Gateshead South Area

Waverley Road, Harlow Green, Gateshead, NE9 7AA

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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 Requires improvement 3

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This children's centre group requires improvement. It is not good because:

 Whilst an increasing number of families are participating regularly in children’s centre activities, this is not yet the majority. The centre group does not work as effectively as it could with some partnersto share resources in order to secure the sustained contact of a larger number of families.  The local authority has been through a period of significant change. As a result, systems to monitor and evaluate the centre groups’ performance are not yet fully embedded. Priorities set out in the improvement plan are accurate but not all actions have measureable success criteria. It is therefore difficult for staff to demonstrate when they have been successful in meeting their targets and for the advisory board to offer sufficient challenge.  Partnerships at a strategic level are not fully effective. Protocols for the sharing of information between the centres and some partners are not consistently in place. As a result, centre staff are

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This children's centre group requires improvement. It is not good because:

not always able to measure the effectiveness of their work or track families to find out if there have been any sustained improvements to their lives.  The local authority has emerging structures in place to ensure the quality of provision provided to children and families. However, these are not yet fully embedded across all services and provision.  The progress made by children aged from birth to two years when they attend some children’s centre activities is not recorded sufficiently well. Nor do activities always take sufficient account of how to develop parent’s understanding of their child’s development so they can support learning at home.

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This children’s centre group has the following strengths:

 The children’s centre group area managers, ably supported by the assistant area manager have skilfully guided the centre group through an extended period of redundancies and re-organisation of key personnel and services, whilst continually improving service delivery and up-skilling the staff team.  Building on the strong partnerships that exist at a locality level, the centres have doubled the number of families regularly engaged in centre activities, including the large majority of young parents, families from black and ethnic minority groups and an increasing number of dads.  The centres place a strong focus on early intervention for children and families. Staff build trusting relationships and a clear system for referral ensures families receive the support they need.  Safeguarding is well established ensuring the safety of children is at the heart of the centres’ work.

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Information about this inspection

The inspection of this children’s centre group 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 Chowdene children’s centre and Birtley children’s centre.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out by three of Her Majesty's Inspectors.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors held meetings with the children's centre group area managers and the senior leadership team, parent outreach workers, information assistants, activity coordinators, officers from the local authority, representatives from the Family Intervention Team (FIT), Gateshead's 'Family Learning' team and Jobcentre Plus. They also met health, education and early years partners, parents, volunteers and representatives of the advisory board and the Neighbourhood Management Group. They looked at the centre groups' self-evaluation, core improvement plan, a sample of case studies, safeguarding procedures and a range of other relevant documentation. Visits to activities were undertaken jointly with parent outreach workers and the area managers who also attended all team meetings.

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Information about this inspection

They observed the centre groups’ work, and looked at a range of relevant documentation.

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Inspection team

Jayne Utting Her Majesty's Inspector, Lead Inspector June Cramman Her Majesty’s Inspector Joanne Smith Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about the centre group

Gateshead South Area children’s centre group operates across two centres, approximately three miles apart. These are Chowdene Children’s Centre and Birtley Children’s Centre. The south area consists of five wards, Birtley, High Fell, Lamesley, Low Fell and Chowdene. Within these wards are 28 lower- super- output areas ranked within the 30% most deprived areas nationally, four of which are in the top 10%. There are 2184 children aged from birth to four years living in the reach area, with approximately 1469 living within the most deprived areas. The south area has a relatively high level of worklessness compared to Gateshead overall, with around 43.6% of families claiming benefits. Almost half the population has no qualifications. Most local families are from a White British background with around 1% of families representing a range of minority ethnic groups. The centre group is managed directly by

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Information about the centre group

the local authority. An advisory board for the group was established in 2011. The range of services provided includes family support, health services, parenting, volunteering and adult education. Target groups include families most in need, teenage parents and dads.

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Information about the centre group

Early years provision is provided through a number of early years settings, school nursery classes and childminders located within the locality. Children generally enter early years provision with skills, knowledge and abilities that are below those expected for their age especially in communication and language and personal, social and emotional development. The proportion of disabled children and those with special educational needs, including those with a statement of special educational needs, is above the national average. The primary schools and nearby early years settings were not part of this inspection as they are inspected separately. The reports are available on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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What does the centre/group need to do to improve further?

 Further improve the quality and impact of universal provision for children aged from birth to two years by:  developing systems to monitor and track the progress children make from when they start attending, and by  supporting parents to better understand the links between group activities and their child’s development so that they are confident to support on-going learning in their homes.

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What does the centre/group need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the advisory board provides effective challenge to the centre group about its performance.

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What does the centre/group need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the centre group’s ability to increase the number of families accessing services by working more effectively with partners to develop specific strategies for sustained engagement that are based on the efficient sharing of both relevant information and additional resources.

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What does the centre/group need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the effectiveness of the monitoring of the centre’s performance by:  developing the ‘core improvement plan’ further to include more specific measurable targets that enable the centre to better evidence the impact of the whole range of work they undertake and,  undertaking more direct observations of provision in order to ensure consistency in the quality of some children’s centre activities.

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Inspection judgements

Access to services by young children and families Requires improvement

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Inspection judgements

 Centre leaders have a good understanding of the needs of families living in the locality. This informs each of the centre’s own activities, and the accurate analysis of data provided by the local authority. As a result, an increasing number of families are participating regularly in centre activities.  Despite this increase, data show that not enough families are accessing services. Whilst staff are working hard to encourage more families to attend, there has been too little focus on how they might work with a wider range of partners to more effectively share information, and even more crucially resources, in order to secure the sustained engagement of families.  Work with families in their homes has been re-established following the restructure. The sensitive approach and breadth of knowledge demonstrated by parent outreach workers, has been key to ensuring the participation of some families in centre activities, particularly those who might

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Inspection judgements

otherwise have chosen not to.  Parent outreach workers and information assistants have been proactive in going out to local community groups and developing good links with schools, particularly those in areas where children have been identified as having poorer communication and language skills. This, combined with the on-site location of the well-resourced toy library and sensory room has contributed to improved participation rates, particularly for Chowdene Children’s Centre.  Through effective consultation and outreach work, centre staff are working with the large majority of young parents and families from black and minority ethnic groups. The centres have been proactive in developing some strong partnerships at a locality level, for example, with the youth service, occupational health and the physiotherapy team. This has facilitated the engagement of an increasing number of young dads and families of children with disabilities.

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Inspection judgements

 The uptake of free entitlement to early education for three- and four-year-olds is good. The centres have been proactive in identifying those families who are eligible for two-year-old funding and as a result the numbers accessing this are improving, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas.

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Inspection judgements

The quality of practice and services Requires improvement

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Inspection judgements

 The centres have developed an effective referral system which enables the accurate assessment and early identification of need. Where a need for a specific service is identified, the team ensures that families receive the correct support to make positive changes to their lives. Where support is provided by a partner agency, for example, the delivery of parenting programmes by the Family Intervention Team, centre staff do not always receive sufficiently detailed information to allow them to measure the impact of this work or plan for any additional on-going support.  A growing range of generally good quality activities are delivered by the children’s centre group team and commissioned partners. Parents who attend activities clearly benefit from the experience, particularly in terms of improving their confidence as parents. Many told inspectors how the centres had made them ‘better parents’ and enabled them to ‘enjoy their children again’. However, the

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Inspection judgements

number of families accessing these opportunities requires improvement and this restricts the impact the centre group has on the lives of local families.  Where children attend school or registered early years provision, the majority make good progress in their learning. However, the progress of children aged from birth to two years is recorded less well where they attend only universal children’s centre activities, such as ‘First Friends’, as staff do not always use their good knowledge of child development when delivering these sessions. Parents do not always gain a clear understanding of the links between group activities and their own child’s development and some are not confident to support this continued learning at home.  The centre groups’ participation in the ‘Eat Better, Start Better’ initiative alongside sessions , such as ‘Music and Movement’, ‘Splash and Swing’ and ‘Little Movers’ has contributed well to families’

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Inspection judgements

improving understanding of how to lead a healthy lifestyle and ensured obesity levels in Reception aged children remains below the Gateshead average. By working in partnership with health professionals, the centre is able to target activities in areas where they are most needed and so have the maximum impact. For example, the provision of additional peer support volunteers and ‘Bosom Buddy’ groups in the High Fell ward to promote breastfeeding.  Effective relationships with family learning and the Dryden adult learning centre has ensured that a growing number of parents are beginning to access and complete a good range of adult learning opportunities. The centres can give examples of how this has improved parents’confidence and employability skills. Volunteering opportunities are good and have led in some cases to employment. However, a lack of consistent tracking prevents the centre group showing the longer term impact

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Inspection judgements

for families, particularly those from workless households and lone parents.

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management

 The centre group has been through a period of significant change, including a sizeable reduction in staffing. Through the efficient use of resources, it has successfully rebuilt many of its services, whilst at the same time doubling the number of families accessing activities. This is testament to the quality of leadership and management which continues to rapidly improve. However, the centre groups’ impact on improving outcomes for local families across the locality has been variable.  The local authority has worked hard to develop a clear strategy for improvement, which values the role of children’s centres as an integral part of its delivery. Priorities identified in the newly developed ‘core improvement plan’ are accurate and targets are ambitious and challenging. However, the centre groups’ ability to accurately measure the effectiveness of its work is hindered by a lack of more specific measurable targets within this plan. This has also weakened the ability

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management

of the advisory board to offer effective challenge regarding the centre groups’ on-going performance.  Whilst some strategic partnerships are working well, for example that with the neighbourhood management team, others are not sufficiently developed. This means that plans for on-going service delivery do not focus sufficiently on how to better share information and more importantly resources across the locality in order deliver more integrated services that will have a greater and more lasting impact on the lives of local children and families.  Staff and volunteers are given regular opportunities to review their own work through supervision and the completion of activity evaluation forms. However, senior leaders do not regularly monitor the quality of centre activities delivered by their own staff. As a result, they do not always identify issues that might improve practice and engagement at a faster rate.

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management

 All staff have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of procedures to keep children and families safe and this is supported by regular training. The centre group works closely with health and social care colleagues in order to reduce the risk of harm to children, including those subject to a child protection plan, looked after children or those identified as in need. By working together, partners have had a significant impact on the lives of some families, including those whose difficulties have been assessed using the Common Assessment Framework.  Parents using the centre group feel they are listened to and well supported by sensitive staff who are described as ‘always having time’. Parents feel that the centres are open to anyone in the area and parents of disabled children and those with with special educational needs particularly appreciate the support they have received through groups, such as ‘Early Birds’ and the

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management

‘Hydrocephalus support group’, as well as access to the well-resourced sensory room.

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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.

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Select details

Unique reference number 80073 Local authority Gateshead Inspection number 423604 Managed by The local authority

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five in the reach area

Centre leader Maggie Martin/Helen Ross-Bell Date of previous inspection Not Applicable Telephone number 0191 4335003 Email address maggiemartin@gateshead.gov.uk/helenross- bell@gateshead.gov.uk

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

 20315, Birtley Children’s Centre  20720, Chowdene Children’s Centre 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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