Tameside - Dukinfield

Yew Tree Primary School, Yew Tree Lane, Dukinfield, SK16 5BJ

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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:

 Systems to record data collected by the centre group are not fully fit for purpose because it is not possible to access readily key pieces of information in relation to the target groups. This prevents leaders from easily showing the clear impact of their service delivery.  A majority, but not a large majority, of families from target groups are registered and engaged in centre services.  Not enough two-year-olds in the reach area take up their free entitlement to early education places.  Rates of sustained breastfeeding are too low and too many mothers smoke while pregnant.  The group does not track and record the progress of individual children who regularly attend activities or the progression of adults through courses and training.  The local authority does not agree clear targets for all the key areas of the centre group’s work.  The work of governance is at an early stage of development due to reorganisation. There is only

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

limited evidence of systems establishing and which aim to drive improvement.

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This children’s centre group has the following strengths:

 Services provided by the group make a difference to the lives of a majority of children and families in the reach area.  Links with schools, early years providers, social care and health professionals are strong. Good working relationships are established between these partners and the group staff. These are helping to improve aspects of children’s education and health.  The diverse needs of teenage parents, disabled children and those with additional needs and those with speech and language difficulties are well met by caring and knowledgeable staff.  Staff work with great determination, high morale and goodwill to maintain services and overcome the impact of reducing resources.  The safeguarding of children and families is a high priority for staff and partner agencies. There is a very keen focus on reducing the impact of domestic violence on the lives of local families.  Both centres’ that form the group have premises that are welcoming and easily accessible.

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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 Dukinfield Children’s Centre and Lyndhurst 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 manager of the group. They held discussions with other staff in the centres, representatives from the local authority and members of the advisory board. Meetings were held with members of the Early Help Team, family intervention workers, Portage, health professionals, social care, Homestart, Jobcentre Plus, Barnados, headteachers, childminders, and volunteers. Inspectors reviewed the written evaluations of the group’s work and spoke to parents at different times during the inspection.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors visited both centres that form the group.

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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 and action plan, safeguarding policies, and a sample of case files.

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Inspection team

Jane Hughes, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Philip Ellwand Additional Inspector Sue Pepper Additional Inspector

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Information about the group

Tameside-Dukinfield Children’s Centre group operates across two centres – Dukinfield Children’s Centre and Lyndhurst Children’s Centre. These are located two miles apart. They share the same staff who rotate around these and another centre. They are led by a group manager. The group offers a range of services which include: health services, family support, ‘stay and play’ sessions, baby groups and support for children most in need. Commissioned services are offered by Barnados.

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Information about the group

The staff team comprises early years workers and family intervention workers. There is administrative support at Dukinfield. Tameside local authority is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day running of the group. Governance for the group is provided by a joint advisory board. Neither centre in the group provides childcare. The group has recently become part of the newly formed Tameside Early Help Team. The team works with targeted families and young people from birth to 19 years. There is a single point of referral, The Hub, which is responsible for taking referrals from other agencies such as health, schools, general practitioners and mental health.

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Information about the group

The group serves two communities, Dukinfield and Lyndhurst. Dukinfield was designated in 2008. The centre is co-located with Oakdale Special School and is on a site shared with Yew Tree Primary School. Dukinfield Children’s Centre is situated in an area of mixed socio-economic circumstances. One of its lower super output areas is one of the 10% areas of highest deprivation in the country. There are 841 children under five years living in the reach area. Residents in the reach area are predominantly of White British heritage. Here, 13.2% of families live in workless households.

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Information about the group

Lyndhurst was also designated in 2008. It is co-located within Lyndhurst Primary School. Lyndhurst Children’s Centre serves an area which includes one lower super output area in one of the 5% most deprived and a second in one of the 10% most deprived in the country. There are 709 children under five years in the reach. Most residents are of White British heritage. Within the Lyndhurst reach, 19.8% of households are workless.

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Information about the group

The group targets children with additional needs or problems with speech and language, those from low income backgrounds, children living with domestic abuse, children in need or subject to a child protection plan, children subject to the common assessment framework process, teenage parents and troubled families with children under five years.

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Information about the group

The majority of childcare provision is through local childminders and early years providers. Children from the reach generally enter early years provision with skills, knowledge and abilities that are below those typical for their age, particularly their communication and language skills. The primary schools and early years settings in the locality were not part of this inspection as they are inspected separately. These reports are available on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Improve access to services across the centre group by: - increasing the number of children and families who are registered and use services regularly, particularly assisting the take-up of the free entitlement to early education for two-year-olds.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Improve further the impact of practice and services by: - increasing the numbers of mothers who sustain breastfeeding beyond six-to-eight weeks - decreasing the proportion of mothers who smoke during pregnancy and at delivery - developing systems to record and track the progress of individual children and adults who regularly attend activities, courses or training.  Improve the impact of leadership, governance and management by: - ensuring the local authority identifies clear and ambitious targets for the group to work towards - developing the levels of challenge offered to the leadership by members of the relatively new advisory board.

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Inspection judgements

Access to services by young children and families Requires improvement

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Inspection judgements

 The centre group has identified its key target groups but is not yet managing to register most children and families or to engage the large majority. This means that some children and families most in need of help, and those expecting children are not making the most of the services offered by the group.  The group works in very close partnership with health professionals and receive the majority of referrals from this source. Recent staffing changes and vacancies within the health visitor team mean that, until quite recently, the number of registrations completed by the health visitor dipped. The now substantive health visitor is working hard to help to reverse this.  Uptake by families eligible for the free entitlement to early education for two-year-olds is not high enough. It is, however, increasing slowly and is now at 58.8%. Numbers of children taking up places for three-and- four-year-olds are high across the reach. The group signposts families to the

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Inspection judgements

many good-quality early years providers in the area.  The centre group manager and staff are resourceful in trying to engage teenage parents in the reach. Hesitancy on the part of these parents to attend centre services results in these parents being engaged at sites where they feel more at ease and so continue to access services.  Families are referred to the group for many reasons. Those most in need are warmly welcomed, speedily assessed and the correct levels of care, guidance and support are made available to them. As a result, most families who register with the group continue to use its services regularly.  Disabled children and those with additional needs enjoy a wide range of services. The ‘Little Ducklings’, ‘Sunshine Group’ and Oakdale Special School all offer targeted support for children with additional needs. Parents lead the ‘Sunshine Group’ because they value its positive impact. They

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Inspection judgements

receive great empathy as other parents understand the difficulties they face; the group acts as an ‘extended family’. One volunteer stated ‘this centre saved my life’.

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Inspection judgements

The quality of practice and services Requires improvement

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Inspection judgements

 Even though there is good support from voluntary breastfeeding supporters via ‘Homestart’, only 32.8% of mothers sustain breastfeeding from six-to-eight weeks.  Smoking cessation is a high priority. However, within the group’s reach, too many mothers, 20.9%, are still smoking in pregnancy and at delivery.  The centre has a named health visitor and there are specific health targets to reduce health inequalities. The up-take of immunisation is high.  Good partnership working between the oral health team and the nutrition team ensures a good understanding of what is, and is not, working well. Adults and children learn about healthy lifestyles; popular ‘Leap for Life’ sessions are held at centres and obesity among children in Reception Year is not an issue.  Family intervention staff work alongside early years workers and the Early Help team to deliver the ‘Think Family’ model. Good communication ensures effective support for staff and parents.

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Inspection judgements

 The ‘integrated team for children with disabilities’ encourages joint working. This helps to counteract the effects of budget cuts. The team leader and group manager confirm, ‘We are not working on the deficits with children and parents here – there is a very positive approach to the parents.’ This is reducing inequalities and building confidence for the future.  Good-quality childcare in the reach ensures that children receive the support they need to prepare for school. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of Reception Year are generally in line with national averages.  Partnerships with schools are developing. Good partnership working with speech and language therapists and access to ‘Book Start’ and groups, such as ‘Baby Babble’, effectively help to address issues of speech and language which are prevalent. One parent remarked, ‘I was amazed at how my baby responded. I understand what we are doing here now. I’ve learned how to relax into my

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Inspection judgements

parenting.’  A strong conviction is evident to support teenage parents. The number of teenage parents has dramatically reduced from 45 last year to 15 currently due to an effective partnership approach via ‘Positive Steps’, Connexions and the teenage parents’ midwife.  There is effective support for target adults to access employment information and advice, including well-established multi-agency support. Staff enable adults to make good use of skills and experience to develop self-esteem and confidence and this is leading to further engagement in learning and employability for adults who attend.  The centres do not have systems in place to record and check how well individual children and adults do when they attend activities, courses or training on a regular basis.

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management

 Leadership, management and governance are re-establishing after previous budget cuts necessitated changes to the deployment of the small staff team who now rotate across these two centres and another local centre group; and a stand alone centre, it is too soon to measure the impact of these new arrangements.  The local authority provides sound governance and officers have an appropriate view of the group’s strengths and areas to improve. Although some targets are set, these are not always clear enough to help the leadership team keep a close check on the impact of services and the reduction of inequality.  The advisory board is still establishing and has yet to develop a clear understanding of centre data, performance, systems and impact of group practices and services on reducing inequalities. There is already some parent involvement on the advisory board and parents are able to influence the work

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management

of the group. Currently, the advisory board does not offer sufficient challenge to leaders and managers about the impact of their work.  The centre manager has a wide range of responsibilities that stretch beyond these centres. Nevertheless, she spends a proportionate amount of time working with the group and spurs staff on to work flexibly and, above all willingly, to provide centre users with as much support as they need. Staff, partners and users show great loyalty to the group as a result.  Safeguarding arrangements are robust and always high priority. Staff are carefully vetted and trained and there are well-established procedures in terms of the management of staff performance and professional supervision.  A coherent overview of support by the local authority has led to a system of ‘one worker, one plan’. The careful integration of services, overseen by the group manager, allows swift identification of any

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management

need for support from family intervention workers, early help or social care. This includes the many children supported with a child protection plan, those children in need or looked after children and the rapidly increasing numbers supported effectively through the common assessment framework process. There is an effective approach and a close overview by a lead worker.  Partnership work is a key strength of the group. Knowledge is shared across agencies to ensure the most vulnerable are kept as safe as possible and have the opportunity to develop their parenting skills, grow in confidence, access training and volunteering opportunities and, for some, return to work.  Premises are well maintained and are used flexibly to meet users’ needs. Resources are of good quality. Parents are highly appreciative of the experiences offered by the group and marvel that these are free of charge and often more beneficial than paid services they access elsewhere.

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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 80106 Local authority Tameside Inspection number 430124 Managed by The local authority

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five in the reach area

Group manager Maureen Wallis Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 0161 351 9032 Email address maureen.wallis@tameside.gov.uk

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

 20990A Dukinfield Children’s Centre  21884 Lyndhurst 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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