Princess of Wales speaks on early childhood at ‘Shaping Us’

Royal Family Channel

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

Transcript

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]

Category

Transcript

Recommended