Sure Start Children's Centres – They do help! Children's Centres provide more than just the services they offer. They are a meeting place for parents and young families. They are the focal point for support, advice and where concerns can be shared. Problems can be resolved before they reach crisis point. A good example is where new parents can access health teams. If there is a problem with the new baby it can be resolved at home, rather than having to visit the A & E department at the hospital. They provide a universal service, understanding that all parents need support as they experience life with their new family. In many community areas peoples lives are disenfranchised and Sure Start Children's Centres are established to ensure that activities and services are directed to  peoples needs. It is a hard journey to raise aspirations and enable people to gain in confidence and arrive at a point where they may be able to  access training and employment. But it is fundamental to the programme of Sure Start Children's Centres. It incorporates all the services and activities that ensure the success of the centre, and engages with all the outcomes of Every Child Matters to enable children to have a better start in life. As a route out of poverty Children's Centres can provide the bottom rungs of the ladder. It enables families to see a future which they can control and not to be reliant on state funding. They can create broader horizons and a sharing of life chances. Just some of the opportunities that children's centres and their partners offer are as shown below taken from information at  Tower Hamlets Sure Start Children's Centres: a range of play and learning opportunities access to health services health and parenting advice information about routes into training and employment Children's centre services include: early learning opportunities including nursery education integrated with full day-care links to services that undertake the early identification of, and provision for, children with additional needs and disabilities outreach services to families in the area family support, including support for parents of children with additional needs health services including antenatal care, speech and language activities and advice, nutrition and weaning advice a base for childminders and a service hub within the community for parents and providers of childcare services effective links with Job Centre Plus, local training providers and further and higher education institutions effective links with the Family Information Service, local nurseries, out of school clubs and extended schools All children’s centre staff and partners are working to provide the best early years opportunities so that young children have a flying start in life. SmithMartin Partnership works with a number of Sure Start Children's Centres developing programmes, ensuring good governance, creating effective SEF's  and to enable centres to be ready for Ofsted. We also design, host and maintain fully interactive websites which are the best tool in reaching communities and marketing the good work of the centres. Contact us if you would like support or information about Children's Centres. We are currently working on sustainability programmes. We  still have copies of the DCSF booklet, Sure Start Children's Centres; Building Brighter Futures. Send an email or phone if you would like copies sent to you. You can contact us here. SmithMartin Partnership team  BUILDINGS FOR CHILDREN Working with multi-agency teams to deliver building projects for children. SmithMartin can help you to deliver the project from concept to opening the doors. The expectation that by 2010 there will be over 3000 Sure Start Children's Centres across England is fantastic news for children, families and communities. What an opportunity for Local Authorities and Children's Services teams to develop effective community resources  bringing together services for children under five and their families. But, it brings with it a certain sense of panic; how to actually deliver these projects that will be just what the community needs an on time. Large amounts of capital expenditure are available and the necessity that this money is spent wisely and effectively to create a visionary centre for the future is both incredibly exciting but can also be daunting. With a positive mind set,a committed team of professionals, involvement of the local community and a pragmatic set of working plans the project can be set under way. And this is just the beginning.... Organisations such as Sure Start and CABE have produced documents which are very useful guides to both setting up, design and process, details:- www.surestart.gov.uk/publications Try; Buildings for Sure Start       Capital Process for Children's Centre Guidance       Children's Centre Implementation Plan www.cabe.org.uk  Try; Building for Sure Start-Integrated Services for Children         10 Top Tips There is a huge need for management of the project, Local Authority Children's Services teams have the option of either using their own staff or commissioning the work to outside agencies. The following notes summarise ways that can help you achieve the vision, by not only seizing the window of funding but actually making it happen. Planning Stage Combined team of professionals, including architects, community users,children's workforce professionals, construction managers, finance management. Creation of a design brief Creation of design teams Ensure that the voice of the users are heard, either through consultation or professional children's service workers. This will be essential when it comes to the delivery of the project. Leave plenty of time for the planning, it will be easier to get it right at the beginning. Allow a programme for changes near to completion, to ensure that your building is fit for purpose. Large retail companies allow at least 10% of the original budget for this. Go for the best you can within the budget. Create timed action plans, which are critical. Construction The first bricks/foundations are a real joy. Start marketing now. Ensure that someone is responsible for keeping check on the buildings progress. Timing is crucial and need to be monitored.(These may seem obvious but slippage is easy to achieve and hard to catch up) Bring in help around delivery of an effective marketing programme. Ordering equipment and resources should be in hand but make sure they still meet requirements. Maintain constant dialogue with community and user groups. Make sure that inspecting agencies(Ofsted) are involved and aware of opening dates Don't lose sight of the vision. Completion Receiving possession date of the building from the contractor is a major process. Opening the doors for the community and to deliver on time is really important.(Construction companies are used to having  to pay penalties for late delivery) Children will already be booked in to the facilities and these will need to be inspected before use. Snagging issues for the building need to be constantly checked and ensure that they are completed satisfactorily before the construction firm moves off site. Is the building still 'fit for purpose'. Consider using the budget for adjustment. New staff will have been employed, what challenges do they find? Don't lose sight of the vision. Achievement and Celebration When it is actually finished, take time to look at what has been achieved. Once children and families start to use the building it will come alive and that is when the real work  .The building is essentially just the shell, but it should create:- a real 'wow' feel, a place people will  want to come to, a place where they will want their children to be. Above all:- Stay enthusiastic Keep sight of the vision Go for the best you can SmithMartin can help you to deliver a Capital Build project, our Projects section has information on a recent building and change management project. How well are they doing? The latest Ofsted report on the impact of services provided by Sure Start Children's Centres and extended schools issued in January 2008. 'Schools and Children's Centres served children and families very effectively, once they were there' Overall the report showed that the children's centres inspected were providing a good or better service. This is really good news for everyone currently working in Children's Centres delivering the services required and in establishing of high quality childcare provision within areas of disadvantage. Setting up new provisions in communities in need is often a fraught process and relies on a vision dedicated to improving the lives of young children and their families. This backed up with good leadership,management and team work can deliver stunning successes. In the Executive summary of the report it values and praises the way that children who have been at a children centre, start school with a positive attitude. “ Schools reported that children joining them from Children's Centres had positive attitudes, and were well prepared for, and enjoyed learning”. For educators in Early Years this has always been a starting point for any child and a key determinant in playing an active part in their own learning. Although the report generally praises the establishment of Children's Centres by Local Authorities the continued support needed is not always there and varies widely across the country. As long term funding is never guaranteed there are a number of issues which concern leaders about sustainability. The key findings and recommendations are listed below and are taken directly from the Ofsted report:- Key findings Children’s centres were fulfilling their remit to provide at least the minimum requirements of their core offer. The majority of schools offered a range of out of school activities which motivated children and young people to develop new skills and interests. Most established extended schools fulfilled their core offer, and most developing extended schools were making good progress towards this. Work between partners to offer a full range of services had improved since Ofsted’s previous report on extended services. Although good coordination improved the take-up of services, this was not always managed sufficiently effectively. Children moving from children’s centres to schools were generally well prepared. However, the effect of such preparation on their early learning and attainment was not evaluated. Learning in children’s centres was more effective when the leadership team included staff with a background in education. However, not all the qualified teachers supporting children’s centres had experience or training in providing for children under three. Individuals and families were served well by the children’s centres and schools that they attended. Services which had been used by the most vulnerable parents were reported to have transformed the lives of some parents and had positive effects on their children. However, settings did not do enough to reach out to particularly vulnerable individuals or families, or those living beyond the immediate neighbourhood. Since the previous report, the children’s centres and schools have become more aware of the need to evaluate the impact of their services on the outcomes for children, young people and their families, although very few had begun to measure this systematically. The quality of local authorities’ strategic leadership varied. They provided good support to establish provision, but rarely supported the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of services. The schools with the most effective services had integrated the development of extended provision within their school improvement plans, with a clear focus on improving positive outcomes for children and young people. Uncertainties about long-term funding affected planning for, and the sustainability of, many children’s centres.   Recommendations Department for Children, Schools and Families should: ...clarify long-term funding arrangements with other partners to promote the sustainability of services and staffing  ...support local authorities to embed the performance management arrangements recommended in the guidance issued in November 2006 Local authorities should:  ...support schools and children’s centres in strategic planning, and in monitoring and evaluating the impact of their services  ...ensure that training is available for managers of children’s centres to develop self-evaluation Sources: 'How well are they doing? The Impact of children's centres and extended schools'. Ofsted..January 2008. ref no 070021 Sure Start children’s centres planning and performance management guidance (978-1-84478-851-4), DfES, 2006. The Ofsted report can be downloaded here. SmithMartin are working to support the development of Children's Centres: Project development and management: Our partnership is currently engaged in the delivery of services to help create new Children Centres in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Working on a number of sites, partners are supporting the creation of relevant business plans, working as part of the project 'build' team and delivering recruitment and partnership best practice into settings to enhance the provision of services for families, carers and communities. Our partnership also utilises the broad range of technical support and skills at its disposal to enhance this community delivery. Thirdsectorweb: Our community web arm designs, builds and securely hosts web sites for Children Centres. The creation of complex web sites in these settings is a long term process - with the emergence of new services, refreshed services and new partnerships always emerging helter-skelter in the beginning of service delivery particularly. Committed to our clients as long term partners we can offer energy and flexibility, as well as intimate knowledge of settings to ensure that content, images and dialogue with service users are appropriate, fresh and ever changing to your needs. Examples of current work in development can be seen at www.barclaychildrencentre.org and www.newportchildrencentre.org.uk Dolphinbookhelf: Our partnership trading styles also includes a business which supplies resources to settings. An innovative book supply service, based on attractive, sustainable willow baskets, to promote reading and book sales in Centres. SmithMartin LLP - effective and resourceful one stop supply.