The fundamental message that staff at Hillfields Early Years Centre want to give to everyone they work with is 'I am interested in you as a person'. Jackie White, the centre's deputy head with responsibility for the curriculum and training, says, 'We want to foster genuine relationships. We want our families to be able to make significant relationships with staff, which foster trust, respect and empowerment.'
Coventry City Council opened Hillfields Early Years Centre 28 years ago in a disadvantaged area of the city to provide integrated education and care for children aged from birth to school age. In the mid-1980s, a significant rise in local unemployment led the centre staff to refocus the provision on offer to families, who were experiencing extreme poverty, low levels of educational achievement, low self-esteem and mental health problems.
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