Sure Start Childrens Centres

1
Sure Start Childrens Centres

• Kevin Woods
• Assistant Director
• Early Years, Extended Schools and Special Needs
  Group
• November 2007

2
The big picture

• Every Child Matters - each with support they need
• Transforming life chances, opportunities and
  outcomes for all
• But especially for the most disadvantaged 
• Local change, focused on outcomes, driven
  forward by Childrens Trust partnerships

3
The early years challenge

• Helping all children develop to their full
  potential, so all doing better by age 5
• Narrowing gaps between the disadvantaged and
  their peers
• Sustaining these gains up the age range
• Ensuring what is offered really helps

4
Childrens Centres - Every Child Matters in
action

• Permanent, universal, integrated front line
  provision
• Focusing on prevention and early intervention
• More services in most deprived areas
• Delivery through mixed market, drawing on
  expertise and commitment of all sectors

5
Progress so far

• Major investment 4bn since 1997
• Over 1,600 Sure Start Childrens Centres
• Serving more than a million children and their
  families
• Additional 880m pa by 2010-11

6
A permanent legal framework

• Childcare Act 2006 sets new framework in place
• Early Years Outcomes duty to be met through
• Universal and integrated services
• Sufficient childcare, including a growing free
  offer
• Childrens Information Services encouraging
  access
• A whole system with Sure Start Childrens Centres
  at its heart

7
Speech and Language and the Early Years

• Early years crucial for language acquisition and
  developing key language skills
• Early Intervention works
• September 2008, all early years settings will be
  required to deliver the Early Years Foundation
  Stage.
• Settings will plan activities and experiences
  that can help all children progress in their
  development and learning.

8
Sure Start Childrens Centres Crucial Role

• Sure Start Centres, which bring together health
  and early years services have a crucial role to
  play
• Centres can provide innovative ways to reach
  families who may need services most eg. drop in
  clinics
• Want to see LAs /health services jointly
  commission speech and language services through
  childrens centres.

9
SLT Services in Sure Start Childrens Centres

• Promoting language acquisition and identifying
  speech and language difficulties
• Daily activities should stimulate children
• Adults talking and listening to children
• Imaginative use of play and toy resources
• Activities with music, song and rhyme and
• Storytelling and reading books.
• Where necessary children should be referred to
  specialist services

10
Supporting Parents

• Practitioners supporting childrens speech and
  language development directly and also
  encouraging parents to
• Talk during everyday occurrences
• Play alongside their children
• Allow the child to take a lead and direct
  activities
• Be expressive, encouraging eye contact
• Enjoy action songs, listening games, books and
  nursery rhymes
• Show interest and respond to children trying to
  communicate.

11
Training Staff

• Want all staff should be trained in language
  development
• Communicating Matters - provides training and
  support to all those who work in a childcare
  environment.
• ICANs Early Talk programme.
• Rolling out in 200 childrens centres.
• Training childrens centres practitioners,
  alongside speech and language therapists,

12
Improving access

• We can only help those we can reach
• Good practice includes
• Targeting excluded groups
• Personalising services to encourage take up
• Monitoring take up
• Monitoring progress of each child

13
Bercow Review

• Independent review commissioned by the DCSF and
  DH
• Will formulate practical proposals for improving
  services
• Interim report by March 2008 identifying priority
  themes. Final report by July 2008
• Further information at www.dcsf.gov.uk/bercowrevi
  ew/index.shtml

14
Already making a difference

• National Evaluation of Sure Start (2007)
• SaLTs in most SSLPs worked closely with staff and
  teachers.
• Practitioners value their joint learning with
  SaLTs and felt it informed and improved their
  practice.
• Some programmes prioritised the development of
  communication in newborn and infants
• NAO Report (2006)
• Centres played a useful role in identifying
  speech or behavioural problems early and
  referring parents to specialist support.

15
Centre case study

• The Chatterkids Language Group developed in four
  Sure Start areas of Gateshead in order to
• meet need of pre-nursery children for language
  enhancement
• engage most excluded families
• identify children with communication difficulties
  who need specialist intervention by a SaLT and
• fast-track these children to receive therapy from
  health service.
• Collaboration between Sure Start, SaLT and Social
  Services staff has been key.
• Staff are deeply embedded in the community and
  have improved access by most excluded groups.

16
Parent Case Study

• My little girls speech was not coming on at all
  and it was the speech therapist who also works in
  the nursery that pointed it out. We got it
  checked up and she did have a problem. Now she is
  given special types of exercises and coaching and
  her speech has come on leaps and bounds. If she
  was just sat at home and not coming here
  childrens centre wed only have found out when
  she went to school and it may have been too
  late.
• Mother, North West