Three settings around the country that have just become centres of early excellence tell Annette Rawstrone about what it means to them
Becoming an early excellence centre is like embarking on a journey of exploration and discovery, says Julie Vaggers, headteacher of Rowland Hill Centre for Childhood in the London borough of Haringey.
The Early Excellence scheme was launched in 1997 with the aim of developing high-quality integrated early years services and spreading good practice. There are now 49 centres in England, with the latest batch of 14 announced in October this year, putting the DfES nearly halfway to meeting its aim of creating 100 early excellence centres by 2004.
'I think it's an exciting project,' says Ms Vaggers, whose centre gained the status in 1999. 'Integrated working is never easy and getting professionals to work together in a holistic way is challenging. But we feel that we are now being recognised by the Government and it has raised the status of the early years.'
It has enabled her centre to fund new posts and develop services they would otherwise have been unable to afford. They now offer various family support services, including a drop-in centre and toy library, and have established an advisory service. The status has also given Rowland Hill the opportunity to work closely with the two other early excellence centres in Haringey and distinguished early years professionals. But there have been hurdles. Ms Vaggers has found that her role has greatly changed and that leadership and management training has been invaluable.
'Our biggest challenge has been data collection. In hindsight we can see what resources we needed to budget for, such as admin support to input the data needed to carry out evaluation requirements,' says Ms Vaggers. 'We did not need any building work done, so we were lucky in that way, and we were honest from the start that although we got the status we are not perfect but are willing to have a go. We still have paint peeling off the walls and central heating problems - it has not gone away since becoming an early excellence centre. One of the difficulties of the label is that it can be misinterpreted and cause resentment if it is not understood that early excellence is about developing integrated services.
'My advice to new early excellence centres would be to not get too anxious and worried about being perfect all the time. We can only keep trying and learn from our mistakes.'
Surbiton, Surrey
Developing an outdoor curriculum and spreading good practice in early integration are just some of the aims of Surbiton Hill Nursery Centre. The centre has joined up with Alpha Road Children's Resource Centre to provide services for the whole family, and becoming an early excellence centre has signalled the start of their work together.
Olivia Peak, head teacher of the nursery school, says, 'We believe strongly that education is the way forward for us all. If children have a positive start at three then they have got it right for the rest of their lives.' With the nursery having a policy of integration, these education opportunities are available to all local children, including those with special needs so they can work alongside others in a mainstream setting.
'This is important for those with special needs and others so they can gain an understanding that we are not all the same and that despite being different we all have something to offer. We feel we gain just as much by having the children with special needs here,' says Ms Peak. 'But it has to be the right provision and we have a big emphasis on training staff to work with children with special needs to help us to understand and communicate with children, especially if they do not have any language.'
It is hoped the centre's teacher in charge of special needs will work with other settings and provide training to help develop integration policies. There are plans to build an additional training facility, have an early years consultant and advisory teacher based at the centre and also give parents access to training and ICT skills.
Ms Peak wants to make the centre's outdoors work a special part of the curriculum and a focus for excellence. 'For young children we believe that learning happens both inside and outside,' she says. 'We take the whole curriculum outside - not just the bikes and climbing frame but also books, role play and musical instruments. Encouraging physical activity is important, and we want to provide a safe place for children to play outdoors because they tend not to have as many opportunities these days to be outside.'
Rotherham, Yorkshire
The Arnold Centre for Children and Families' mission statement is, 'We will provide the highest quality education, care and family support in a warm and welcoming atmosphere where each individual parent, carer and centre worker will be consulted, respected and valued.' It was written by local parents, the management committee, staff, health and social services who have come together to offer services to local children and their families in one of the most deprived areas of Rotherham.
'We have an innovative partnership with health and social services, the voluntary sector and the local further education college. We all work together to support children and their families and we see a very exciting future for us,' says head of centre Helen Powell. 'Early excellence status will secure funding to extend our services further and meet our vision of supporting children and families in the area. We are very fortunate in having another early excellence centre in Rotherham and our colleagues there have been incredibly supportive.'
The Arnold Centre offers an extensive range of services, including a nursery school which includes 12 places for children with special needs, a parent support group and parenting workshops, a toy library, health worker support, toddler groups, a playgroup, holiday play schemes and adult education and training. The centre intends to develop wrap-around care to offer additional support to families. A mix-and-match package of breakfast and teatime clubs and some full-time nursery places with lunch included is planned, to give parents or carers individually tailored support.
There are also plans to address training and career development needs by appointing a teacher in a joint venture between the other early excellence centre and a beacon nursery school, working with the local education authority and early years partnership to facilitate the dissemination of high-quality early years practice.
'We are keen to respond to the needs of children and families as identified by themselves and try to offer support and training as requested,' says Ms Powell.
Truro, Cornwall
Carol Kimberley, head of Truro Nursery School in Cornwall, is excited about the challenge of establishing an outreach programme to go into rural areas. 'We can't physically expand our provision because we are based on a small site, so the next step is to go out into the community and address the rural issues of childcare,' she says. 'Cornwall is a deceptive area because there are still areas of deprivation that have not been tackled. In some areas there are glossy, wonderful houses and there are great sailing opportunities, but there are still families who are cut off and we are aiming to improve their quality of life.
'We have yet to agree on the detailed programme but we are recruiting staff to go into isolated farms and villages where there are not many transport links, and help support looking after children in their own home or small groups of children in village halls. We also plan to set up a childminder network that will be based in the nursery.'
To disseminate good practice, the nursery funds supply cover so that primary teachers can come to look theoretically at the nursery's work and work alongside the nursery staff. There are plans to build a new classroom with the early excellence funding so the teaching area can be freed for community use, and to create a drop-in room for parents where they can have access to computers and meet with a health visitor.
Ms Kimberley says, 'I've spoken to other early excellence heads and it's obviously very hard work, so that's daunting. But it is also exciting because we have never had an opportunity like this before and we're all ready to get started.'
