Wakefield – Phase 3 Children’s centre group

Wakefield – Phase 3 Children’s centre group

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Forest Wood Children’s Centre, Painthorpe Lane, Crigglestone, West Yorkshire, WF4 3HW

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Previous inspection date

17–19 June 2014 Not previously inspected

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This inspection: Inadequate 4

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected Access to services by young children and families Inadequate 4 The quality of practice and services Inadequate 4 The effectiveness of leadership, governance and management Inadequate 4

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Summary of key findings for children and families

This children's centre group is inadequate.  Too few families access services because leaders do not receive robust data about the people in the community, preventing an assessment of their needs and access to services they may require. Families experience too many barriers that prevent their ongoing engagement with the group.  Leadership, governance and management are inadequate because systems to monitor and improve the impact of services for families are not good enough.  Too few parents play a meaningful role in developing services and the key role of centre partners on the advisory board is not used effectively to secure a faster pace of improvement.  The impact of centre services is not routinely tracked. Action plans lack key performance measures or targets, and data to inform health trends are too limited and therefore not used to inform provision.  The take-up of three- and four-year-old nursery entitlement is not tracked and systems to monitor

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Summary of key findings for children and families

and assess children’s progress and readiness for school are not well established.  The range of adult learning and volunteering opportunities is too limited. In addition, effective links with adult learning partners, which the group sometimes signposts to, have not been secured.  Parenting programmes are not currently available. As a result, some parents model poor behaviour and a lack of understanding of the role they play in preparing their children for school.  Safeguarding policies and procedures are poor because they are not implemented well enough to ensure that children are well protected. Referrals to services are not supported by a multi-agency approach in order to provide a more robust assessment of need. Furthermore, the supervision of case files is not consistent.

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This children’s centre group has the following strengths:

 The ‘Bumps to Babies’ programme is well attended and enables expectant parents to access a good range of information and support, preparing them well for parenthood.  Strong links with the mother and baby unit within Her Majesty’s Prison New Hall ensure that young parents are equally prepared for parenthood. In addition, their babies are introduced to play and everyday experiences that are important to their social development.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Work with the local authority and advisory board to improve access to services by: – improving assessment of need within the community and routes into services by precisely identifying family groups whose lifestyle or circumstances make them more vulnerable – communicating more effectively with partners to gather, analyse and share information and data to help meet families’ particular needs and track the full extent of the centres’ work – utilising resources more effectively by providing sufficient universal and targeted services that sustain engagement of at least the large majority of families – ensuring that accurate local authority information is available about children who are entitled to free nursery education, the take-up of these places, and the progress that these children are making.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality and impact of practice and services by: – conducting a needs analysis to identify the level of skills and worklessness within the area and developing opportunities for adult training and volunteering to improve pathways to work experience, qualifications and/or employment – improving partnership working with Job Centre Plus and adult learning providers to broaden the range of support and provision for those who require them – providing parenting programmes on a routine basis to support parents to understand the implications of their own behaviour on their children’s learning and development, and tracking their progress to measure the positive impact on family life – ensuring that progress for adult learners and for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage is systematically tracked and used to inform their learning journey and progression.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Significantly improve the leadership, governance and management by: – securing the active and meaningful participation of key partner agencies, particularly local health professionals, on the advisory board, and involving more parents in the shaping and development of services – providing the advisory board with systems and procedures to monitor and manage the performance of the children’s centre group and to hold the group effectively to account; for example, through the introduction of key performance indicators and robust performance management procedures – securing strategic agreements with health professionals, with regard to sharing local health and population data – filling staff vacancies to enable the development of future services and the better utilisation of existing resources – securing the availability of family support for families most in need of support and intervention – improving the centres’ action plans so that all key priorities are clear, grounded in measurable

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

success criteria and contain well-informed targets to secure a rapid pace of improvement.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Improve the implementation of safeguarding policies and procedures by: – ensuring that changes within local authority safeguarding policies and procedures are disseminated in a timely manner and clearly understood by leaders and staff – ensuring that risk assessments are accurate and procedures are in place to prevent potential injuries to children – ensuring that all adults adhere to the centres’ ‘no mobile phone’ policy – establishing robust quality assurance systems to ensure that all case recordings are accurate, consistently recorded and appropriately supervised.

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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 Forest Wood Children’s Centre, Apple Tree Children’s Centre and Small Steps 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.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors held meetings with parents, staff, leaders, representatives of the advisory board, the children’s centre team leader for the local authority and children’s centre partner agencies, including health professionals.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors visited activities and services operating at the three children’s centre sites. They observed the centres’ work, completed one joint observation with the centre coordinator, reviewed family case files and looked at a range of relevant documentation.

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Inspection team

Gillian Bishop, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Janet Stacey Additional Inspector Anita Pyrkotsch-Jones Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about the group

Wakefield Phase 3 Children’s centre group is a cluster of three centres serving a large geographical area within Wakefield. The group consists of Forest Wood Children’s Centre, situated in Painthorpe and which is co-located with Mackie Hill Infant and Junior School; Apple Tree Children’s Centre, situated in Horbury and which operates from a demountable building within the grounds of Horbury St Peter’s and Clifton Primary School; and Small Steps Children’s Centre in Wrenthorpe, which is co-located with Wrenthorpe Church of England Primary School. Inspection reports for these schools can be found at www.ofsted.gov.uk. A total of 2,450 children aged from birth to five years live in the reach area. The centre group has identified families living in the most deprived areas, teen parents, disabled children and families from minority ethnic groups as some of the key family groups that receive its support.

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Information about the group

Only a small minority of the areas within the group’s reach have high levels of social and economic deprivation. These areas are located in the Forest Wood reach and are among the 30% most deprived areas in the country. In the main, the other two reach areas are more affluent and fall into the 70% most deprived areas in the country. A minority of children aged nought to five years are thought to live in workless households. The housing across the reach area is mainly private ownership although there are two large social housing estates within the Forest Wood community. Most families are White British, with a relatively small number from minority ethnic groups residing within each of the three reach areas. Achievements and expected levels of skills of young children in the Early Years Foundation Stage on entry to Nursery or Reception class are variable. In particular, some children start school with skills

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Information about the group

that are below those typically found for their age in their communication and language and personal and social development.

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Information about the group

The governance and management of the centre group transferred from Action for Children to the local authority in April 2014. A small staff team, including a children’s centre manager, is responsible for the day-to-day running of all three centres. The centre group is supported by a joint advisory board and works with a variety of partner agencies including three local health teams.

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Inspection judgements

Access to services by young children and families Inadequate

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Inspection judgements

 The large majority of children aged under five living in the reach area are registered with the group. However, too few families access services or sustain their engagement with the children’s centre group. This is particularly the case in the Forest Wood Children’s Centre community which has the highest level of need.  Centre leaders have not identified their target families and groups precisely enough because local authority data do not give them the information they need about their community.  Leaders do not know how many families, such as those from minority ethnic groups, teen parents and those with disabled children, live in the area or are using services. This means that they cannot plan effectively for their needs.  There are too many factors which prevent families the centre has identified as in most need of their support continuing to engage. These include the lack of targeted family support, not enough activities

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Inspection judgements

which all families can use on a regular basis, and insufficient targeted services, such as adult learning and volunteering, designed to tackle disadvantage.  Poor information-sharing protocols with key partners such as children’s social care create barriers to access for some vulnerable children, such as looked after children, children in need and children on child protection plans. This reduces opportunities for staff to enhance their protection and support.  While a large majority of two-year-olds are accessing early education, the group fails to track their attendance and the difference that it makes to their progress.  Although the centre receives local authoprity data about the take-up of three- and four-year-old nursery funding leaders do not request or receive a breakdown of this data for their reach area. As a result, staff do not know the progress that these children are making or whether all eligible children

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Inspection judgements

are being sufficiently supported to start school and ready to learn.  The centre provides a generally good range of information and signposting to additional services that help families to achieve healthy lifestyles, safe homes and economic well-being. However, access to these services and the benefits of doing so are not tracked so staff cannot demonstrate how lives have improved as a result of their intervention.  The persistence of the centre manager has led to some increased operational support from the community midwives and some health visitors. This has helped to register families in the absence of new birth data and is beginning to increase the role that they play in the referral of children and families who are more vulnerable and require support.  Access to services by expectant parents is generally good. The ‘Bumps to Babies’ programme is well attended and enables expectant parents to access a good range of information, advice and maternal

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Inspection judgements

The quality of practice and services Inadequate

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Inspection judgements

 Significant staffing issues have led to an overstretched workforce, a sparse activity timetable for families, including family support, and no capacity to develop new provision.  While data show that by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, a large majority of children have the skills that they need to start school life, schools report that not all children are well prepared for this transition. Due to the lack of tracking and data, leaders have yet to identify these children and provide packages of support to ensure that they do not fall behind their peers.  The local authority early years teacher provides suitable support, advice and training, which is helping to improve the quality of linked early years provision in the local area. On-site, ‘Stay and Play’ activities and the new parents group provide generally good play opportunities for families and are beginning to promote the importance of learning within the home.

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Inspection judgements

 The mother and baby group held at Her Majesty’s Prison New Hall provides positive play and learning experiences for young babies and mothers. These increase the mothers’ confidence as parents and helps to prepare babies with limited experiences of life for their introduction to the outside world.  Newly formed partnerships with Wakefield Early Support, Advice and Information Liaison and the Targeted Youth Support Service help to coordinate the delivery of tailored services designed to meet the needs of the whole family, including those with disabilities and special educational needs. One parent receiving such support stated, ‘We all receive such personal care.’  In 2012, the proportion of mothers in the reach area sustaining breastfeeding was not significantly different to the national picture. Currently, some families participate in ‘Cook and Eat’ sessions in an effort to reduce obesity in young children. However, leaders are not in receipt of timely and localised

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Inspection judgements

health data at any level; this prevents effective planning and evaluation of services and the ability to set health-related targets.  Staff shortages and the lack of specialist skills have meant that the centres are unable to deliver parenting programmes. Schools report concern over the behaviour modelled by some parents. Staff delivering one-to-one parenting support during home visits lack specific parenting training and are ill- equipped to support families, particularly those with complex needs.  Due to a lack of information about skills, worklessness and qualifications in the area, staff are unable to target adults and plan appropriate adult education programmes to support their needs. Poor communication between the centre and adult education providers has resulted in a lack of referrals to adult learning services.  Take-up of adult educational opportunities is extremely limited and there is no tracking of learners’

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Inspection judgements

starting points, training, progression during courses and progression to employment, or of their development of softer skills such as confidence and self-esteem. Parents who speak English as an additional language do not benefit from equal access to services, as they receive no support to enable them to develop their English skills.  Volunteering opportunities are limited. The centres are not currently engaging with volunteers because of reduced staffing levels and potential safeguarding issues due to a lack of focused supervision.  Although family case files are well ordered, they lack rigour and there are inconsistencies in recording. Support for children with open case files is poor because families do not currently receive the help they need.

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management

 A significant and ongoing local authority review of services continues to limit staffing, use of buildings and resources and the capacity of the children’s centre group to further improve. Services within Apple Tree and Small Steps children’s centres have almost ceased.  Performance management arrangements are inadequate at all levels. The work of the group has not been managed with rigour by the previous leadership team or by the local authority through its commissioning agreements and review processes. For example, leaders have not been held to account for the slow rate of progress made over time, including a three-year trend of very low engagement by families.  Despite weak performance, those responsible for leadership, governance and management have not set key performance indicators or measurable targets within action plans in order to monitor and measure performance more rigorously.  The transfer of management back to the local authority has not been managed effectively. For

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management

example, local authority policies and procedures have not been disseminated fast enough. This has prevented staff and leaders from being fully aware of changes to vetting protocols and mandatory safeguarding training requirements for managers.  Staff receive regular supervision and opportunities to discuss their work and professional development. However, these meetings lack rigour, challenge and alignment with group priorities. This prevents staff from being accountable for their contributions towards planning and delivering improvements.  Parents’ views are sought; however, these are based on satisfaction levels rather than how activities help to improve their lives. While a parents’ forum is in place, the centre group is unable to demonstrate how parents’ views are used to help shape provision.  Few parents play a meaningful role in shaping services. Those that do make an active and valuable contribution on the advisory board but receive too little guidance to make their role more effective.

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management

 The advisory board is still very much in its infancy and is not effective in securing strong multi-agency partnerships that support and challenge the fundamental work and success of the centre group.  The local authority has not provided sufficient robust and localised data about families in the reach area or secured information-sharing agreements with key partners. As a result, group leaders do not have a secure understanding of their community preventing services and cannot match activities accurately to families’ needs. For example, leaders do not know how many disabled children or families from various Black and minority ethnic groups there are in the area.  Safeguarding arrangements are poor. In some cases, parents ignore safeguarding policies and use mobile phones to take photographs and videos. In addition, risk assessment procedures do not accurately reflect how potential risks to children will be managed.

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management

 Systems are not in place to provide professional supervision for managers responsible for family case files. Furthermore, the current absence of family support workers has led to the removal of support for some vulnerable families, without careful management, during the transfer to other agencies.  The Common Assessment Framework is generally well used to assess need and provide tailored services. However, referral pathways into children’s centre services are not supported by formal multi-agency referral arrangements, leaving too much responsibility to one senior manager.  Staff and leaders remain committed and focused on their work, despite significant turbulence and instability. They work very flexibly to meet needs where they can, which is why parents describe them as ‘amazing and helpful people’.

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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 well-being 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 80628 Local authority Wakefield Inspection number 442739 Managed by The local authority

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five in the reach area

Centre leader Gillian Sykes Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01924 315719 Email address abriggs@wakefield.gov.uk

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

 22304 Forest Wood Children’s Centre  21552 Apple Tree Children’s Centre  23689 Small Steps 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:

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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