Best Start Jersey

05/10/2026

🌟 Launch of the Early Childhood Participation Toolkit
https://vimeo.com/892258757?fl=pl&fe=sh

Best Start Jersey is delighted to invite you to the launch of the Early Childhood Participation Toolkit, celebrating the importance of listening to babies and young children.

This event provides an opportunity to explore the toolkit and discover participation activities designed specifically for babies and young children. These activities help practitioners collect, understand and respond to children's preferences, reactions, ideas and opinions in meaningful and age-appropriate ways.

🗓️ Date: Saturday 21 November
⏰ Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm
📍 Venue: Great Hall, Highlands College

We look forward to bringing together Best Start partners, early years professionals, charities and services that work with children and families to share learning, ideas and good practice.

Join us from 10.00am for coffee and pastries, with time to network and exchange experiences with colleagues from across the sector. Attendees will also receive practical resources and materials to take away and support the implementation of the Early Childhood Participation Toolkit - https://beststart.je/resources/early-years-participation-toolkit/

Together, let's celebrate the voices of babies and young children and strengthen our commitment to ensuring they are listened to, understood and included. 👶 👱‍♀️

Go to the link to sign up – 📲https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2002937530070?aff=oddtdtcreator

We look forward to welcoming you.

The Best Start Partnership have created the Early Childhood Participation Toolkit to support anyone working with children aged 0-5 in listening to what babies and young children tell us. Watch this short video to find out more Early Childhood Participation Toolkit Listening to babies and young child...

02/10/2026

28/09/2026

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined us for REAL in the Park! 💛📚🌳

What a wonderful morning we had at Millennium Park, filled with stories, songs, play, laughter and lots of family fun!

We'd like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the families who came along and took part. It was fantastic to see so many parents, carers and little ones enjoying the activities, exploring books together and discovering simple ways to support early literacy through everyday moments.

We have received some lovely feedback from parents that we would like to share:

"Dear Best Start,

I wanted to write to say thank you to the team and staff for the reading morning in Millennium Park on Saturday. My daughter loved the drawing and activities, and once we walked home, we sat most of the afternoon reading Bear Hunt and the Hungry Caterpillar. She is a little over two years old, and it was all she could talk about last night.

Thanks very much for all your efforts,

Regards

Daniel"

A special thank you goes to all our partner organisations who helped make the event such a success:

💚 CEYS - Childcare and Early Years Service
💚 Nestling Day Care Nursery
💚 Every Child Our Future - Jersey
💚 Jersey Child Care Trust
💚 Centrepoint
💚 Jersey Association of Child Carers

And a big thank you to Channel Islands Co-operative for their generous donation of fresh fruit for families to enjoy. 🍎🍌🍐

Events like these are a wonderful reminder that talking, singing, reading, playing and exploring together all help build strong foundations for children's learning and development.

Thank you for helping us create such a welcoming and positive community event. We loved meeting you all and hope you enjoyed the morning as much as we did!

💛

25/09/2026

🌳📚 REAL in the Park is TOMORROW! ✨

Looking for something fun to do with your little one? Come and join us for a free morning of books, play, activities and family fun! 💛

📅 Saturday 26th September
⏰ 10am–12pm
📍 Millennium Park

Come along and discover how the everyday things you already do together — talking, singing, sharing books, exploring and having fun with words — can help your child’s early literacy journey. 💬📖🎶

✨ Free books to take home
✨ Fun activities for little ones
✨ Ideas and resources for families
✨ Fresh fruit kindly donated by Channel Islands Co-operative 🍎
✨ Lots of friendly organisations and people to chat to

Whether you're a regular family or coming along for the first time, you’re very welcome! 🥰

We’ll be joined by CEYS - Childcare and Early Years service, Nestling Day Care Nursery, Every Child Our Future - Jersey, Jersey Child Care Trust, Centrepoint, Jersey Association of Child Carers. 🌈

Pop along, enjoy the morning and take away some simple ideas to enjoy with your little one at home. 💕

We can’t wait to see you tomorrow! 🌳📚✨

21/09/2026

📚✨ REAL in the Park 2026! ✨📚

Now that everyone is settled back after the summer, we’re delighted to be organising REAL in the Park 2026 once again, together with CEYS (Childcare and Early Years Service) — and we’re excited to be part of this year’s Jersey Festival of Words! 📖💛

🌳 Saturday 26th September
⏰ 10am – 12pm
📍 Millennium Park

What is REAL? 🌱📚

Raising Early Achievement in Literacy (REAL) is an evidence-based approach that helps support young children’s early literacy development by working alongside families and communities.

REAL is all about helping families build literacy skills through the everyday things you already do together — sharing books, chatting, singing, writing, exploring signs and print, and having fun with language. 💬📖✏️

Come along and enjoy a free, fun-filled morning for children and families, with lots of activities, ideas and resources to help support your child’s early literacy journey.

We’ll be joined by:

💙 Best Start Jersey
💛 CEYS – Childcare and Early Years Service
🧡 Nestling Day Care Nursery
💚 Every Child Our Future - Jersey
💜 Jersey Child Care Trust
🤎 Centrepoint
🩵 Jersey Association of Child Carers
❤️ Jersey Library

There’ll be lots of free books for children and families to take home, along with helpful resources and fresh fruit kindly donated by Channel Islands Co-operative. 🍎📚

Whether you’re one of our regular families or coming along for the first time, we’d love to see you there! 🥰

Come along, have some fun and discover how simple everyday moments can help your little one develop a love of books, language and learning. ❤️📖

04/08/2026

Join us on Tuesday 11 August at 10.30am for a magical library storytime featuring Mr. Martie’s Marvellous Melodies, an enchanting children’s book brought to life through a fun live musical performance with book reading and interactive sing-along!

Mr Martie (Martyn Cast) is the owner of JENCA Music Rockschool and a guitar tutor who's passionate about sharing the joy of music, especially with his guitar songbook that focuses on fun, original songs with clear instructions and colourful illustrations!

To book this event please talk to a member of staff, call us on 448700, or email on [email protected]

-along

10/07/2026

Jersey Public Library Service

10/07/2026

We're looking forwards to celebrating Jersey Children's Day with you on Sunday 12 July at Howard Davis Park.

With high temperatures forecast for Sunday, please remember to apply sunscreen of at least SPF 30 before going outside and reapply regularly, wear suitable clothing (such as wide-brimmed hats and light, loose clothing) and drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Taking these precautions will help you enjoy the day safely and comfortably.

18/06/2026

Join us at Jersey Library for fun story times and performances by local children’s authors Penny Byrne, Martyn Cast and Jennie Jewell, at the Jersey Book Fair 2026.
📅 Saturday 20th June
📍 Children’s Library, Jersey Library, Town
🕔️11:00am Saturday Storytime with Jersey Library
🕔️11:30am Storytime with Penny Byrne
🕔️ 12:00pm Performance with Mr Martie
🕔️ 12:30pm Storytime with Jennie Jewell

Penny Byrne Author Marvellousmrmartie

18/06/2026

It looks like we will be enjoying some sunshine and warmer weather over the next few days so I will be posting some reminders on how to keep children safe in the sun.
Let's start with hats.
Baseball caps are never really out of fashion and children love them because they are easy to wear as well as often being designed around a favourite character or show. However, these caps may not provide protection to ears and the backs of necks, which burn easily.
When choosing a hat, encourage children to pick one with a wide brim which will shade the ears and neck area.