Apart from providing all-day childcare 48 weeks of the year and a host of other services to families and the community, the Rebecca Cheetham Early Excellence Centre in Stratford is also home to a vibrant childminding network in east London. Every Wednesday between 9.45am and 2pm, childminders can get training and advice from an early years consultant.
Two creche workers look after the children while childminders discuss any issues with the consultant or update their records on the centre's computers.
Centre head Megan Farrow says parents of children being minded are welcome to visit and see how their children are developing as the childminders discuss issues such as the early learning goals.
Derbyshire
Derbyshire EYDCP has turned to the private sector for help in creating neighbourhood nurseries. The 90-place Woodville nursery near Burton on Trent was the first to open. It provides 35 places for children from areas of disadvantage. Two more nurseries are in the pipeline with the help of the Clowns private day nursery. The private company will own the nurseries and lease the land off the county council.
Company secretary Andrew Large praises Derbyshire EYDCP as 'forward-looking'. But working with local authorities does not just entail dealing with the EYDCP. He explains, 'You are working with the legal department, the estates department, the planning people. They are used to working with the maintained sector. It is not easy for them to think out of the box and see the benefits of working with the private sector.'
Peterborough
A Family Support Strategy Team is being set up in Peterborough with the remit of ensuring that preventive work in children's services is integrated. Senior manager of the new service, Fernley Copping, says the Government has signalled in the Green Paper that this area needs special attention.
He says most family support teams are engaged in service delivery. His will be different. 'We need a team of people who don't just deliver services, but make sure that services operate in a fully integrated way.
'We are looking for more partnership working to see whether prevention works and leads to lower numbers of children on the child protection register, and improved attendance and performance at school.
