Welcome Pack List of Contents

Leighton Buzzard Children’s Centre

Advisory Board – Minutes of Meeting

Date: WEDNESDAY 4TH MARCH 2015 Venue: SANDHILLS COMMUNITY HOUSE Date Minutes Agreed :

Signed:

Print Name:

Organisation:

Present: Apologies: David Wood Citizens Advice Bureau CHAIR Allison Ferguson AFC Family Support Worker Pam Skinner AFC Volunteer Maria Kovacova AFC Family Support Worker Michelle Johnson CBC Childminding Kathy Humphries AFC Family Support Worker Emily Winch SALT Barbie Calvert CBC Recruitment Officer Fiona Greatorex Toddington Childcare Rosemary Brown AFC Hazel Jeffrey AFC Service Coordinator Selina Shah Healthy Under 5’s Kimberley Evans AFC Administrator Eileen Branney CBC Childcare Development Paula Day CBC Development Officer Officer Marea Rawlings Head Teacher, St. George’s Lower Cathy Horbury Health Visitor Linda Johnson Chief Executive, Homestart Sophie McGrath Mind BLMK Yetunde Agega Leighton Buzzard JCP Natalie Dickman Locality Coordinator LB Sultana Rahman Student Social Worker Elke Rockey EYP Helen Grantley-Smith Health Visitor

Action Required 1. Welcome & Apologies

 David welcomed everyone to the meeting and all present introduced themselves.  Apologies were noted.

2. Matters arising from previous meeting

 Michelle acknowledged that childminders are building good links with parents and CC  Hazel confirmed signs have gone up in Toddington  Hazel mentioned that the Ofsted inspection went well and confirmed we received a “Good” rating. David congratulated the Centre on this result and in turn, Hazel thanked those that assisted. Inspectors were very impressed with our work and noted outstanding features with regard to the quality of our practice and services. The reason we did not achieve “Outstanding” was:  The number of children of the newly arrived families from Eastern Europe who are registered and engaging with the centre is not high enough.  Not enough two year olds access their free entitlement to early education.  The information available, including some provided by partner agencies, is not always used effectively to track achievements, demonstrate the impact of services and enhance planning.  The centre is unaware of the impact of services delivered by partners through service level agreements with the local authority.

It was to our credit that these areas had already been highlighted as areas for improvement in our SDP and Hazel reported that we have been working to address these over the last quarter and movement towards meeting these has been positive: . A group for families with EAL is being developed in Sandhills . Take up of 2 year funding has increased by 22% to 73% since Q2 exceeding the target in the SDP . A tracking system has been developed and is being implemented from Q4 which will enable us to run reports on a quarterly basis and provide data on numbers of courses delivered, completion rates, accreditations, and whether attendees have moved into employment or further education. (Forms provided at meeting) . The LA are looking at the type of data and frequency of evaluation reports required from partners who they commission to deliver services and how these findings are shared with the centre. 1  Linda suggested sharing Homestart’s Adult education figures with the Children’s Centre, which they collate for the council. David to follow up with Sheila. 3. Election of Chair and Vice Chair

 David Wood has agreed to be our Chair. Vice Chair is Vicki Drummond

4. Leadership & Governance

Registrations stand at 70% at Q3 (1% increase). 110% registered from LSOA 609 (5% increase). Engagement: 60% of children have engaged with services at least once in the previous 12 months. (26% 3 x or more). 105% have engaged with services from LSOA609 in the last 12 months (55% 3 x or more increase of 6%). 2 year funding: 73% of 2 year olds eligible for funding have taken up the offer. (22% increase on Q2).

The data was then broken down into the Children’s Centre target groups:

Workless households with children Under 5 There are 212 workless families in our reach area, 111 (52% drop of 9%) are registered. Since last quarter I have met with JCP to establish regular attendance by JCP staff. They are attending on a monthly basis and meeting unemployed parents on an appointment basis. This is starting from March.

BME – none available for Q3

Lone parents with children under 5. None available for Q3 There are 427 lone parents in our reach area. Most recent data shows 261 (61%) are registered 68% of those living in the most deprived LSOA are registered. 53% of those registered have accessed C/C services over the past year.

Teenage parents – None available for Q3 There are 16 (94%) teenage parents registered in our reach area.

Staffing Denise Cooper has been recruited to cover Lindsey Holman’s maternity leave. There are no other vacancies. 2 x staff have now completed PaFT training which will enable us to take on more referrals.

5. Safeguarding Policies & Procedures

EHA: The Early Help Assessment form is used for referrals to the Children’s Centre enabling us to provide targeted work to families. We currently have 32 case files open, 3 of which are CIN and 2 CP. 13 cases were closed in Q3. We have 1 child on our waiting list for PaFT.

In Q3 71% of agreed outcomes were fully met, 12% were partly met and 12% not met, 5% not known. This is most often due to families not engaging with the service. From the SDP, we have a target of 60% achieving agreed outcomes by March 2015 so we have exceeded this.

6. Partnership Working

New Services: Bumps Babes and Baby Stuff – Children’s Centre staff are supporting delivery of this Health led initiative for new parents. Aimed at mothers from 32 weeks pregnant, this is a 6 week course preparing them for parenthood and covers babies development prior to and after the birth. First course has been completed and 2nd has started. We will be delivering 2 programmes each week from April. Clinics – 3 are now being delivered across L/B in Southcott, Bassett Road and Astral Park. Southcott is being delivered alongside the children’s centre session.

We also have some funding left and as we are using this to provide some additional services. These include Ragdolly Anna’s music and movement which we are targeting to families from our 3 most deprived LSOA’s to increase registration and engagement. We have carried out leaflet drops in these areas.

Parent Puzzle – programme has been delivered since January. This is well attended – 100% of those who started continue to attend.

Freedom programme runs throughout the year. We find a lot of women want to return to the programme as there is nothing to refer them onto from this. We are working with MIND who is providing a Healthy Minds course to improve confidence and promote mental well-being. 7. AOB & Information Sharing

 Helen Grantley-Smith: Clinics in Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Toddington are open to all and they must bring their Red Book to be updated. Any checks done are also recorded on the online system so if the parent chooses to access another clinic any HV can tap into their record to update/amend it.  Pam Skinner: Gave credit to Action for Children as their contract of managing the Children’s Centre comes to an end. Hazel established that all the staff will be continuing after Pam enquired about volunteers’ roles within the new venture and the name will remain the same - Leighton Buzzard Children’s Centre. Pam enquired about the ‘Volunteer Organiser’ role (which will not continue) and its importance to organising the volunteers rota, etc. which was noted. Parents have also approached Pam to raise concerns about the change-over to new management to which Paula informed us that a letter was sent to the CCs listing the changes (which can be modified and sent to parents if needed) to clarify everything going forward. Parents have visited the centre, written letters and created online petitions because they have got the ‘wrong message’ about the changes happening. Parent champions will also be asked to keep their roles. Pam asked about any up-to-date information about groups in LB and surrounding areas to signpost parents to and the Family Information Service was suggested (although the information changes so regularly that it may not always be current). David also mentioned that CAB has a list which can also be referred to which they try to update regularly. Also noted was the School’s Out Directory.  Paula Day: Confirmed contracts have been awarded. They are valid for two years and not the usual three due to the change in government due to happen soon. A lot or work is going on behind the scenes in the move to management by St Georges Lower School including all the ICT and transfer of family case files etc.  Marea Rawlings: Came to observe the meeting and is very excited to learn about what goes on in the area and is looking forward to supporting the Children’s Centre.  Elke Rockey: Running a Terrific Two’s session (for 4 weeks) which starts on Thursday with one session at Leedon Lower School.  Linda Johnson: Great Expectations runs every other Thursday and has been going quite well. Dealing with topics such as postnatal depression and anxiety. Freedom course runs fortnightly on Wednesdays jointly with a worker from the children’s centre. Funding for the family group is due to run out by the end of April but the Nurture Group that the C/C runs will be able to fulfil this role going forward.  Michelle Johnson: Queried whether the Child-minding session will be allowed to continue at the Children’s Centre (use of the facilities, etc.) and Hazel said she will confirm. 2  Emily Winch: Running a rolling program of groups for which the level of demand has become manageable. Home visits have also tapered off to a manageable level. Ofsted were impressed with the figures with Communication and Language raising its game. Literacy is the next on the list to be tackled.  Yetunde Agega: Interviewing or pop-in sessions for parents to enquire about any benefits they may be entitled to. Stated most of them want to return to work but worried about childcare while attending interviews. Michelle said childminders can be accessed and funding will be dependent on each individual case. She also mentioned childminders are increasing their hours to allow for parents to have access to childcare earlier (7:30am start) and later in the day due to the competition from pre-schools, who are also accommodating these hours. They were previously charging double-time for these hours but have had to revert to their usual rate for fear of losing business. David mentioned the fact that many parents are unaware of the benefits they can receive with regards to childcare when going back to work.  Sophie McGrath: MIND will be running courses after the Easter holidays run by W.E.A. (over a ten week period) which includes Pottery, Digital Photography and an Art course in Dunstable. Please refer people to the courses.  Helen Grantley-Smith: Mentioned that the clinics are being dropped and instead a letter will be sent out to parents with different dates so they have options on when they would like to attend. This ensures that they have every opportunity to take up an appointment at their convenience. Parents of two year funded children who do not attend development checks will be followed up. If the parents ignore reminders then the GP will be notified of this. Michelle said that childminders can remind the parents to fill out the forms and attend the check. David said he can have a chat with Hazel after about the key staff who will be covering the checks to establish a firm structure so all involved know their specific role. Paula explained that Leighton Buzzard CC was one of the few Children’s Centres that work with two Health teams.  Fiona Greatorex: Toddington has started ‘Incy Wincy’s’ and requested a presence from the Children’s Centre to engage with attendees. She was also confused about where to signpost speech and language issues to as some parents had enquired and agreed with Emily to chat about it after the meeting. Another query from parents was whether or not they should be giving vitamin drops and where to obtain them from. According to Paula they have a very short shelf life which is why the CCs do not stock them and would prefer to signpost where they can be obtained from. Parents would need a Healthy Start voucher and the forms for this can be filled out at the CC. It was clarified that all children under 5 not drinking a pint of formula/milk a day need vitamin drops or their vitamin D requirement would not be met. Fiona enquired about the office furniture at the Toddington office and Paula confirmed it can stay on site except for the files, etc. which would be removed. She also reminded everyone that there are taxi tokens still available for anyone wanting to access the centres and established that families in Toddington and areas can use them but only to attend CC events in LB. Families also mentioned the loss of the Playstop Gym session and if there will be a replacement. Hazel said targeted parents have been difficult to engage with in Toddington and are unlikely to attend groups if they were continued in Toddington. There are a lot of groups and activities available for under 5’s in Toddington and Incy Wincy’s will fill the gap that the loss of the C/C group may leave. Any family who requires support should be referred to the centre via an EHA. It was stated the CC can visit once a month to chat to families and see what is required with regards to sessions. Any member of staff can issue an EHA if necessary to work with an individual family if the need is there.  Marea Rawlings: Meeting the next day about the new website which will go live from 1st April and hoping it will be more parent-friendly and engaging.  David Wood: CAB Funding is unchanged for the upcoming year so services will stay the same which he was pleased about.

8. Date and venue for next meeting:

Wednesday 17th June 9:30-11:30 Sandhills Community House

Actions Required - to be reviewed at next meeting Person Date responsible completed

1 Discuss with Sheila Pembroke the feasibility of the Children’s Centre DW receiving feedback on outcomes achieved by partners working with Children’s Centre 2 Confirmation that Child-minding sessions can continue at the Children’s HJ to MJ Centre