country.”

As we continue to implement our pioneering Early Words Matter campaign to support the communication, language and literacy skills of 250,000 children aged 0-5 in 20 of the UK’s most disadvantaged communities over the next 5 years we are marking this important policy shift with a conference rebrand. From now on, our annual, flagship early years conference will be the Early Words Matter conference.

The conference will still focus on the importance of early language acquisition in the first 1,001 days. However, this year, in the new political climate, we will also take the opportunity to explore the long-term economic and moral imperative for a place-based, cross-sector investment in early years.

The National Literacy Trust is dedicated to empowering people with the literacy skills they need to succeed in life.  We want to support families to build their children’s communication, language and literacy skills from the very start and work alongside early education providers, speech and language therapists, health services, and community and voluntary organisations to help develop early communication skills in the children they support and care for.

The Early Words Matter conference will provide an opportunity to explore the latest research and thought leadership in this space, and celebrate the incredible work that you do.

We hope that you will join us!

Early Words Matter is our pioneering, five-year campaign to support 250,000 children across the UK. It will include flagship programmes and local community outreach in areas worst hit by poverty and the cost-of-living crisis.