Families hold the key to ‘Every Child Matters’ predicts leading professor - Families have a crucial role to play in helping to achieve the Government’s ‘Every Child Matters’ outcomes it was revealed by one of the sector’s leading authorities. Dr Barry Carpenter made the announcement at a major partnership conference that took place in Solihull last Friday and immediately encouraged everyone involved in special educational needs to work together to harness information and learn from best practice. The Professor of Early Child Intervention at University of Worcester was one of a number of key speakers organised by the British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD), nasen (the National Association for Special Educational Needs), autism.west midlands and Sunfield Professional Development Centre in what was described as the largest event of its type this year. “Every Child Matters focuses on ensuring that young people – from the age of 1 to 19 – can be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being and everyone in our sector has a role to play in making this happen,” explained Lorraine Petersen, Chief Executive of nasen.