Thumbs Up for Early Years

Last week saw a social media storm supporting Early Years Educators and recognising all they do with the hashtag #ThumbsUpForEarlyYears.

All of us here at Bright Horizons were humbled and incredibly grateful for the huge volume of ‘thumbs up’ selfies that took over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on the 18th of February 2021 – with the hashtag even trending at number 6 in the UK on Twitter in the afternoon!

By posting a photo with a thumbs up and the hashtag #ThumbsUpForEarlyYears, families and professionals were able to raise awareness and show their appreciation to those in the Early Years sector across the UK, recognising the dedication they’ve shown, not just over the last 12 months but every single year.

Across our Bright Horizons Facebook pages, staff, children and their families shared their thumbs up selfies, making for an amazing display of unity and appreciation across our community.

But it wasn’t just us! This was very much a sector-wide event, meaning it wasn’t just our nurseries celebrating with a big thumbs up and marked a unique moment where ‘Buzz’ from Busy Bees and our very own Health and Safety Superhero ‘Candy Floss’ joined forces across social media, alongside Bertram Nursery Group, All About Children and Portico Day Nurseries Ltd – all united in our joint appreciation for the incredible work that nursery staff do.

We were thrilled to see the Department for Education, Ofsted, Early Years Alliance, Scottish Government Childcare, Daynurseries.co.uk and the NDNA (amongst many others) all tweet using the hashtag too, thanking Early Years Professionals for working tirelessly throughout the pandemic and making a difference to families across the country.

Nursery World also supported the campaign, publishing an article saying, ‘To celebrate the outstanding efforts of early years educators, who have provided essential stability and support to families throughout the pandemic, the sector is asking members of the community including parents, children, colleagues and practitioners to share a photo of themselves today (Thursday) using the hashtag #ThumbsUpForEarlyYears’.

We hope that #ThumbsUpForEarlyYears not only raised awareness for Early Years Educators, but also showed just how appreciative we are of what they do.

Here at Bright Horizons, this month is also Staff Appreciation Month, so the timing for this social media takeover couldn’t have been better. Not only has it demonstrated just how much we appreciate our staff, but it’s shown how far that appreciation goes across the sector and families throughout the country.

Below, Ros Marshall, UK Managing Director at Bright Horizons, shares her #ThumbsUpForEarlyYears selfie.

Thank you to everyone who got involved on Thursday 18th February, your contributions and engagement really made a difference in highlighting how wonderful those in Early Years settings are.

If you enjoyed this article and found it to be useful, you can check out more of our early childcare resources in our Family Resource Zone!

And, if you’re not yet a Bright Horizons parent, but are interested in what our nurseries can offer your child on their exciting educational journey, book a personal tour at your local nursery today!