More families in need supported by children’s centres
12 Jun 2014 04:26 PM
New research shows
children’s centres are reaching over 90% of families most in
need.
Children’s centres are
reaching over 90% of families most in need, research has revealed yesterday (11
June 2014).
Last year more than 1 million
parents received help and support on all aspects of family life through
children’s centres. Yesterday’s report shows an overwhelming number of families are accessing
high-quality, targeted services.
Education and Childcare Minister
Elizabeth Truss said:
It is great news to see that
children’s centres are performing better than ever. Today’s figures
prove that centres are successfully reaching out to those families most in
need, with the vast majority of parents happy with the services they’ve
received - from stay and play and health checks, to back to work support for
parents.
The government’s clear
that children’s centres have a vital role to play in making sure families
get the help they need by offering a wide range of local, flexible services so
they can choose what works best for their family. Today’s evidence shows
that centres are doing just that - acting as a valuable lifeline for families
up and down the country.
Over 88% of families most in
need have told the Department fro Education (DfE) that the services in their
area are good, providing a multitude of invaluable services for all parents and
families, including:
- almost all centres are offering
stay and play services - providing stimulating and challenging activities for
young children
- over 90% of centres offer
individual home-based family support - reaching out to those parents most in
need
- 81% are offering activities and
hobbies for parents
- three-quarters are offering
health checks for parents and their children - ensuring they are growing up fit
and healthy
- around two-thirds of centres
provide breastfeeding support for new mothers
The report comes as Ofsted is
considering how the inspection framework can be changed with the aim of
overhauling and modernising the way they look at these
centres.
There are currently over 3,000
children’s centres open across the country, providing tailored and
specialist services for local parents and children, with a further 531
additional premises providing children’s centre services as part of a
network. Centres are inspected individually or in small groups, with each
centre receiving its own rating on services provided as well as the quality of
management.
Ofsted is now planning to
inspect all the children’s centres in each local authority area together
as well as local authority oversight to make sure all children are being
supported. It will consult on the new approach later in the year - helping
ensure that all centres tailor services that meet the needs of local
families.
The government wants
children’s centres to reach out to local parents, improving outcomes for
both young children and their families by supporting child development,
boosting parenting skills and improving health and life
chances.
This is just one of many
government reforms to improve support for all children - no matter what their
starting point in life.
The government is also extending
free early education to around 260,000 disadvantaged 2-year-olds, and
has:
- increased free early education
for 3- and 4-year-olds to 15 hours a week
- encouraged schools to offer more
childcare
- made it easier for good and
outstanding childminders to offer free early education
Notes to
editor
- Read ‘Evaluation
of children’s centres in England interim
findings’.
- There are 3,019 children’s
centres open across the country with 531 additional sites as part of a network.
Funding for early education and intervention has also increased from £4.3
billion in 2011 to 2012 to £4.6 billion in 2014 to
2015.
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