This brings the total number of excellence centres to 91 and means that the Department for Education and Skills is on track for meeting its target to have 100 such centres by next year.
Early Excellence Centres are intended to serve as beacons for early years and childcare services by sharing good practice with other centres and organising training activities for local practitioners. They are also 'one-stop shops' where children and their families have access to high-quality, integrated care and education services.
One of the newly designated excellence centres is Spencer Nursery School, a 35-place nursery in Sutton, Nottinghamshire, which was threatened with closure in the 1990s. Headteacher Fiona Downing said, 'We are planning on extending our present services and are looking forward to working with other linked services with the local authority, such as social services, which we already have some links with, and health.
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