Durham - Newton Aycliffe Children's Centre Cluster

Durham - Newton Aycliffe Children's Centre Cluster Stephenson Way , Newton Aycliffe , County Durham , DL5 7DD

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This inspection: Good 2

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected Access to services by young children and families Good 2 The quality of practice and services Good 2 The effectiveness of leadership, governance and management

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Summary of key findings for children and families

The children’s centre group is good.  Good partnership working, strong leadership, management and governance ensure that families’ needs are continually prioritised and met. As a result, a large majority of families from almost all of the target groups are registered with the centre and they are attending services.  The centres warmly welcome visitors and the many well-prepared notice boards contain photographs of activities taking place and useful information to keep them well informed. Children are greeted by low level eye-catching resources they can touch and use. As a result, parental satisfaction is very high and staff, for instance, are described as, ‘absolutely brilliant’.  Safeguarding of vulnerable children and adults is high priority. Effective assessment leads to good early intervention and support. Experienced staff are very passionate about improving families’ lives and they build strong trusting relationships with them. ‘They put children and

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Summary of key findings for children and families

families at the heart of everything they do’, was a typical comment from a partner.  Take-up of the entitlement to free early education places is high. The group tracks and records the progress of individual children who regularly attend activities. A clear focus on developing communication and language skills is helping more children to be better prepared for the next step in their education.  Adult training programmes help parents whose circumstances make them vulnerable to tackle issues affecting them more effectively, so that they make healthier life style choices. This has a positive impact on the whole family’s well-being. A few adults are now confident to support the centres’ good work through volunteering roles.

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It is not outstanding because:

 Health outcomes are variable, but generally improving. However, too many mothers continue to smoke, particularly when pregnant.  Not enough fathers are in regular contact with the centre and leaders recognise that their priority is to meet the needs of this group more fully.

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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 Shildon Children’s Centre and Newton Aycliffe Children’s Centre.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors held meetings with the principal family worker and locality managers. They held discussions with senior family workers, representatives from the local authority and members of the Local Advisory Boards (LAB). Meetings were also held with the centre group’s key partners.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors reviewed the written evaluations of the centre group’s work and spoke to parents at different times during the inspection. The inspectors undertook two observations of centre activities jointly with the principal family worker. They visited both centres that form the centre group and they visited five venues where activities are delivered off site.

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Information about this inspection

They observed the group’s work, and looked at a range of relevant documentation, including self- evaluation documentation, the implementation action plan, safeguarding policies and a sample of case files.

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Inspection team

Sue Pepper, Lead inspector Additional inspector Judith Elderfield Additional inspector Michael Glickman Additional inspector

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Information about the group

Shildon and Newton Aycliffe Children’s Centres were brought together under shared leadership and management to form the Durham-Newton Aycliffe Children’s Centre Cluster in April 2013. Both centres were previously deemed to be phase one centres. Newton Aycliffe is now the main centre and Shildon the associate. The two centre sites within the group are situated five miles apart. The group is managed directly by the local authority. A locality manager, with the support of an early help co-ordinator, is responsible for the group. Day-to-day management of the group is the responsibility of the principal family worker. Each centre within the group has maintained its own Local Advisory Board (LAB) comprising key partners and parents. A mixture of universal and targeted services is delivered at the centre sites and other venues within the community. The group provides health services, guidance for families on child development and learning and adult

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Information about the group

The children’s centres are located in the district of Sedgefield, south of Durham city in County Durham. Shildon has suffered severe economic depression since the decline of the railway and manufacturing industries. Many families face issues that include social deprivation, low level skills, unemployment, substance misuse and domestic abuse. A large number of families rely on public transport. Newton Aycliffe is a fairly new town with a large industrial park. There are pockets of deprivation here, but also areas of affluence.

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Information about the group

The population is predominately of White British heritage, although a growing numbers of families in Newton Aycliffe are of Polish origin. Most of the families living in Shildon and over half of the families living in Newton Ayciffe live in the 30% most disadvantaged areas in England. The centre group’s reach area serves 2194 children under five years of age. The main priority groups that have been identified by the centres are young children living in families that have low incomes, vulnerable two-year-olds, teenage parents, disabled parents and children and fathers.

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Information about the group

Shildon is co-located with Timothy Hackworth Primary School and Shildon Early Years nursery. Newton Aycliffe is co-located with Stephenson Way Community Primary School and House of Eden day nursery. Most children enter early years provision with skills below those typical for their age, with communication and language being the weakest. The primary schools and childcare provision are subject to separate inspection arrangements. Their inspection reports can be found at www.ofsted.gov.uk . The centre has been awarded the ‘Investors in Children’ award.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Work closely with key partners to reduce the numbers of mothers smoking in pregnancy to further improve health outcomes.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Increase the registration and participation of fathers, particularly in the Shildon area, where only a few use the centre services, in order to increase the engagement of fathers and male carers.

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Access to services by young children and families Good

 Registration and participation rates have significantly improved over the last year due to a range of successful approaches, such as the use of social media and texts. In addition, well-designed parent-friendly information helps to promote the centres and other services in the community well. Some parents help to distribute these leaflets and to encourage more parents, including expectant parents, to access the services the centres provide. As a result, a large majority of families now make use of the services provided by the centres and their partners.  Family workers and health and early years professionals work extremely well together to support and target vulnerable families effectively. They endeavour to increase further participation where they know engagement of a particular group is low, such as fathers. For example, they try to attract more males by providing fun activities, such as building dens. In addition, the on-site

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Access to services by young children and families Good

nursery at Shildon has made efforts to involve fathers and male carers through activities, such as ‘Fathers Into Nursery’. However, numbers attending remain generally low. The centre recognises the importance of involving fathers as well as mothers in their child’s learning and development.  Support particularly for women experiencing domestic abuse is very effective and attendance on programmes is good. Case files highlight the very positive impact of these good services. Women learn about the different types of abuse and the effect this has on them and their children. Although a course is now also available for men, it is too early to see the outcome of this.  The family workers have good knowledge of the differing and changing needs of the families living within their community. As a result, they deliver services from venues which they know more families can easily get to, such as at Jubilee Fields and Newton Aycliffe Youth Centre. They

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Access to services by young children and families Good

also provide transport for families, if required, to prevent any barriers to accessing useful services which a family may have difficulty getting to. Young parents are particularly well supported by the Family Nurse Partnership.  Good relationships have been developed with local childcare providers, the majority of which have been judged by Ofsted to offer good or better care and education. As a result, almost all children take up the free entitlement for three- and-four-year-olds and a very large majority take up the free entitlement for two-year-olds.

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The quality of practice and services Good

 A good range of universal and targeted services is provided. External agencies, such as the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, the Salvation Army, Rotary Club and women’s refuge are used to good effect. They provide effective care, guidance and support to supplement the centres’ good services and effectively tackle the issues which affect many families to help improve their life chances. As a result, parents report the centres’ services are, ‘the best thing in the community’.  Pre-birth assessments for families that have had previous children taken into care of the local authority are proving very positive in supporting more families to stay together. A vigorous drive is in place to encourage more mothers to breastfeed and tackle a strong bottle-feeding culture. For example, daily, support phone calls from senior family workers are beginning to have a positive impact on increasing the numbers of mothers who choose to breastfeed for sustained

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The quality of practice and services Good

periods of time.  Senior family workers are well trained to deliver ‘Baby Massage’ and effective parenting programmes which they regularly provide to improve parenting skills. Smoking cessation classes are delivered from the centre as the centres recognise smoking is an issue. However, data suggests that smoking during pregnancy remains very high.  The ‘Healthy Pathways’ partnership plan is gradually having an impact on the fluctuating obesity levels. For example, cookery courses support parents to cook healthy meals on a budget. Health trainers regularly offer mini-health check sessions for adults and regular activity sessions encourage children to be more physically active.  An impressive range of resources is shared with partners supporting vulnerable two-year-olds. Joint planning and co-operation particularly with the on-site nurseries have resulted in most children making good progress from some very low starting points. Close work with the library

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The quality of practice and services Good

and parents helps parents to understand what they can do to help children learn and develop at home. For example, singing rhymes and telling stories is helping children to develop stronger communication skills. This has helped to reduce inequalities and enable children to be more ready for school.  A good range of adult learning courses is available which meet parental requests very well. They successfully provide adults with good skills for life, for example, by providing sewing classes so they can make their own clothes and providing accredited training, such as training to be a teaching assistant. Parents report that the first aid training helps them to be more confident to deal with accident and emergency situations. As some parents grow in confidence, they make significant changes in their own lives. For example, some progress on to further education or into business securing employment; whilst others become involved in volunteering and

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Good

 Performance management of staff has undergone major changes at a senior management level but this has had minimal impact on users and services. The local authority has a clear vision and plans for the future and self-evaluation is accurate. Performance management monitoring and supervision of staff are well-established. Staff have access to a good range of training to continually develop their skills and individual strengths are well recognised and put to good use.  Childcare providers, including childminders are all very positive about the support the centres provides for them to enhance their practice. Good partnership working, particularly with health and early years colleagues, contributes to the efficient and effective sharing of good quality resources, expertise and the drive to promote healthier outcomes for all.  At Newton Aycliffe the chairperson on the advisory board is a parent; suitable training and

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Good

support has been provided to help her fulfil this role. Both advisory boards understand their role to support and challenge the centres to continually drive improvement.  The active parents’ forum feeds its ideas into the advisory board meetings and parents have run popular activities in the school holidays. Independent consultation with parents concluded that the centres’ work with adults is impressive; parents were described as acting as good role models and ‘like ambassadors’, for the centre group.  Questionnaires, some of which have been produced by parents, are used effectively to seek a greater number of adults’ views to further shape services to meet families’ needs more successfully. The extremely impressive, ‘my own personal journey’ display demonstrates the high aspirations staff have for users. Some parents gained sufficient confidence to enable them to present their individual stories to the advisory board.

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Good

 Attention to keeping children safe is high priority. Staff have easy access to a good range of electronic policies and procedures which are regularly up-dated. Children subject to a child protection plan and those identified as in need receive swift support. The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is used effectively to support vulnerable families and reduce the risk of harm to children.  Barriers to engagement are reduced to promote equality of opportunity for families in the area. Information is provided in English and Polish to meet the needs of families using the services effectively. Free crèche facilities enable adults to attend a range of courses and the centres work closely with those offering portage, so that disabled children are well supported.

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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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Children’s Centre Group details

Unique reference number 80243 Local authority Durham Inspection number 430114 Managed by The local authority

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five in the reach area

Centre leader Sue Burbage Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 03000 261817 Email address sue.burbage@durham.gov.uk

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

 URN 22134 Newton Aycliffe Children’s Centre  URN 22700 Shildon 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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