Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority in Europe. About 85,000 children aged under five live within its boundaries – a number that is rising. Between 2001 and 2011, the birth rate increased by 17.5 per cent.
Birmingham’s children are among the most diverse in England. Only 58 per cent of the city’s population is classed as white-ethnic, compared to 86 per cent nationally. Early Years Foundation Stage results published last month show that 50 per cent of children achieved an overall good level of development for 2012 to 2013, just under the national 52 per cent.
The authority has been hit by spending cuts, with a planned reduction of £615m by 2016/17. As the third most deprived city behind Liverpool and Manchester, the authority targets early years support towards poorer quality settings in deprived areas, focusing on those judged by Ofsted as inadequate or satisfactory.
Birmingham is set to have the country’s biggest increase in disadvantaged two-year-olds eligible for free childcare – from 4,657 this year to 10,500 by 2015. Birmingham City Council’s head of service, early years, safeguarding and family support, Karen Pearson, says all sectors have been involved in meeting targets. ‘We have worked with childminders to increase the number registered for nursery education funding with relative success,’ she says.
A total of 150 settings are now registered to deliver the free entitlement, compared to fewer than 50 last year. Two Birmingham schools selected by the Department for Education are piloting providing places for two-year-olds. The council is also working with headteachers to identify how more schools might support the programme.
The city has its own Centre for Research in Early Childhood, which works in partnership with the council by providing national and international evidence for best practice. Its director, professor Christine Pascal, was born and raised in the city.
CHILDREN’S CENTRES
In April 2012, Birmingham City Council re-grouped 75 children’s centres to form 73 centres in 16 localities. The move was part of the authority’s Right Services Right Time agenda, which seeks to create more integrated services across the city. Reduced funding for centres was a factor in the development of the new model.
Fox Hollies Children’s Centre leads six centres in the Fays locality. Managed by Barnardo’s, it includes a 50-place daycare centre run by the Pre-school Learning Alliance. It is alsothe locality’s safeguarding hub, hosting family support and safeguarding services. Strategic children’s services manager Michelle Dougan says the restructure has been positive. ‘We’re an integrated team now and work in a holistic way around families,’ she says.
The locality covers 40 square miles, which house 6,891 children aged under five. Ms Dougan says meeting the centre’s target of contacting all families of newborns within eight weeks is challenging – between 80 and 100 babies are born there every month. The localities agenda is targeted at birth to 18, so Fox Hollies has close connections to schools. Its family support team works with older children through the Think Family agenda, known as Troubled Families nationally.
It also links with childminders through three-weekly networking groups and supports private, voluntary and independent (PVI)
settings. ‘We offer curriculum, best practice and good-quality learning support to help
providers raise the quality of their practice to meet the two-year-olds offer criteria,’ explains Ms Dougan.
In the Edgbaston city region, the Lillian de Lissa Children’s Centre and Nursery School offers 78 places with 64 children accessing full-time funded care. Headteacher Mandy Cryan explains that children meeting certain criteria, such as being eligible for free school meals, can claim ten hours of council-funded care in addition to the national 15-hours entitlement. ‘The offer shows Birmingham really cares for its children,’ says Ms Cryan.
Some 2,300 took up the allocation last year, but Ms Pearson says the offer is under reviewhile the council tries to meet two-year-olds capacities.
A review is planned to ensure that the free entitlement for both twos and three- and four-year-olds offers a mix of part-time and extended days that meets the needs of all Birmingham’s under-fives and their families.
Lillian de Lissa has a history of delivering creative services. It receives funding from the Arts Council and recently ran pottery sessions for isolated families with a contemporary art gallery. ‘We brought in families from five local PVI settings and the children’s centre,’ explains Ms Cryan. ‘Everyone can work with clay to their own ability – it helped them feel successful and overcome language barriers.’
PVI SECTOR
Birmingham’s PVI sector is made up of 403 nurseries and pre-school playgroups and 778 childminders. Treetops’ Sunny Corner is the chain’s only Birmingham nursery located outside the centre, offering 74 places. Nursery manager Karen Turner says many children take up full daycare, because parents commute to work in the city. Only two two-year-olds take up the free entitlement.
Ms Turner says diversity is a true strength of the setting. ‘We embrace different cultures and embed them in our practice,’ she says. ‘This has really contributed to our success and we pride ourselves on being an inclusive setting.’
Many of her staff speak second languages and offer parents the choice of whether to speak to children in English or their native tongue. Currently, staff provide languages such as Polish, Arabic and Urdu. Parents of new joiners complete an ‘all about me’ document so staff know how to communicate with children that have English as an additional language. ‘We get the parents to write down key words and have recording machines to record the parent’s voices,’ says Ms Turner. ‘For example, for sleep time, they can record a message to say, “You’re going to sleep now”, in their first language.’
Ms Turner says accommodating staff’s cultural and religious needs is also important. She has one Muslim worker who prays five times a day. ‘None of the parents have requested that their children join in, but some of them like to copy her,’ she says.
Childbase Partnership has owned Highfield Day Nursery in Edgbaston for 16 years, and recently acquired three more Birmingham settings. Regional director Alison Beard says Birmingham is a good place to expand because demand for outstanding and good provision
is high. Highfield’s 96-place capacity is full and a long waiting list means the setting has been unable to accept any funded two-year-olds. Ms Beard expects the new settings will deliver the offer as they are located in more deprived areas.
Ms Beard says Birmingham also provides a pool of excellent practitioners – the result of the city’s three universities and many colleges. ‘We never have a problem with recruitment in Birmingham,’ she says. ‘It’s also a well-connected city so it’s easy for people to get around, unlike in more rural settings.’
Linking with the local community is one of the setting’s key activities. ‘There’s a lot more sharing going on now,’ she says. ‘Everybody wants the best outcomes for the children and sharing best practice is the only way you’re going to get it.’ n
CASE STUDY: CHILDCARE TRAINEE GEOEGIA WHITEHURST
Georgia Whitehurst, 18, is childcare trainee with Birmingham-based Crackerjack Training.
‘I passed my GCSEs last year with grades C and above and decided to work in childcare. I live just outside Birmingham and attended a Crackerjack taster session while considering options. Former students’ coursework impressed me and when I found out the course didn’t include exams, I knew it was for me.
‘I went straight to Level 2 training because of my good GCSEs. Two weeks after college started, I was learning in the classroom. I got a placement at an independent nursery at Norfolk House School in Birmingham’s Edgbaston area.
‘I’m still at the same school now, even though I passed my Level 2 and am now on Level 3. The structure is the same: four days in the classroom, one day in college. I’m caring for four- and five-year-olds and have 20 in my class. At the start of each week, I sit down with the teacher and teaching assistant to plan lessons.
‘I was really surprised by how much work the children do. They can all recognise numbers one to 20, write their own name, and we do sounds and phonics together. It’s more than I did at their age. We also do creative projects and take them on trips.
‘The theoretical part of my training involves completing different units, such as equality and diversity or health and social care. Crackerjack provides booklets with questions to complete.
‘I’m really glad I chose this method of training because getting experience while I study will really help my future job prospects. I’m not very good at writing essays and exams, so it’s a good alternative way of learning. Hopefully in another 12 months I’ll have passed my Level 3 and one day I’ll be a teacher.’
www.crackerjacktraining.co.uk
More information
l Right Services Right Time, www.lscbbirmingham.org.uk/index.php/training/right-service-right-time-meeting-childrens-needs
l The concluding part of this series, in Nursery World on 16 December, will focus on London
