Take twos - Nurturing success in Blackpool
James Hempsall
Friday, October 18, 2013
The free entitlement for the least advantaged two-year-olds is key to unlocking parents' opportunities for learning and employment, as well as supporting children's learning, says James Hempsall
St Cuthbert's and Palatine Children's Centre is an outstanding children's centre on the site of, and run by, St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School in Blackpool. The town is the sixth most deprived in the country and the reach area of the centre is ranked as among the highest 10 per cent to 20 per cent most disadvantaged in the country. A high proportion of families meet the 2013 and the 2014 eligibility criteria. The centre provides the two-, threeand four-year-old early learning entitlement and has supported two-year-olds for some time.
Nurturing is integral to the centre's work. Over the past seven years, local parents have been encouraged into childcare volunteering, supported to gain qualifications and ultimately employment in the local market. Eighty per cent of the practitioners working at this centre were originally parent volunteers. This shows how we can grow our own workforce and support parents into employment, while involving them in family learning for the benefit of two-year-olds.
The centre found that 50 per cent of two-year-olds starting early learning entitlement were well below the expected stage of Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED). This meant an increasing number of children found integration into the two-year-old room difficult.
A nurture group was established to support PSED. The centre decided to use the nurture group model. It contacted the Nurture Group Network for advice and invested in accredited training for staff, who were then able to create an attractive, safe, structured environment designed to bridge the gap between home and nursery.
Staff ratios within the nurture room are higher than legally required and volunteers working towards childcare qualifications, and childcare apprentices, provide additional resources which helps keep costs down.
The centre reports the nurture group as one of its successes and is working towards being one of a few accredited nurture settings for early years.
James Hempsall is director of Hempsall's (@jhempsall, www.hempsalls.com)
Play, and a whole family philosophy support children to become more confident, and gain skills quickly. Having benefited from this additional support, they move through to the main two-year-old room when they are ready.
