Managed by a Partnership Board
Profile
To provide a rationale for the proposed Children’s Centre
Services strategy for this area (or Local Area Partnership - LAP)
early years key data, together with the views of parents and
practitioners from the area is presented below.
The Norton Radstock LAP has a population of approximately
2,800 children aged under 5. These children represent roughly 30%
of the total under 5 population in Bath & North East
Somerset.
There are 88 childminders in the Norton Radstock LAP, 33% of the
total childminders within the authority. The number of
early year’s childcare places (including childminding
places) available for under fives is 656 – representing one place
for every 4 children. This is a lower ratio than the authority as a
whole. In addition there are proportionally more sessional
pre-schools in this area than in other LAPS, indicating more
part-time provision and less reliance on full-time nursery care for
those parents who may work. There is an conjecture that
extended family members often provide care to enable parents to
work and/or study. A recent survey (May 2006) to gauge demand
for full daycare for the new Trinity day nursery found that of the
77 parents interviewed 75% said they worked outside the home.
The majority used informal care but 60% said they would use a day
nursery. Indications from the survey suggest however that
many would only want part-time care and although they stated they
would pay between £12 and £15 per morning or afternoon session,
some families may find this hard if they have been used to using
family and friends as a cheaper childcare option. The
Family Information Service has a
lower than average call rate from parents from this area seeking
information and advice (9% of all calls from September ’05 –
February 06).
Ofsted Daycare & Nursery Education inspections in the
area indicate that current premises are a factor in some providers
being able to achieve higher than ‘satisfactory’ in their ratings
i.e. issues highlighted include health and safety; hygiene and
outside space. They also reveal some weaknesses in behaviour
management and staff qualification levels. Some settings also
need to link, plan, monitor and evaluate more closely against the
early learning goals. On starting school 90% of Radstock pupils
measured shortly after arriving in Reception are below the average
1-3 category in the Foundation Stage Profile against a
60-70% average for the local authority as a whole.
Data from local primary schools shows us that there are 2 local
schools out of 12 in the authority, who have more than 20% of
children receiving free school meals (Clandown – now closed
but the children will appear in Trinity - and Camerton).
Clandown also appears as one of 9 primary schools in the authority
with more than 25% of pupils on SEN Action, Action Plus or
Statemented.
Health
Obesity in children under 11 is above the authority average in
the Radstock area: Public Health PCT . There is a higher than
local average percentage of young women smokers (33% vs. 25% for
the authority as a whole) The smoking percentage rates across the
authority as a whole vary from 15.1% – 43.2%. In the Norton
Radstock area Peasedown St. John and Radstock are highest at 24.7%
and 23.4% respectively. High Littleton is lowest at
15.5%.
There are a high number of children with delayed language
development in schools in this area (Speech and Language PCT).
Breast feeding rates in the area are lower than the majority of
other areas in the authority. Mothers still breastfeeding at 6
weeks are recorded as 39% in Westfield surgery, against 77% in
Widcombe surgery (PCT). Local practitioners in the area
suggest a notable incidence of unreported domestic
violence.
What do parents say?
Consultation in the area undertaken by Barnardos (2006) and
through a multi agency ‘Pamper Day’ in Westfield (autumn 2005)
highlight many of the deficits above. Parents want more:
- outreach to isolated areas;
- services to be local;
- better transport links;
- better access for parents and children with disabilities;
- crèche facilities;
- more information;
- access to meaningful employment;
- counselling and parenting advice;
- support for new mothers.
- More groups in local areas
Multi Agency Working
It is recognised that partners who cover this area need more
spaces to deliver services to local families and more opportunities
to co-locate. Better use of spaces such as GP surgeries (i.e.
Westfield) together with making good use of spare space in local
schools (where this was suitable) could free up potential venues to
deliver a range of Children’s Centre Services across the
area. Whilst Barnardos in Midsomer Norton provides space for
some activities these would not suit parents living in other parts
of the area (albeit the Family Centre does run a bus). The
potential to use Paulton Hospital as a resource will be fully
investigated. An audit of other community facilities to aid
the development of groups and multi-agency working is also
recommended.
Building the capacity of the existing workforce and local
parents is seen as the most sustainable model to develop.
Training therefore is key to improving outcomes for young children
in this area. The speech and language therapy service has a
model trialed in Sure Start South West Bath that can be transferred
to the Norton Radstock area.
Primary Care Trust Proposals 2006-08 to meet Child Health
targets
From May 2006 a full-time health visitor will be in post
for six months to support the health targets for Peasedown St. John
and Radstock. The post will help assess how the PCT will be
able to work in this area to deliver the Children’s Centre outcomes
and target resources most effectively. A review will take
place after three months and a draft report will be submitted to
the Children’s Centre Partnership in July 2006. .
In order to tackle the difficulties of speech and
language delays and an increasing number of children with
multiple and complex needs now being included in mainstream
pre-school settings, a number of additional Speech and Language
Services will be available initially in the Radstock and Peasedown
St John area and rolled out across the Norton Radstock area.
Services include:
- Pre-school screening and
training
- Pre-school language groups together with parents
- Special Time Playsacks, promoting emotional health, parenting
support and promoting communication development
Services to promote public health will include tackling
obesity by promoting healthy eating through a pilot of the food
strand of the healthy schools programme within early years/nursery
settings by providing nurseries and pre-schools with a structure in
which healthy food standards can be tackled in early years
settings.
In addition a programme of breast feeding peer support will be
set up along the lines of the programme running in South West Bath
to deliver the following aims:
- To improve access to help and advice about child health and
development and access to family health advice
- To encourage and provide support that enables more women in an
area of high health need, to breast feed and sustain breastfeeding
longer.
- To reduce the barriers to breastfeeding and establish
supportive environments which encourage breastfeeding.
- To ensure a co-ordinated approach to breastfeeding in a given
locality
Objectives
- Support and further develop/expand the breastfeeding peer
support programme in each of the four local area partnerships
by:
- Setting up two new breastfeeding peer support projects in areas
of high health need
- Supporting and training new volunteers for current projects in
Midsomer Norton and Keynsham.
- Developing and printing general publicity materials covering
all the local breastfeeding peer support projects.
Mental health services will be supported through work
from Child Adolescent Mental Health services through a proposed
Mellow Parenting course. Owing the time this takes to set up,
recruit parents, find a suitable venue, arrange travel and crèche,
it is expected that the main costs will come in 2007-08.
Early Years Education and Childcare
In the Norton Radstock area there are currently:
11 Day Nurseries
3 Maintained nursery classes
12 Pre-schools
88 Childminders
The Early Years, Childcare & Play Team will be working on an
action plan of support for settings to improve the outcomes of
Ofsted Inspections in the area to ‘good’, through targeted
specialist officer support. Settings will be supported to
develop and build on effective practice in the area through
encouraging participation in quality assurance and self evaluation,
visits to settings to challenge and support and through a full
programme of continuous professional development opportunities.
In addition three local pre-schools have recently moved onto
school sites in the Radstock and Peasedown St. John areas and these
have had more concentrated support to develop new partnerships with
their host school. The role of the early years teacher in
these schools will be further supported through a specific
programme of professional development.
A new ‘core offer’ of support is being developed to existing and
new childminders in the area. Childminders are being encouraged to
become accredited and quality assured, offering greater choice and
access to the Early Years Foundation Stage. It is proposed
that childminders will form an essential part of the daycare offer
for parents in the area and will link closely with the Children’s
Centre Partnership in the Norton Radstock area.
It is proposed that a childminder, pre-school and nursery
representative will be elected onto the Children’s Centre
Partnership from the Local Area Forums that are being run for
childcare providers in the Norton Radstock area.
Creche to support activities run for any part of the Children’s
Centre Services will be contracted to organisations that have been
successful at delivering quality sessional crèche provision and a
budget of at least £2,000 per annum has been allocated to mobile
crèche. Creches will be encouraged and supported to register with
Ofsted, regardless of the number of hours they operate.
Family Support
Family Support, as defined by the Sure Start Guidance for
Children’s Centres “provides informal opportunities for parents to
‘drop in’ to the centre, meet and chat with other parents with
young children who their children can play with. A regular
drop-in centre, occasional social events and open days, all help
mothers and fathers feel welcome, and give staff opportunities to
get to know parents in an unthreatening environment…..
Children’s Centres will serve all families, but will give special
attention to those families that need extra help with their
children.”
Family Support will be tendered out to the most suitable
organisation able to deliver the outcomes for Children’s
Centres. The geographical nature of the area means it is felt
the local authority will need to ensure that the agency delivering
the family support will need access to transport and will need to
cover all parts of the Norton Radstock area, as well as the
outlying villages of Timsbury, High Littleton, Camerton, Temple
Cloud, Clutton and Farnborough.
The total reach target (by March 2008) of children in the area
is: 3,351 of which 1,371 are in theory able to access
services through existing work in Peasedown St. John and
Radstock.
There will not be a purpose built centre in this area as this
would not meet the needs of families spread over such a
distance. Therefore the agency delivering family support will
need to either have their own base or be prepared to negotiate with
the authority of the capital expenditure for seek
accommodation.
Information and Advice to Support Parents into Training and
Work
There are 822 lone parents in the Norton Radsock area (Census
2001), of which 17% live in the Peasedown and Radstock wards –
against a local authority population of 3593 i.e. 23% of lone
parents live in this quarter of the authority. Evidence from
Community Learning suggests an increase in the number of lone
parents in the area. Access to information, advice and
guidance to work and study will be delivered through
organised events in the area and through regular outreach sessions
in the area through the Family Information Service.
The Family Information Service will link whenever possible with
Job Centre Plus to offer jobs advice, in-work benefits, as well as
providing up-to-date information on colleges and training
programmes in the area.
The Family Information Service will also offer opportunities to
parents to take up childcare training and employment, linking
potential recruits to job vacancies in the early years and
childcare sector.
Capital Strategy
The area is characterised by pockets of social housing,
interspersed with mainly older style terraced housing and some new
build in Peasedown and Paulton. The area has a number of
small villages with few services, as well as small shopping centres
at Radstock and Paulton and a bigger centre in Midsomer
Norton. Transport is poor between villages and
expensive. The area is very hilly and therefore difficult for
young families to travel great distances by foot.
The largest employer in the area – Purnells in Paulton has just
closed further dividing those families in poverty and with
prosperity.
From consultation at the Children’s Centre Strategic Partnership
it was recommended that a number of smaller build designs need to
be drawn up, so that as many villages and towns could benefit from
the Children’s Centre Services as possible. Joining funding
up with Extended Services where possible will use the funding most
effectively.
It is proposed that the School Organisation Team and Early Years
Development Officer undertake a review of the following:
- Local primary and secondary schools with spare capacity
- Undertake a site visit of the existing Barnardos Family
Centre
- Investigate the current available community space in the
area
- Investigate the potential to involve the Friends of Paulton
Hospital and investigate the potential to use the Paulton Hospital
site.
The Early Years Childcare & Play Team will provide a
specification for a standard group space, suitable for parents and
children under 5, together with a minimum space requirement for a
multi-agency space and consultation room. This will be used
to measure against available space found above.
In addition consideration of mobile provision will be undertaken
– including linking with libraries and Community Bus and other new
provision.
Consultation on Strategy
Once a capital strategy based on the needs identified above, has
been developed consultation needs to be undertaken with parents,
schools, GPs, partners and Councilors before proceeding
further. Local views will be taken into account, particularly
parent’s views, before proceeding with building. Where
possible Link Workers will be asked to support the consultation
exercise.
Management
The local authority is the accountable body for Children’s
Centres and will ensure that government targets are met; funding is
allocated in accordance with Council Contract Standing Orders and
that local people are benefiting from relevant new services for
under 5’s. However it is recognised that other partners can
play an invaluable role in helping the local authority achieve its
aims of improving outcomes for children under 5. The proposal
therefore is that a tender for the management of a Partnership
Board, which will ensure local parents and providers, can play
their part in shaping the future of the area. The local
authority is in the development stages of Children’s Trust
arrangements and therefore the tender will be for 18 months until
March 2006, to take account of the rapidly changing field that
Children’s Services is undergoing at the moment. During that
period a review of the arrangements will be undertaken to ensure
that Children’s Centre Services continue to be part of the wider
Every Child Matters agenda. It is intended that any local
Children’s Centre Partnership Board will be closely linked
with the development of the Midsomer Norton Local Area
Partnership and the further development of the Children's Trust
Arrangements for the authority.
