STAFF BULLETIN 28 January 2008
News on: Children's Centres provide a range of services that benefit children as well as parents, Ofsted report finds, Multi-Agency Service Consultation Revised Timescale
CHILDREN'S CENTRES PROVIDE A RANGE OF SERVICES THAT BENEFIT CHILDREN AS WELL AS PARENTS, OFSTED REPORT FINDS
Children's centres and extended schools make a positive contribution to improving the lives of children and their families, as well as achieving overall success, according to 'How Well Are They Doing: The Impact of Children's Centres and Extended Schools', published recently by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OfSTED). OfSTED's report evaluates the impact of the services provided by extended schools and children's centres, particularly on vulnerable groups, and on promoting the Every Child Matters outcomes. The survey was conducted between September 2006 and April 2007. Inspectors visited 30 children's centres and 32 schools in 54 local authorities. OfSTED's full report is available from their web-site www.ofsted.gov.uk. Key points of OfSTED's evaluation are:
- extended schools, and children's centres in particular, are making good progress overall in the range of services they offer for children, young people and their families;
- monitoring and evaluating the impact of these services needs improving, especially in relation to academic attainment;
- schools and children's centres need to do more to attract those families and individuals that are not yet using the services;
- parents valued the variety of childcare options offered by children's centres;
- children moving on from children's centres were generally well prepared for school;
- the majority of schools offered a variety of out-of-school activities;
- those schools with the most effective services integrated the development of extended provision into school improvement plans, and also had a clear focus on improving outcomes for children and young people;
- despite a multitude of services being offered by the schools and children's centres visited, these were not always well co-ordinated. Where co-ordination was good, take up had improved.
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