The development of extended services through clusters of schools will require new forms of governance - and for Mark Hopkins, strategic manager of the programme in Leeds, that could mean chief executives rather than school heads ultimately taking the leading role.
He says, 'We need to rethink the whole issue of governance. We are not just talking about having governing bodies as we have now. That mould has to be broken. The governance of extended services across clusters of schools means looking at different models of management and leadership. Potentially you might be looking at a chief executive or a principal leading the service provision, and they might be from a multi-agency background, rather than teachers.'
The city, with a population of 750,000, is divided into five wedges - some of them larger than a typical London borough - and the Leeds early years service is recognised as a key component in the council's drive to tackle areas of disdadvantage.
Central to this process is the integration of services for children and families and making the best use of resources. Anne Kearsley, Sure Start Partnership manager with responsibility for developing the children's centres programme and other childcare initiatives, says that efforts are being made to avoid the creation of separate boards for children's centres and extended services in and around schools.
'We are looking, too, at joint funding opportunities, using extended services funding and children's centre money to have a joint extended services/children's centre co-ordinator, rather than two separate posts,' she says.
Children's centres
- In the first phase, 23 centres were opened, aiming to reach around 12,000 children under five. Most are in freestanding buildings on school sites. A total of 930 new childcare places were created, exceeding the target of 714 that had been set. The council received £5.7m in capital and £1.5m revenue, but managed to attract £5.5m from other funding sources such as neighbourhood renewal and Sure Start local programme capital.
- In the second phase a further 26 centres are being developed. All these will operate from or together with a 'hub' school site. They will reach about 13,000 children in the 30 per cent most disadvantaged areas and pockets of disadvantage in more affluent areas. Funding was £7.3m capital and £8.8m revenue.
- By 2010, when the Government wants a total of 3,500 centres, Leeds should have 65.
- In phase one, only one centre is run by a voluntary provider on a school site. Anne Kearsley says in phase two it is likely that private, voluntary and governor-led school sectors will run all 26 centres.
Emphasising that the council has 'a preferred providers list', she says, 'We have put together a specification for providers to deliver the early education and childcare on children's centre sites, and in some cases we will also commission the outreach and family support work.' Where that is not possible, the existing city-wide outreach service will ensure that it is provided.
- Heads of children's centres services are responsible for delivering the core offer across a wedge or part of a wedge and brokering partnership arrangements with health, social care, Job Centre Plus and others.
- Former Sure Start local programmes have been integrated into the work of children's centres. They include one led by the local authority, three by the Primary Care Trust, two by national charities, one by a local charity and one by a company limited by guarantee. Programme teams have been remodelled to form a seven-day response service to identified need across each of the wedges as part of the highly successful budget-holding lead professional pilot being conducted in the city.
- Children Leeds is a partnership of organisations working with children, young people and their families. It leads the Every Child Matters/Change for Children programme.
Extended services
- Extended services on or around school sites and children's centres are embedded in the city's Children and Young People's Plan and within the Education Leeds Strategic Plan 2006-2009 under the theme, 'Nurture Learning Communities'.
- Currently there are 35 extended schools in Leeds, exceeding the September 2006 target of 30 offering access to the core offer. There are 23 clusters, with 114 schools, working to provide the core offer, building on the city's long history of developing 'families' of schools. Mark Hopkins says that the authority has 'tried hard in our planning to make sure that our clusters are aligned with the development of children's centres'.
- The extended services programme has benefited from what Mr Hopkins terms 'a cocktail of funding', and has enjoyed support from the city's well-known sports clubs. Extended services capital and revenue from the general Sure Start grant is available for minor building works on school sites.
- The council has trained 22 extended schools remodelling consultants, drawn from a range of services including the police, the voluntary sector and the NHS. Their diverse backgrounds, Mr Hopkins says, 'are now paying dividends'.
Ten-year strategy
- Of about 12,000 daycare places in Leeds, 2,686 are with childminders; 5,443 are in private nurseries, 1,328 in children's centres, 247 in voluntary pre-schools, 4,780 in maintained nursery classes, and around 10,000 are out-of-school places.
- Occupancy levels vary, but each wedge has a business support team which advocates a model of planning that enables providers to cover 100 per cent of their costs through 75 per cent occupancy.
Anne Kearsley says, 'There are issues of managing a competitive market, and while Leeds has always operated on a principle that "no new provision should have a negative impact on existing provision", sometimes that is easier said than done.'
CASE STUDY: TWO WILLOWS CHILDREN'S CENTRE
The Two Willows children's centre can rightly claim ownership of the concept, long before it was outlined by the DfES. For more than 16 years the centre has acted as a hub for vital services to children and families in its South Leeds community - and without any Sure Start funding.
Its origins give an inkling of its great value to the community. When the Cardinal Square Special School closed as children with special needs were moved to mainstream schools, the community decided to develop a nursery on the site and ensure that local groups would continue to have somewhere to meet.
The original school was demolished and the new building laid the foundations for the centre there today. Centre manager Andrea Nicholson says, 'Looking back, in a small way perhaps, the concept of a children's centre began then and perhaps we had a bit of a head start.'
She reels off a list of services developed over the years which reinforce the sense that this centre was ahead of its time. In addition to care and education for young children, it had a baby clinic, a police surgery, housing support, a domestic violence support group, childminding and parenting support as well as adult education.
The nursery thrived in its new premises. 'Our first Ofsted described our centre as a magical place for children, our second described it as a Rolls Royce nursery and in our last we gained an outstanding achievement award for outdoor play,' says Andrea. Not surprisingly, given the extent of its home-grown services, the centre was urged by the local authority to seek children's centre status.
The nursery always had a strong emphasis on outdoor play and in conjunction with a national environmental organisation, Leeds United football club and Leeds Cares, which helps local businesses to support local projects, there are now four outstanding outdoor areas.
Andrea says, 'An important focus outdoors for the children is the opportunity for planting and growing and preparing, cooking and eating what they have grown. We are hoping to develop this aspect by establishing an allotment in the centre's grounds.'
The centre, which also runs oral health promotion, is involved in the Leeds Food Strategy which supports access to healthy foods and already has a weekly fruit and veg market. Andrea says, 'We worked closely with the PCT in promoting the five-a-day cook-and-eat courses, and ran some in the centre. We now have a member of our own team trained to deliver the courses and so they are offered to families regularly.'
The seeds sown when the nursery was developed 16 years ago are clearly bearing fruit.
