Sure Start was initially about much more than just childcare, and the danger is that the children's centres that are being rolled out across the country are becoming just that - childcare-plus. The holistic approach adopted by many of the centres is so important. I challenge anyone to visit the Firth Park/Shire Green Sure Start Centre in my constituency and fail to be impressed by the life transformation that goes on there. This is much more than just sophisticated childcare - the family learning, indeed lifelong learning, that such programmes offer, is vastly under-reported.
As Gywn Fields, Sure Start programme manager, told me, 'People say, "I hated schools", and now you can't keep them away from schools, they're banging on the door saying, why isn't my daughter doing better? For us, they are success stories.' One parent said, 'I came into the centre as a little mouse but I now help run it as a tiger.'
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