Bolton – South Area 2

Lord Street. Kearsley, Bolton, Greater Manchester, BL4 8AR

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This inspection: Requires improvement 3

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected Access to services by young children and families Requires improvement 3 The quality of practice and services Requires improvement 3 The effectiveness of leadership, governance and management

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This is a centre group which requires improvement. It is not good because:

 Too few families overall are meaningfully engaged with the group’s services.  There is not enough universal provision in the centres to attract and retain families who may need lower-level early help, and the attractive, high-quality buildings are underused.  Too few children are being well prepared for school because there is not enough good-quality provision, staff do not have access to early years qualified teacher support, and not enough is done to help parents support their children’s learning and development.  There are not enough opportunities for adults to access courses which would help to improve their long-term employability, including literacy and numeracy courses, and their progress towards employment is not tracked carefully enough.  The local authority and advisory board have not provided objective challenge or held the group to account robustly enough for the impact of its work, partly because of a conflict of interest in the

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This is a centre group which requires improvement. It is not good because:

strategic oversight arrangements and because the group manager chairs the advisory board.  Improvement targets are imprecise and lack clear success criteria against which the group leaders, the local authority and the advisory board can check the difference that the group and its partners are making.  Self-evaluation is not based on sufficient measurable evidence of the impact being made by the group and its partners, and centre users are not systematically consulted about the relevance, impact and quality of services.

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This children’s centre group has the following strengths:

 The local authority provides detailed information about the families living in the area, which has helped the leaders to register and engage the large majority of those families most at risk of discrimination and underachievement.  The group is working effectively with co-located health and social care colleagues to identify and meet the needs of the children and families in their target groups.  The recently appointed local authority team manager for children’s centres has an accurate understanding of the group’s strengths and areas for improvement.  Most eligible three-and-four-year-olds take up their funded nursery education places.  Children most at risk are safeguarded because of close working between centre staff and social- work colleagues, underpinned by effective record-keeping and supervision of case files. Those families on parenting courses, or receiving higher-level social-care help or those experiencing

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This children’s centre group has the following strengths:

domestic violence and abuse are supported well. Inspection report: Bolton – South Area 2, 15–17 October 2013 Page 2 of 9

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Information about this inspection

The inspection of this children’s centre was carried out under Part 3A of the Childcare Act 2006 as amended by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. The centres that form part of this children’s centre group are Lord Street and Grosvenor Children’s Centre, Little Lever Children’s Centre and Kearsley Children’s Centre.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out by two of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and one additional inspector, and was shadowed by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (Social Care).

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors held meetings with the group leaders, representatives from the local authority and advisory board, centre staff, partner agency representatives, parents and centre users. They looked at a range of relevant documentation such as self-evaluation and development plans, safeguarding policies and procedures, a sample of case files and case studies. They visited provision on-and-off-site and carried out a joint observation of practice. Senior staff attended all of the inspection team meetings.

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Inspection team

Linda McLarty, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Deavon Baker-Oxley Her Majesty’s Inspector Ken Fisher Additional inspector Inspection report: Bolton – South Area 2, 15–17 October 2013 Page 3 of 9

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Information about the group

The Bolton-South Area 2 Group of children’s centres operates across three centres approximately two- and-a-half miles apart. The three centres deliver the full children’s centre core offer of universal and targeted services as one group, managed by a group manager. The health and midwifery team is based at all of the centres. Lord Street and Grosvenor Children’s Centre, and the Little Lever Children’s Centre are based in communities ranked within the top 30% for deprivation nationally, and Kearsley Children’s Centre is based in a community within the 70% most deprived areas nationally.

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Information about the group

There are 2960 children aged from birth to four years living in the reach area. The group has registered 72.4% of children and families, and are actively engaged with 33.7 % so far this year. The group has registered and actively engaged 77% of all target families in the area.

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Information about the group

Children enter school-based Early Years Foundation Stage provision with skills, knowledge and abilities below those typically expected for their age and, for some, well below, especially in personal, social and emotional development.

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Information about the group

Early Years Foundation Stage provision in the area is provided by a mixture of childminders, early years private and voluntary settings and school-based provision. The Lord Street and Grosvenor Children’s Centre shares a site with Grosvenor Nursery School and Grosvenor Daycare Centre. These settings were not part of this inspection as they are inspected separately. The reports are available at www.ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about the group

Governance is provided by the local authority, and there is one joint advisory board serving the group.

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Information about the group

Just over 81% of families in the joint reach area are of White British origin, and the main minority ethnic groups are of Pakistani and Indian heritage. The group is also involved with Traveller families in the Little Lever area. The main challenges facing families living in the reach area are unemployment, obesity, smoking (including smoking in pregnancy) and narrowing the achievement gap for children. Worklessness in the area is 27% with an additional 23% of families eligible for the childcare element of working tax credit.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportions of families who actively engage in the group’s services across all three centres by:  consulting with users more systematically to improve and increase the range of activities in all centres  improving the balance of provision between cases allocated to social work and the universal preventative and early help services.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Improve the readiness of children for school by:  improving staff training and their access to early years qualified teacher support so that staff have a clear understanding of how to promote children’s learning and development  providing more activities which help adults understand how to support their children’s learning  continuing to increase the quality of private and voluntary early years provision in the reach area to ensure sufficient good-quality places for all eligible two-year-olds.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of leadership, governance and management by:  developing robust systems to measure the impact the group and its partners are having on improving outcomes for families, and analyse and share this information with the leaders in an accessible format to help them evaluate the difference their work is making Inspection report: Bolton – South Area 2, 15–17 October 2013 Page 4 of 9

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 set more precise and challenging improvement targets with clear success criteria in order to help the group leaders, the local authority and the advisory board and partner agencies to measure the impact of their work  improve the extent to which the local authority and advisory board objectively challenges, supports and holds the group to account by providing training for advisory board members, and ensuring that the advisory board is not chaired by the group manager, and strategic governance of the group is not being partially provided by one of the group’s leaders.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Extend the opportunities for more adults, particularly the unemployed, to enhance their economic stability by:  increasing the promotion of, and participation rates in, adult-learning programmes including literacy and numeracy courses to aid progression into further education and employment  developing further procedures to track and measure how well adults make progress when they access courses or programmes, and use the data gathered to help plan future services.

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Access to services by young children and families Requires improvement

 The local authority provides detailed information about the profile of the families in the reach area. The group leaders use this well to engage the large majority of families in the target groups, and the very large majority of the families whose circumstances make them most vulnerable remain engaged with specialist services until their needs are met. This is the main thrust of the group’s work at present, and the local authority and group leaders know that overall engagement levels are too low, and have made improving this one of their main priorities.  The group’s outreach work with families already known to social care shows effective engagement at every stage of the child’s journey. As a result, some children who were previously looked after by the local authority successfully return home. The group offers families continuity of support after social-care involvement ceases through outreach work and universal services offered through the

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Access to services by young children and families Requires improvement

centre.  There is good identification of the needs of families registered with the group, including mental- health problems, domestic violence, and child neglect. Following two recent service reviews which resulted in significant cuts to staff and services, leaders understandably use their resources to equalise opportunities for families most at risk of underachieving. Leaders know that their strong provision for the families in need of higher-level social care has been at the expense of providing a universal service. This limits their capacity to undertake other important work, such as prevention, early help, supporting school readiness and parenting skills and aspirations.  The service cuts have reduced the group’s capacity to offer a wide enough range of activities, so the buildings are underused and there is not enough going on to attract and retain more families.  The very large majority of eligible three-and-four-year-olds access their free nursery education

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Access to services by young children and families Requires improvement

places. However, the provision of the funded places for two-year-olds has got off to a very slow start across Bolton and currently only 37% of eligible two-year-olds in the reach area are taking up their entitlement.  The staff consult regularly with service users, using outreach and informal opportunities to identify needs and matching families to appropriate services. Staff track families’ access to services through to completion, and have adequate systems in place to monitor outcomes. However, consultation is not systematic enough to give users a regular input into decision making about the services and activities provided, although parents are satisfactorily represented on the advisory board.

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The quality of practice and services Requires improvement

 Only a small minority of children are working within age-related expectations when they start school and, although achievement has steadily improved across the reach area over the last four years, achievement at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage remains below the national average. The group is narrowing the gap between the lowest achieving 20% of children and others, with a Inspection report: Bolton – South Area 2, 15–17 October 2013 Page 5 of 9

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The quality of practice and services Requires improvement

5% improvement since last year, although the gap remains wider than that seen nationally. There is not enough good quality early years provision in the reach area, or enough access to qualified early years teachers to improve children's learning quickly enough. The group has been unable to build on the very good results of the pilot last year, which substantially improved 11 children’s communication and language skills.  There are some good quality activities provided to encourage healthy lifestyles, and a rolling programme of courses which have a good track record of improving parenting skills, but not enough people attend these.  Assessment of need is comprehensive and gives a clear picture of families’ strengths and weaknesses, including the wishes and feelings of parents and children, who are routinely involved in the evaluation of their progress. The group offers families continuity of support after social care

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The quality of practice and services Requires improvement

involvement ceases, through outreach work and on-site universal services.  Outreach visits and parenting courses are used regularly to discuss safety, and staff have provided safety equipment in homes. The rate of emergency admissions to hospital for children aged from birth to four is below the national average.  There are not enough adult education and training opportunities to help parents to improve their English, mathematics and computer skills, which limits their progress towards paid work and their ability to support their children’s learning. The systems to track adults’ progress towards employment do not provide clear evidence of the group’s impact on increasing economic well-being. Jobcentre Plus advisers no longer visit the centres, and links with employment agencies to identify and promote job vacancies are weak.  Partly due to cuts to the health visitor and midwifery service, only 40% of the group’s health targets

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The quality of practice and services Requires improvement

were met last year, although low-birth weight and immunisation targets were exceeded. Not enough children enter Reception Year at a healthy weight, and the group leaders have made this a priority, and are already working with health colleagues to improve this through providing courses such as ‘Happy Healthy Toddlers’, which are very well-attended.  Information, advice and guidance about children’s centre services are satisfactorily provided through displays, the local authority’s call centre and through administrators employed in each centre.

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Requires improvement

 The local authority provides the group leaders with very detailed information about the proportions of families in their target groups, which has helped the leaders to know their community well. However, in general, data and management information from the local authority and its partners are not in a clear enough format to help leaders use this data as a working tool to drive improvement and ensure services meet need. The leaders and local authority have prioritised increasing the numbers of families benefiting from group services.  Self-evaluation is not based upon sufficient measurable evidence of the impact of the group’s work, or that of its partner agencies, and is not helped by the local authority previously grading the work of the group too generously. The group has accurate data from the local authority about how they are closing the achievement gap and reducing inequalities for the target groups, but this information

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Requires improvement

is not used to set precise targets. The development plan targets lack measurable success criteria, which limit how accurately the group leaders, the local authority and the advisory board can check their progress towards their specific goals.  The local authority’s strategic leadership of the centres has been affected by staffing shortages at all levels over the last two years, and one of the centre leaders took over some of the oversight function part time. This means leaders are to an extent holding themselves to account for the impact of their work, which is a conflict of interest.  The joint advisory board members’ knowledge of their roles and responsibilities is too variable, and they have received no training to support their role. This, together with the fact that the Chair is the centres’ group leader, limits how well they can challenge, support and hold the leadership to account. The group leaders are not yet questioning their partners tenaciously enough about their

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Requires improvement

contribution to improving outcomes for local families. Service level agreements also contain too few measurable targets against which the organisations can be held to account. Inspection report: Bolton – South Area 2, 15–17 October 2013 Page 6 of 9

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Requires improvement

 Overall, safeguarding arrangements, policies and procedures are sound. An extensive range of mandatory and optional training is provided by the local authority and this is closely linked to employees’ roles and responsibilities. The local authority and group leaders have clearly identified the risks linked to the design of the centre buildings around community cafes, and visitors are carefully checked. However, in the Kearsley centre, the reception is just inside the café area, meaning that members of the public can enter the café before their identities are checked, although they do not have access to any of the rooms. The local authority and the leaders are currently considering solutions to this at a strategic level.  The group works well with children’s social care to assess and reduce risk. The close working relationships with on-site social work teams are effective in matching needs to services, and respond

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Requires improvement

flexibly to children’s changing needs. The group contributes to social care plans that are proportionate and timely, and consequently, children in this target group are effectively protected and their life chances are improved. Those experiencing domestic violence and abuse are well- supported.  Consultations are not capturing parental views systematically enough for the group leaders to use this to shape services, and only 46% of parents from target groups actively contribute to the development of activities. Inspection report: Bolton – South Area 2, 15–17 October 2013 Page 7 of 9

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Practice consistently reflects the highest aspirations for children and their families and as a result inequalities are reducing rapidly and gaps are closing. Grade 2 Good Practice enables most children and their families to access good quality services that improve children’s wellbeing and achieve the stated outcomes for families. Grade 3 Requires improvement Performance is not as good as it might reasonably be expected to be in one or more key areas. Grade 4 Inadequate The needs of children and families in its area are not being met and/or the leaders and managers are not providing sufficient challenge to bring about improvement to the quality of services. Inspection report: Bolton – South Area 2, 15–17 October 2013 Page 8 of 9

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Children’s Centre Group details

Unique reference number 80211 Local authority Bolton Inspection number 424736 Managed by The local authority

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five in the reach area

Centre leader Rosheen O’Byrne Date of previous inspection Not previous inspected Telephone number 01204 337338 Email address rosheen.obyrne@bolton.gov.uk

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

 21858 Lord Street and Grosvenor Children’s Centre  21817 Little Lever Children’s Centre  21642 Kearsley Children’s Centre Inspection report: Bolton – South Area 2, 15–17 October 2013 Page 9 of 9

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

(Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille,

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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