Nottinghamshire - East Leake/Keyworth

Nottinghamshire - East Leake/Keyworth c/o East Leake Children’s Centre, School Green, East Leake, LE12 6LG

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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 Good 2

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Summary of key findings for children and families

This children's centre group is good.  Strong partnerships and timely information sharing enable the centre group to have good knowledge about the needs of the community. The number of children and families who access group services are increasing rapidly. The large majority of children and families enjoy regular contact and benefit from typically good quality experiences.  Children who access the group’s services achieve well over time, and a higher proportion than seen nationally reach a good level of development at the end of Reception.  The strong focus on promoting healthy lifestyles encourages high numbers of mothers to breastfeed their babies and is helping to reduce childhood obesity rates.  Family support work is a strength. Case file record keeping is exemplary, and shows that the centre’s timely and well-integrated interventions have good impact on the most vulnerable children and families. Case audit work is helping to promote consistent best practice.

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Summary of key findings for children and families

 Constructive and challenging governance and close monitoring of performance at the district and local authority level help the group to focus on priority improvements. As a result there is secure capacity to build for further success.

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It is not outstanding because:

 The large majority of low income families are not yet using group services often enough.  The tracking of the progress that parents make during centre group services or when they are signposted to partners’ services to help them build education and employability skills is incomplete.  Improvement planning lacks sharp focus on the main priorities for moving the centre group forward at a quicker pace.

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

 Press ahead with increasing the sustained contact of all priority target groups and particularly parents on low incomes, so that the large majority engage in appropriate services until their needs are met.  Ensure that there are robust systems for tracking the progress that parents make when they access centre group services or are signposted to partners’ services. Make sure that there is enough detail gathered about the take up of services by low income families in particular, and the impact of these services on improving their education, skills and economic well-being.  Strengthen improvement planning by ensuring that the main priorities have clear actions and appropriate timelines linked to precise measures of success that are regularly checked.

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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.

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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 centre group leaders, staff, local authority officers, partners, volunteers, parents and members of the local advisory groups.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors visited activities held at East Leake Children’s Centre and at other venues used by the group including ‘Grow, Cook and Eat’, ‘Caterpillar’ group, ‘Time to Talk’ meeting and a health drop-in. Case files were scrutinised as were case audits in partnership with centre staff. The coordinator and district manager attended all team meetings.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors took into account parents’ views as expressed directly to them during the inspection, as well as through their recorded evaluations about the centre’s work.

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Information about this inspection

The inspection covered the following children’s centres: East Leake and Keyworth.

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Information about this inspection

They observed the group’s work, and looked at a range of relevant documentation.

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Inspection team

Christine Field, Lead Inspector Additional inspector Michael Miller Additional inspector Mary Dudley Additional inspector

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Information about the centre group

The group comprising East Leake and Keyworth children’s centres was formed in June 2013. It delivers a range of services including early years experiences, family support, child and family health, careers, adult learning and volunteering. Services are delivered from a range of venues, including Keyworth Primary School which provides the hub for Keyworth Children’s Centre, health centres, village halls and libraries. East Leake Children’s Centre is co-located with Brookside Primary School. The two primary schools are subject to separate inspection arrangements. The reports can be found at http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk

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Information about the centre group

Family Action, a part of Nottinghamshire Children’s & Families’ Partnership, manage the group on behalf of the county council. Two local advisory groups are established to oversee governance. The group forms part of the Rushcliffe district, which has seven children’s centres that work in collaborative partnership under the district manager and also share some staff. The coordinator, who works four days a week, leads the centre group’s team of nine part and full-time staff.

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Information about the centre group

There are 1,250 children under the age of five years living in the area. The two centres serve a mainly affluent area which has pockets of deprivation and some rural areas isolated by limited public transport links. Both children’s centres are located in villages comprising mainly privately owned homes but with some social housing. The proportion of children assessed as living in poverty is low across the group, but rises to 20.8% in the neighbourhood next to Keyworth Primary School. Most families are White British. When they start school, children have skills and abilities that are typical for their age.

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Information about the centre group

Priority target groups defined by the centre group are families experiencing emotional health issues; families living in low-income households; isolated children and families.

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Inspection judgements

Access to services by young children and families Good

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Inspection judgements

 The large majority of children and families are registered with the group and access services regularly. There has been a strong push to increase the number of children seen, which is a challenge given the dispersed nature of the area served by the group. It is through the hard work of staff that three quarters of families from the least advantaged community have continuing contact.

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Inspection judgements

 Work is on-going to ensure that a higher proportion of low income families sustain engagement in appropriate centre group services. Data are increasingly being refined and analysed to help the staff follow up anyone who has not been in contact for some time. The recent appointment of a data administrator has given renewed impetus to the group’s work to enhance its reach.

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Inspection judgements

 All families experiencing emotional health issues or living in rural isolation use the group’s services until their needs are met. Well-forged partnerships with health practitioners and timely sharing of information about any pressing needs give strong support to this work. Midwifery now run a clinic from the East Leake Children’s Centre, and centre group staff drop into clinics in other villages. This enables early contact with parents to be and helps to promote what the centre group provides.

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Inspection judgements

 Take up of free early education by eligible two to four year-olds is 100%. The group’s effective work with early year’s partners, which includes visits and regular meetings, enable staff to keep a close check on how well the most vulnerable children are getting on. Information shows that children who have received intensive support from the centre group in their early years have settled well and are making good progress in their learning and development now they are in nursery and Reception.

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Inspection judgements

The quality of practice and services Good

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Inspection judgements

 An appropriate range of good quality services provides a good balance between those open to everyone and those that are in place to meet specific needs. Activities are being planned effectively to reduce inequalities and improve the lives of children and families from priority target groups. Work is ongoing to map all community activities and to fill any gaps by taking more services out into the community, especially to isolated villages and to Keyworth, where there is no centre-specific building.

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Inspection judgements

 The timely sharing of information between the different agencies working in the area served by the group enables accurate assessment, and in turn a quick response providing well-integrated packages of support for children and families who most need help. Case file recording is detailed and comprehensive.

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Inspection judgements

 The recording of health and group staff findings on one combined system means that professionals working in support of families can integrate their approach to meeting needs. All the parents who talked to inspectors were extremely positive about the care, guidance and support they receive from the centre. Grandparents who look after their grandchildren told inspectors about the excellent help they had received from staff to get them through a very tough time.

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Inspection judgements

 Through good quality early years experiences provided at sessions such as ‘Caterpillars’, staff are helping children, particularly those from less advantaged backgrounds, to make good progress over time. Children who access children’s centre services regularly are well prepared when they start school and typically achieve a good level of development when they are five years old.

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Inspection judgements

 The group helps to build confident parenting skills through specific activities such as behaviour solution workshops. Longer term tracking shows that most parents continue to use the strategies they have previously learned to promote strong family bonds.

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Inspection judgements

 The volunteering programme is well structured; currently, six volunteers are gaining valuable work- place skills. The centre group provides some courses for adults to improve their skills, such as paediatric first aid and baby massage. However, only a small number from priority target groups such as low income families attend activities or are signposted to partner services that lead to their improved economic well-being. There is some tracking of outcomes of those who do, but this is not done consistently enough to show the group’s long term impact on improving the outcomes for those who attend.

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Inspection judgements

 Good support for breastfeeding mothers encourages high numbers to give their child a healthy start in life. Centre-led activities such as ‘Fun with Food’ and ‘Grow, Cook and Eat’ raise awareness about the importance of a healthy, well-balanced diet. These, together with the strong partnership with health professionals, are helping to bring childhood obesity rates to well below those seen nationally.

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management

 The group is managed effectively and efficiently by the centre co-ordinator, who is supported by a well-qualified and highly committed staff team. Staff work effectively to meet the centre’s performance targets, such as enhancing its reach, and say they feel valued and well supported in their roles.

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management

 Reviews of the group’s performance by district mangers and local authority officers through quarterly meetings and activities such as the ‘annual conversation’ are thorough and accurate. They identify the strengths of the group and the steps staff need to take to improve the range and quality of services, access to them, and their impact on meeting priority group needs.

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management

 Governance responsibilities are undertaken very effectively by the two local advisory groups, which are chaired independently by local headteachers, and well attended by partners and parents who inject critical challenge into decision-making.

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management

 Development planning is focussed on the right priority areas, but the lack of precision in defining the expected outcomes of the actions being taken to bring success inhibit effective monitoring and this reduces the plan’s effectiveness as a driver of rapid positive change.

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management

 Family support workers provide very effective support to vulnerable families, including those with children who are subject to child protection plans and others who are known to children’s social care. Lessons from the most recent serious case review have clearly been taken on board. For example, there is now a single point of referral and very comprehensive home visiting guidance. Timely joint working with multi-agency partners ensures that families who are referred, but do not meet the threshold for social care support, receive very good early help from the group. Case files and discussions with parents clearly demonstrate the very positive impact of this work, particularly for those families with complex problems.

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management

 Effective safeguarding practice helps families to feel safe when they access centre group services. Centre staff and volunteers are safely recruited and well trained. They understand about the wider issues of safeguarding, including the need for safe Internet use, which they share with parents. All staff attended a one day ‘What’s New in Safeguarding’ workshop last month. The safeguarding policy is currently being revised to take account of the very latest guidance.

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management

 Resources are soundly managed. The collaboration with other children’s centres in the locality aids efficiencies. Parents’ ideas are taken on board as appropriate to help adapt services.

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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 80663 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 455170 Managed by Nottinghamshire Children’s & Families Partnership on behalf of the local authority

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five in the reach area

Centre leader Christine Spreckley Date of previous inspection Not Previously Inspected Telephone number 01509 857030 Email address christine.spreckley@nottshc.nhs.uk

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

 21028 East Leake Children’s Centre  21663 Keyworth 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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