Kate launches new campaign about importance of early childhood?

[AllOutofEverything]

I have been reading about how Kate is launching a new awareness raising campaign about the importance of early childhood.
I had thought she launched this years ago and since then we have had the survey with the 5 big questions, her visits to nurseries, and her meetings with Early Years experts. I can't see how this is any different from what was announced in the past?

She can do a degree in the subject she is interested in (like many other people do), then no one would be questioning her knowledge or expertise.

Hands-on experience is better than any course. It's not the done thing for a stb queen to go back to uni.
I know that Pippa has recently done a masters in this field and passed with a Distinction so it would be interesting to see them do something together.

I mean, I have absolutely nothing against Kate, she is pleasant enough, but I do think she is a lightweight when it comes to speaking about complex intellectual subjects and policies.

She had ten years to do it and she could have done it remotely, if she wanted to.

While I am not a huge fan of pure academia, Kate is not exactly going to be working as a nursery assistant. She is talking about complex, multifaceted issues, which attract a lot of academic research, which is worth studying.

There is not anything to say that she hasn't studied remotely under an anonymous name. Would she really publicize it (especially if she only just scraped a pass)?
She has a degree in Art History. I'd like to see her set up an art therapy project or a children's art gallery with outreach projects.

Absolutely, that would be great if she did set something up - as a trial to evaluate, to learn from - I think this is what most people here are talking about. Something tangible, not just words.

@purpledalmation why can't she do evening classes? It's not like she has a full time job and no help, is it? If we're supposed to believe this is her "life's work" then shouldn't she actually do some work? Honestly, she'd gain a bit more respect if she'd even done an OUP degree on the subject.

Not sure why that last bit was in italics

How do you know she hasn't?

I know that Pippa has recently done a masters in this field and passed with a Distinction
Hats off to her. Am aware that both sisters had a privileged upbringing and now have an even more privileged lifestyle, with more or less strings attached. But seeing someone who has no need to train, study or work get a masters with a Distinction to me shows interest in and commitment to a subject.

She has a degree in Art History. I'd like to see her set up an art therapy project or a children's art gallery with outreach projects.
This is a great idea

@purpledalmation I think we can be confident their PR machine would have mentioned it if she'd done something productive like that.

"A graduate who has had 3 children and has spent 10 years taking an interest in this subject and learning from people working in this field.

What else can she do? Evening classes?"

I have three degrees and three children, I still wouldn't expect people to pay mind to my insights into early childhood development.

If she's serious, she's had plenty of time to study it and get her masters. Then she'd actually have the deal with the substance of the subject matter in a meaningful and critical way. She'd be reading and critiquing journals and theories by experts and academics. Not just chatting to a few select people during photo ops and cups of tea.

If she did something vaguely related to art history that would have more meaning for me. Like Harry and his Invictus games, he had the credibility to pull that off because he'd actually devoted himself in a meaningful way to the subject.

She's just a blow dry in a coat jacket who has picked a non-controversial subject to dabble in so we don't question the whole monstrosity that she is a part of.

What @StarsSand said 👏

The art therapy thing is a great idea, she could build on existing research that shows how art helps children suffering from trauma due to serious poverty/abuse/neglect etc and the effects they have on brain development. Or cone up with new research, if she can.

That is if she's not only interested in helping 'naice' kids from naice homes.

Pretty sure she picked it due to the focus on mental health and her keen interest in child development and the relationship between the two. I don't see why this is a problem.

It's been said multiple times. You measure awareness through surveys. It seems it's only a handful of you that obtusely refuse to understand.

am going to assume since she first started raising awareness (was it 10 years ago?) the surveys have shown awareness hasn't grown?

well done, Kate, wel done.

The education select committee is running an inquiry into early years care and I know those who gave evidence this week were asked about funding/benefits so the select committee are definitely looking at this angle, what they'll end up as recommendations to government will emerge during next few months.

hahaha - i hope all the experts giving evidence or whatever are saying "what children need is a sure start in life" constantly and on repeat while also asking for the money that they need to make it work

the actual brass fucking neck of the government defunding everything and now having committees is staggering.

As for if the sainted Kate had done a degree or something by fuck we'd have heard about how brilliant she is/was/did at it.

Well, @AllOutofEverything, we have had a pandemic and several lockdowns that have had a very real impact on the development of young children. I would say that, in the light of the effects that this has had on small children, a new focus on the importance of the early years is needed.

@Brefugee parliament through its select committee scrutiny function has inquiries not 'government'

I do think this article is echoing what a lot of posters on here are saying

news.sky.com/story/princess-of-wales-launches-childhood-campaign-but-faces-calls-for-long-term-investment-instead-12800138

Dr Mine Conkbayir, a member of the Practitioners of the Early Years Sector said: "We are well accustomed to MPs and royalty visiting early years settings, praising the invaluable work of practitioners from David Cameron to Gordon Brown and the Queen Consort.
"But nothing is done. The time has long passed for 'awareness'. We need action - long-term investment and funding in the early years."

Thanks @myrtleWilson will have a read.

Exactly this. What has she achieved? She's had a decade. Can anyone point to anything and say, Kate started that? Whose lives has she improved? No one's existence is made richer by another survey.

This is clear and helpful on scale of investment and consideration of where best to invest I think

The LSE analysis does not suggest that it is possible to avoid the entire £16.13 billion of costs (remedial spend over life course), and indeed some expenditure will always be necessary. However, avoiding the need to spend even a fraction of this £16.13 billion justifies a greater focus on early action and prevention. Of course, focusing our efforts earlier and saving some of the substantial costs of remedial action requires investment upfront and a shift back to early support and preventative services. In this context there is increased momentum for addressing this balance of priorities

In addition to knowing that there are substantial costs - that we might be able to save by acting in the early years, there is a growing body of evidence about the type of support that is effective, in terms of both improving outcomes and delivering a measurable return on investment.

The weight of evidence suggests that the case for investment is strong both at the level of individual programmes and at a wider systemic level, though there is much more evidence available in relation to the former. System-wide interventions can be hard to evaluate but evidence has shown, for example, that in England the presence of Sure Start children’s centres, offering multi-agency support to families, helped save healthcare costs when those costs were looked at in later childhood At a programmatic level, a number of areas are beginning to produce a substantial body of evidence of positive benefit. These include early education and childcare, perinatal mental health support and parenting support programmes

Great points @daretodenim

It is all a bit patronising. A bit like when the government sent me a letter when DD was 3 letting me know about funded nursery places... as I 'might be thinking about going back to work soon'... when I'd had to go back to work when DD was 9 months old.

It just seems very out of touch with real life. We all know the early years are important but as we have to get back to work and put our babies and toddlers into childcare, we just want a government that would step in and provide decent wages so we could be guaranteed that our children are getting the best care and learning possible.

I find it hard to respect anyone who clearly speaks about one woman in a sentence and refers to the one woman with the plural 'they'. How silly not to use the word 'she'.

I don't know what an alien create is, unless it's a mis-spelling, or a ridiculous modern affectation which was intended to be 'alien creation'.

All you want to do is to be unpleasant about her, whatever the subject under discussion.