Little Hands and Little Feet Children’s Centres

Little Hands and Little Feet Children’s Centres

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Lagley Hall, Douglas Gardens, Berkhamsted, HP4 3PE

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Inspection dates Previous inspection date 8–9 October 2014 Not previously inspected

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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 is a good centre.  Registrations have risen rapidly over the last year especially at Little Feet. Most families know where the centres are, and about the groups that they run and the services that they provide. The large majority of identified families attend groups or access services regularly.  Very positive relationships ensure families feel safe. All those who spoke to inspectors confirm that they are confident to seek advice and help if they need it. Children with a care plan receive the support that they need to enable their parents to ensure their safety and wellbeing.  The centres work closely with health professionals to ensure key health targets are met.  Parents play a full and active part in planning and shaping services and groups.  Good systems are in place for checking staff performance and planning relevant training. Staff from both centres work closely together to plan and deliver good quality groups and

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Summary of key findings for children and families

services.  The centres’ leadership work closely with the local authority, trustees of the lead agency, the advisory board, partners and staff to ensure a consistent drive for improvement. Everyone has an accurate understanding of what the centres do well and what they need to improve.  Governance is good. Members of the advisory board have the information that they need to ask probing questions about the centres’ performance.  The local authority provides good support and challenge.

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It is not outstanding because:

 Children under three and who live in workless and low income families use centre services less often than others living in the area.  The gap between the attainment of boys and girls and the attainment of children eligible for free school meals with others at the end of the Reception year is not closing fast enough.  Partners do not always share enough information about adults’ progression into further learning and/or employment to enable the centre to check the difference its adult learning programmes make to those who attend.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that most of the families with children under three and living in workless and low income families use centre services regularly.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Use the information from existing tracking systems to identify and provide the additional support required to help:  children eligible for free school meals to more rapidly close the attainment gap with others  boys to reduce the attainment gap with girls.

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What does the group need to do to improve further?

 Work more closely with partners to improve the monitoring of outcomes for adult learners by:  developing systems for capturing how adults who participate in parenting and other education courses go on to attend to further learning opportunities and/or find work.

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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.

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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 staff, parents, members of the advisory board, trustees of the WorldShapers charity, representatives of the local authority, and health, social care, adult education, careers, pre-school and school partners. They spoke to Job Centre plus on the telephone.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors visited activities run at Potten End preschool and a local health clinic. They observed the Baby Massage, Terrific Twos and Pop in and Play sessions held at the centre.

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Information about this inspection

The inspection covered the following centres: Little Hands Children’s Centre and Little Feet Children’s Centre.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Inspection team

Georgina Beasley, Lead inspector Additional inspector Peter Towner Additional inspector Anthony Mundy Additional inspector

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Information about the group

Little Hands and Little Feet Children’s’ Centres that make up the Berkhamsted group opened in 2010. The centres work from the same building and so have developed together a range of services and groups that include family support, adult learning and health services.

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Information about the group

The centres are managed by WorldShapers family services charity. It took over the management of Little Feet Children’s Centre in April 2014. Governance is provided by a joint advisory board made up of representatives from parents, community, health and education professionals, childminders and staff. The local authority is in the process of retendering for the management of the centres from March 2015.

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Information about the group

There are currently approximately 1831 children under the age of five years living in the two centres’ reach areas. Children’s skills, knowledge and abilities on entry to the Early Years Foundation Stage are typical for children of the same age. The large majority of families are White British with small numbers from a number of different minority ethnic groups. Housing in the area is a mix of owner-occupied, privately rented and social housing. Approximately six percent of children live in workless households and around six percent are living in poverty. Both figures are below the national and local averages.

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Information about the group

The centre has identified its target groups as: workless families and those on low income, two year olds eligible for a free preschool place, homeless families and the most vulnerable families including a small number of teenage parents and children subject to a care plan.

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Access to services by young children and families Good

 The centres promote effectively the services and groups offered to families and children who live in the area. Strong partnerships with midwives and health visitors ensure parents expecting babies are known and encouraged to register and attend clinics and groups. As a result, the number of families registering with both centres and particularly at Little Feet has risen rapidly over the last year. Most families are now registered with the centre including those who previously have been reluctant to do so.

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Access to services by young children and families Good

 A large majority of families take advantage of the groups, events and services offered. Additional groups are run in a number of venues to meet the needs of families who live further away from the centres. Attendance is increasing across the area as a result.

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Access to services by young children and families Good

 Strong partnership with social care partners, health visitors and local surgeries ensure that families with children who have specific needs are picked up early. Assessments under the Common Assessment Framework are carried out in a timely manner to ensure effective early help is put into place quickly. All families with children subject to a care plan are known to the centre and most regularly access services and groups.  The centre responds quickly to give families experiencing difficulties the targeted support that they need. Outreach workers meet the needs of families well and continue to support them until needs are fully met. Parents who have received support value the difference it has made to their own and to their children’s lives.

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Access to services by young children and families Good

 A very large majority of families with three-year-old children and large majority of eligible two-year-olds have taken up a pre-school place this year. The centres’ strong partnership with preschool and school settings ensures ongoing good support for children’s learning and development.

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Access to services by young children and families Good

 While the majority of children aged under three regularly accessing services and attending groups is rising, this is not yet high enough for children who live in workless and/or low income families. The centres are aware of this and have plans in place to target specific families to attend activities held at venues across the area.

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The quality of practice and services Good

 Families who regularly use the centres benefit from good quality services and groups. The warm welcome and positive relationships with staff and partners ensure that families are confident to seek advice, guidance and support. They testify to the positive difference the centres have made to their own and their children’s lives.

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The quality of practice and services Good

 Parents play a full and active part in planning and shaping services and groups. The centre gets valuable ongoing feedback from the parent forum group and individuals during and after groups. The centres’ management always respond to ideas about when to hold groups and what to include for parents who want to support their own and their children’s learning and development.

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The quality of practice and services Good

 The centre and health team work closely together to ensure key health targets are met. The proportion of new parents still breast feeding at six to eight weeks has been above the local average for the last three years. The proportion of children identified as obese or overweight in the Reception year has reduced significantly and is now below average. Parents and children enjoy cooking together at the Food and Groove sessions and learning the importance of healthy diets. Good support is given to families when their babies are ready for solid food.

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The quality of practice and services Good

 The centre works closely with preschool and school partners to track progress and plan activities that enable more children than nationally reach the levels expected for their age in all areas of learning and development. Fewer children who live in the most deprived households reach the levels expected for their age than other children who live in the area. Similarly, while both boys and girls do better than boys and girls across the country, boys who live in the area do significantly less well than the girls.

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The quality of practice and services Good

 The centres had identified from attendance information that fewer workless and low income families with children under three were attending groups. Activities are now run in the areas where most of these families live, resulting in higher attendance this year. Nevertheless in some areas, only a minority of children aged under three who live in workless or low income families attend.

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The quality of practice and services Good

 Several courses run by the lead agency enable parents to improve their parenting and other skills including a popular emotional first aid course. The centres do not yet receive enough detailed information from its partners or from the individuals themselves about the number who go on to attend other courses or go on to paid work. As a result, staff cannot measure the full impact of its work.

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Good

 The centres’ leaders and staff, local authority, advisory board, trustees of the lead agency know the centres’ strengths and areas for improvement well. The analysis of the centres’ performance is accurate. All parties are clear about what is going well and work closely together to set challenging targets to improve those things that are not.

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Good

 The local authority challenges the centres’ leadership well and plays an important part in checking that improvements are being sustained. The centres’ manager meets regularly with staff, the lead agency, partners and local authority to review the targets and to make any changes needed to improve services and groups.

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Good

 Since taking over the management of both centres, the lead agency has introduced detailed and effective staff performance management, training and support systems. Staff meet regularly with the centres’ manager to check that the quality of services and groups are making the planned difference to families’ and children’s lives. As a result, all staff feel valued and are confident in their ability to fulfil their roles and responsibilities.

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Good

 The information from an analysis of the centres’ performance is used well to deploy the small number of staff effectively and efficiently. Decisions about how to spend funds respond to the attendance and the needs of families living in the area.

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Good

 Parents make a positive contribution to the running of the centre. Feedback from surveys, consultations and from parent forum meetings is used to plan additional activities that respond well to children’s interests as well as to parents’ requests.

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Good

 The centre manager checks case files weekly to ensure that they are kept to a high standard. All cases are discussed fully and detailed actions planned to ensure continued good support. Each case is given a colour rating so that outreach workers can see at a glance which are the most urgent cases and warrant further support. Children subject to a care plan are supported effectively by the centres’ staff and its partners.

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Good

 There are robust systems for ensuring staff know and follow consistently procedures for safeguarding children and adults. All premises, toys and resources are checked before being used. All parents follow the procedures for signing in and out of the building and understand the policy for taking photographs and using mobile phones. All staff have undergone stringent identity and suitability checks.

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Good

 The advisory board meets regularly and always has enough members attending to make decisions about the centres’ work. A number of health, preschool, school and community partners share information about the difference that both centres are making to the lives of families and children.

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Good

 Board members ask the centres’ manager challenging questions about the performance of both centres and in particular the difference their attendance is making to families’ lives.

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Good

 Adult education and job centre plus partners are not yet giving the centres detailed enough information about the success of the centres’ adult education programs in helping adults go onto further education or into work. As a result, staff are not absolutely clear about the full impact of the centre’s work.

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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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Group details

Unique reference number 80800 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 447594 Managed by WorldShapers Family Services Charity on behalf of the local authority

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under five in the reach area

Group manager Lillian Andreasen Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01442 385152 Email address lillian@worldshapers.org.uk

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

 80800 Little Hands Children’s Centre  80800 Little Feet Children’s Centre

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

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 . 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

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This group consists of the following children’s centres:

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, 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. This template is available at www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/130186. 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 No. 130186

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