Close ties between the children's centre programme and the development of extended schools and regular consultation with parents are the hallmarks of Oxfordshire County Council's drive to integrate services for children and families.
Under a local area agreement, up to half of the extended schools capital for primary schools is being linked to the development of 'full-service'
children's centres. According to a briefing document from the county's Educational Effectiveness Service on the extended schools strategy, there are also plans to explore a possible merger between the children's centre programme board and the extended schools strategy group.
Assistant head of service for the educational effectiveness service Shannon Moore says that a strategic group chaired by the director of children, young people and families is overseeing the integration of the various strands.
The local authority has ensured that parents and communities have been kept closely informed and involved in shaping the children's centre agenda. In a survey of 320 parents and carers of under-fives and 34 professionals or organisations, more than 95 per cent supported the aims of the programme and the proposed sites for centres, and about one-third of parents said they would like to be involved in promoting, helping in and developing children's centres.
Children's centre programme manager Clare Abolins says, 'Keeping parents as part of the programme has been key. We get caught up in the governance and the service agreements, but it is making a difference to people's lives, which is at the heart of all this.'
She says the council is inviting parents to an event in November to celebrate progress so far and hear presentations from some of the centres.
There will also be a 'wishing tree' where parents, children and centre staff can indicate what they want to see in the centres.
Head of early years and childcare Annie Davy says that the process of integrating services has got off to 'a flying start', but she acknowledges that the speed at which centres must be created, coupled with anxiety over long-term funding, present 'a major challenge'. She warns that a reliance on parental fees and tax credits will not be sufficient to ensure the affordability and viability of childcare, particularly in areas of disadvantage.
Extended schools
In 2005-06 691,000 was provided to support the general development of extended schools in the county, with 162,000 allocated specifically for the excellence cluster schools to establish a full-service extended model in the Blackbird Leys area of Oxford city. A further 53,000 was allocated to co-ordinate the development of childcare in extended schools.
The extended schools are being developed through 26 school partnerships across the county. Funds have been distributed to them, based 50 per cent on pupil numbers and 50 per cent on the special needs index so even the smallest partnership has had an allocation of at least 10,000.
The local authority has allocated a 'link adviser' to each of the partnerships. The county-wide extended schools strategy group includes representatives from the primary care trust, voluntary services, head teachers and members of the children's services directorate.
The charity 4children, ContinYou and the Training Development Agency for Schools (TDA), formerly known as the national remodelling team (NRT), have been helping the authority develop the workforce. More than half the partnerships now have extended schools remodelling consultants in place.
Multi-agency extended schools training in the form of workshops is taking place throughout Oxfordshire until October next year.
Children's centres
* Oxfordshire was given funding for two children's centres - the Leys Children's centre project in Oxford city and the Sunshine centre in Ruscote, Banbury - in the first phase in 2004-06. The ACE Early excellence centre in Chipping Norton and Rosehill-Littlemore Sure Start were also designated as children's centres because they already provided the core offer.
* In the second phase from 2006-08, the DfES expects the county to develop a further 25 centres. So far, seven have been designated this year. A total of 22,268 children under five are included in the catchment areas of the 29 centres.
* For the 2006-08 phase, 4.3m has been provided for capital, nearly 4.5m for revenue, with additional 'rural uplift' capital and revenue funding of 114,000 and 273,600 respectively.
* Seven of the 29 centres will be managed by the voluntary sector, 11 by school governors and 11 by the local authority.
* There will be a mixture of 'full-service' centres with childcare and education as part of the core offer and 'graduated' centres, in areas outside the 30 per cent most disadvantaged wards, which may not have these elements on site and will often act merely as a 'gateway' to services rather than providing them.
* With insufficient capital funding to develop brand new centres in the second phase, the council intends, where possible, to 'add value' to existing family centres and schools rather than develop new services.
* With national concerns over the long-term sustainability of childcare in children's centres, the county council is helping to promote childminding networks in some areas rather than create new daycare provision. Additional resources for this initiative are being supplied to three centres in South Abingdon, Didcot and Cowley in Oxford.
* A children's centre practice file is being contributed to by all the centres. It will eventually be available online and will include practical hands-on information about what is useful and what works.
Progress on the ten-year childcare strategy
There are 156 private, day-nursery providers in Oxfordshire, 972 childminders, 187 voluntary providers and 117 maintained providers, including Foundation Stage classes and nursery schools.
The county is not one of the 12 pathway local authorities that are piloting the managing of the childcare market requirements set out in section 11 of the Childcare Act. But the authority is working on this issue with a DfES-funded Fast-Track consultant from the charity 4Children.
Council statistics show a decrease in the overall sufficiency of childcare, with 16.7 places available for every 100 nought to 14-year-olds in April 2006, compared with 17 places in November 2005. Childminder places were down from 9.1 to 8.9 for every 100 nought to seven-year-olds, while the sufficiency of daycare places rose from 22.6 to 23.3 per 100 nought to four-year-olds. Out-of-school places across the county remained constant over this six-month period.
An impact assessment project is being carried out to establish the effectiveness of the Oxfordshire Children's Information Service, which is an independent voluntary organisation.
CASE STUDY: ROUNDABOUT CENTRE
Oxfordshire's well-resourced and highly regarded network of family centres have proved the ideal vehicle to carry forward the county's ambitious children's centre programme.
The Roundabout Centre on the Barton estate on the outskirts of Oxford has been a family centre for 15 years, providing much of the family support and services for children and families that are now associated with children's centre status.
Centre manager Vicky Hatch says that at the outset the centre also benefited from a series of happy coincidences - the chance to share a school site, coupled with the emergence of the neighbourhood nursery initiative and local research which indicated a shortage of childcare.
Once work to convert the building was completed in March 2004, the centre staff moved in and now share the site with the Ormerod special school, which has groups for children with special educational needs. 'We were in temporary accommodation in the school grounds while the building work took place. Since we moved in during March 2004 we have worked towards the children's centre agenda,' Ms Hatch says.
She reels off details of a wide range of services. The centre now boasts a 52-place nursery, a 'very active' drop-in service, with a group for dads who want to attend on a Saturday morning and have breakfast while their children play. A childminder network meets there once a month and there is a breastfeeding 'cafe' supported by a health visitor and a midwife.
There are learning groups and parents are encouraged to become volunteers at the centre. They are given a volunteer pack and can access the same training as members of the staff.
Rachel Kimber has a four-year-old boy in the Foundation Stage unit and now spends much of her time as a volunteer at the centre. She says, 'I cook the dinners for the families who come to the drop-in. I have done a food and hygiene course and I have done my basic skills in literacy and am now doing numeracy. I am here most days and it has almost become a second home. It's so warm and welcoming and the staff are so supportive.'
The Roundabout Centre is still awaiting designation as a children's centre because it has yet to appoint a teacher. 'That's been our one stumbling block,' says Vicky Hatch, 'but we hope to resolve that soon. We are having to think outside of the box on this and have approached a school where we provide extended care to see if any of their staff are available.'
She remains confident that this will soon be resolved, and adds, 'Our staff team, the management and the advisory group are dedicated to meeting the requirements of the children's centre agenda and being creative to do this.'
