The Princess of Wales delivers a speech on early childhood at the ‘Shaping Us’ national symposium in London on Wednesday. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 [indistinct chatter]
00:11 Right, I'll get to meeting you. Thanks so much.
00:13 Thank you again.
00:14 Thank you so much.
00:15 Thank you.
00:16 Thank you so much for being part of this.
00:18 Oh, it's a pleasure. How are you feeling about it?
00:21 A bit nervous, but excited too.
00:23 We talk about it a lot, don't we?
00:25 So behind the scenes, we meet up.
00:27 Have you met Christian?
00:28 Almost.
00:29 That's right. Nice to see you in 3D.
00:31 And, you know, we've been speaking about this, obviously, with the champions for a bit,
00:35 but it's just so nice to see it all coming together
00:37 and actually bring different people along with us in these conversations.
00:42 So please join me in giving a very warm welcome to Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales.
00:49 [applause]
01:03 Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Christian and everyone, for being here today.
01:08 People often ask me why I focus my time on early childhood.
01:12 Well, the answer is because I care deeply about making a positive difference
01:17 in helping the most vulnerable and supporting those who are most in need.
01:22 This is not just about the youngest children in our society,
01:25 who are, by their very nature, vulnerable.
01:28 It is also about the many young people and adults who are suffering.
01:33 We must do more than simply meet the short-term needs of these individuals.
01:38 We must also look at creating long-term preventative change,
01:42 and that takes us right back to the beginning.
01:45 As many of you in the room know, early childhood fundamentally shapes the adults we become.
01:51 It is the golden opportunity to establish the core foundations
01:54 and capabilities we need to thrive all the way through our lives.
01:58 This period, especially between pregnancy and five, is when the brain is at its most receptive
02:04 and developing faster than any other time in our lives.
02:08 Despite the fact that each and every one of us has had our own childhoods,
02:13 few people understand the true impact our formative years have had on shaping who we are today.
02:20 Nurturing skills that enable us to know ourselves, manage our emotions, focus our thoughts,
02:26 communicate with others, foster positive relationships, and explore the world
02:31 are just as valuable to our long-term success as reading, writing, or arithmetic.
02:37 These skills are the bedrock not only for helping children to thrive,
02:42 but also for restoring, protecting, and investing in humankind.
02:49 So, to rebalance and restore calls for new thinking and action at every level,
02:55 because the future of our children is something we all build together,
02:59 through the actions each and every one of us takes every day.
03:04 It is therefore time we understood that building a healthier world
03:07 means nurturing the foundations that support our children,
03:11 everything from the systems that govern early care,
03:14 through to our attitudes to those raising the next generation and the support they receive.
03:20 Because if we can create a society which sees the child in every adult,
03:25 and the adult within every child, we will finally start to change it for the better.
03:31 Thank you.
03:32 [Applause]