Building Anti-Racist Foundations: Liz Pemberton’s Vision for Early Years

Building Anti-Racist Foundations: Liz Pemberton’s Vision for Early Years

Date: 2nd November 2024

Time: 9:15am - 3pm

Location: Everyman Birmingham Mailbox

We are thrilled to invite you to the launch of our brand-new animation, created in collaboration with award-winning early years anti-racist trainer and consultant, Liz Pemberton!

About Liz Pemberton:

Liz, founder of The Black Nursery Manager Training & Consultancy Ltd, is a renowned expert in anti-racist education within the early years sector. Her company works with Local Authorities, early years organisations, and primary schools, offering bespoke support to help educators adopt the best anti-racist practices. With her deep expertise, Liz is helping to shape a more equitable future for young children.

About SEEN. :

This launch is part of SEEN. — an inspiring Barnardo’s initiative dedicated to supporting children and young people of African, Asian, and Caribbean heritage. SEEN. aims to dismantle the structural inequalities limiting opportunities for these communities in the UK, while advocating for systemic change across services.

Why This Animation?

During our discussions with Liz, we identified a crucial gap in anti-racist resources for early years educators. Together, we decided to create a dynamic and accessible animation to ensure that anti-racist practices can be considered more carefully in early childhood education. The hope is that this resource will empower educators begin to to make meaningful, lasting changes in their approach to racial equity and inclusion.

What to Expect:

This launch event will feature key speakers and an expert panel who will discuss the current landscape of anti-racism in early years education, exploring best practices and strategies for creating truly inclusive environments.

Speakers & Panelists:

Liz Pemberton 

About — The Black Nursery Manager

Dr Stella Louis & Hannah Betteridge 

Authors of Let’s Talk About Race in the Early Years.

Warda Farah 

Warda  is Social Entrepreneur, Speech and Language Therapist, Writer and Lecturer at the University of Greenwich. Her work sits at the intersection of Race, Language and Disability.  Warda set up her Social Enterprise Language Waves to address the barriers that  Black and minoritised families face when accessing Speech and Language Therapy services that are culturally and linguistically affirming. Her approach is guided by her own experiences as neurodivergent Black woman. Whilst wearing many hats ultimately my work aims to centre Black Joy. 

Rachna Joshi 

Rachna is a teacher, writer, keynote speaker and consultant. She works with children aged birth to five. Rachna works with various early childhood educational organisations (including Early Education, Froebel Trust and 2nd hand dance). She delivers training, keynotes and workshops sharing ideas on how children develop a sense of identity, ways to practice social justice in educational contexts and enacting Froebelian principles in practice. She believes in the importance of facilitating discussions that empower educators and provoke questions to develop reflective practice. 

Kerry Murphy

Kerry is an early childhood specialist with an extensive background in developmental differences, neurodiversity, wellbeing, and behaviour. Over the past 19 years, she has dedicated her career to the field of early childhood education, working with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Kerry's experience extends to school-based settings, whereshe has developed my skills and knowledge to support diverse learning and development needs.  

Kerry's professional journey includes roles as a early years practitioner, SENCO, a local authority consultant, and, more recently, a higher education lecturer at Goldsmiths University London. Kerry is a qualified early years teacher with an MA in Applied Psychology. Currently, completing her doctorate, focusing on the pathologisation of play in neurodivergent and disabled children. 

Agenda

9:15am - Arrival and refreshments

10:00am - Speakers

12:45pm - Lunch

1:45pm - Animation launch

2:00pm - Panel

3:00pm - Close

Further information:

- This in an invite only event, please only book a space if you’ve received an invitation

- The venue is wheelchair accessible

- Please indicate any dietary requirements when booking your place as food will be provided.

- Venue: Everyman, The Mailbox, Birmingham, B1 1RD

- The nearest train station is Birmingham New Street 5 minutes walk away. Moor Street, Snow Hill and Five Ways are within 10 minutes walk.

- The nearest bus terminals are located on Navigation Street, Hill Street, Suffolk Street Queensway, Broad Street, Stephenson Street and Corporation Street.

Host or Publisher SEEN. - Centre for African, Asian and Caribbean Children & Young People