Children’s centre report

Stockport – Group c/o Children’s Centre, Reddish Vale Road, Reddish, , Cheshire, SK5 7EU

Inspection date 9–10 October 2013

This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Overall effectiveness Previous inspection: Not previously inspected Access to services by young children and families Requires improvement 3 The quality of practice and services Requires improvement 3 The effectiveness of leadership, governance and Requires improvement 3 management

Summary of key findings for children and families

This is a centre that requires improvement. It is not good because:  The centre is not reaching and engaging the large majority of local families, including those in most need of support, and particularly in Reddish North.  Not enough mothers begin to breastfeed their babies or continue to breastfeed them until they are six-to-eight weeks old.  Too many children in Reception Year in schools within the reach area are obese.  The accommodation at Reddish North does not meet the needs of families or health partners well enough, particularly the arrangements for entering and exiting the shared building. These disadvantages discourage some users from attending sessions at Reddish North.  Neither centre promotes sufficiently effectively the economic stability, employability or independence of adults through adult learning courses, and there are few checks on the progress adults make.  Parent representatives on the joint advisory board do not reflect the wide range of socio-economic characteristics found within the group’s reach area.

This children’s centre group has the following strengths:  Services provided are well planned and of good quality.  There are good systems to check how well children develop their early learning skills.  Children who access services at either centre are well prepared for school.  Women who experience domestic violence or postnatal depression are well supported at both centres.  Parents enjoy trusting relationships with staff that help them to make difficult changes in their lives.  The safeguarding and protection of children are high priorities for all staff.  Leaders have an accurate understanding of the group’s strengths and weaknesses.

Inspection report: Stockport – Reddish Group Page 2 of 9

Information about this inspection

The inspection of this children’s centre group was carried out under Part 3A of the Childcare Act 2006 as amended by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. The centres that form part of this children’s centre group are Reddish Vale Children’s Centre and Reddish North Children’s Centre.

This inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors.

The inspectors held meetings with the centres’ leader, centre staff, members of the advisory board, childminders, officers from the local authority and parents. They also met with Early Years, Education and health partners and had discussions with a Jobcentre Plus adviser. The group manager and local authority officers attended the inspection team meetings.

The inspectors visited both centres, the local authority contact centre which is the first point of contact for families and North Reddish Community Centre.

They observed the group’s work, and looked at a range of relevant documentation including development and action plans, self-evaluation, safeguarding policies, procedures and records, children’s progress records and parent satisfaction surveys.

Inspection team

Jane Hughes, Lead inspector Additional inspector

Tara Street Additional inspector

Ken Fisher Additional inspector

Inspection report: Stockport – Reddish Group Page 3 of 9

Full report

Information about the group

Stockport – Reddish Children’s Centre group operates across two centres. These are located one mile apart. They share the same staff and are led by a children’s centre leader across the group. The staff team comprises children’s centre family workers, a parent engagement worker and a children’s centre early years teacher. There is business support in each centre. Stockport local authority is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day running of the group. Governance for the group is provided by a joint advisory board. Neither centre provides childcare.

The group serves two communities, Reddish Vale and Reddish North. Formerly an Early Excellence Centre, Reddish Vale was originally designated as a phase one centre in September 2006. The site is shared with Reddish Vale Nursery School which has overall responsibility for the building. Reddish Vale Children’s Centre is situated within one of the 30% areas of high deprivation in the borough. There are 711 children under five years living in the reach area. Of these, 130 live in the most deprived area. Residents in the reach area are predominantly of White British heritage. Emotional health and well- being and child poverty are key issues for families living in Reddish Vale. Here, 25% of children under five years old live in workless households.

Reddish North was designated as a phase two children’s centre in March 2008. From its former base in North Reddish clinic, the centre relocated to the site of Vale View Primary School which opened in September 2011. The new building amalgamated all of the three existing primary schools, nursery school and the children’s centre on to one site. The group also uses the local community centre near Reddish North. Reddish North Children’s Centre serves an area defined as being in one of the 30% most deprived in the borough. There are 913 children under five years old in the reach. Of these, 145 live in the most deprived area. Most residents are of White British heritage, although there is a slowly increasing Black and minority ethnic community. Within the Reddish North reach, 25.4% of children under five years old live in workless households. Of the children under five years old living in the most deprived area, 31% are classed as being in poverty. Unemployment, along with emotional health and well-being are key issues for families in Reddish North.

The group targets children from low income backgrounds, children living with domestic abuse and adult mental health issues, children in need or subject to a child protection plan, fathers and male carers, families identified as likely to be most vulnerable, particularly those for whom English is a second language, and troubled families with children under five years old.

The majority of childcare provision is through local childminders. Children from the reach generally enter early years provision with skills, knowledge and abilities that are below those expected for their age. The primary schools and early years settings in the locality were not part of this inspection as they are inspected separately. The reports are available on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk.

What does the group need to do to improve further?  Improve the impact of leadership, governance and management by: - seeking out, registering and engaging more families, particularly from target groups, so that almost all families benefit from the services offered by the group - encouraging greater engagement at Reddish North by taking steps to provide easier access to the shared building for users and health partners - making even more effective use of data collected about the progress children make in the Early Years Foundation Stage so that the overall impact of services at both centres is clear - increasing the number of parents on the joint advisory board in order to reflect more closely the various socio-economic characteristics of the area.

 Improve the impact of practice and services on health outcomes for children and families by: Inspection report: Stockport – Reddish Group Page 4 of 9

- increasing the numbers of mothers who initiate and then sustain breastfeeding beyond six weeks - decreasing the proportion of children in Reception Year in local schools who are obese.

 Develop the economic stability, employability and independence of families by: - improving the promotion of, and engagement with, adult education, training and volunteering - implementing a system to record and check adults’ progress when they do access courses.

Inspection report: Stockport – Reddish Group Page 5 of 9

Inspection judgements

Access to services by young children and families Requires improvement

 Registrations and participation rates across the group are rising year on year, but too slowly. Recent reductions in staffing levels mean that there is now only one parent engagement worker to service the needs of families and expectant mothers across the group’s reach. Consequently, staff are currently spending less time in seeking out families who do not participate regularly in centre activities or who are most in need.  Although staff are friendly, the reception areas at both centres are austere in appearance. Parents and health partners at Reddish North do not like the restrictions imposed by sharing the entrance with the host primary school. Parents find it daunting and some prefer not to attend services as a result. Health professionals find the fob security system slows their work rate as they have to escort every parent to and from the entrance to the shared premises at the beginning and end of consultations or activities.  Strategies to encourage parents to participate in adult learning and training and which then lead on to employment are not well developed. As a result, there are too few opportunities for parents in the area to gain economic independence and stability.  The very large majority of three- and four-year-old children take up their entitlement to free early years education. Across the group, a similar proportion of parents who are eligible to receive funding takes up the free entitlement for their two-year-old children.  Women happily attend and complete a course which provides support for those who experience postnatal depression, domestic violence or other emotional well-being issues. The targeted ‘stay and play’ sessions are also popular and help to develop parents’ and children’s skills.  There is some good partnership work and sharing of information. This makes sure that those who are most in need receive the information they require and can then discuss with the best qualified professionals the appropriate level of help they need to access.

The quality of practice and services Requires improvement

 There are no courses to support the development of adults’ basic skills in English, mathematics or information and communication technology and only limited opportunities for training and volunteering. This constrains adults’ chances for employment. When adults do access other courses, their learning and progress are not checked or recorded in enough detail.  Health outcomes are variable and not all of the group’s health-related aspirations are met. In particular, the percentages of mothers who begin to breastfeed their babies and those who keep breastfeeding for at least six weeks are below the national average and fluctuate from year to year across the group. There is no sustained trend in improvement.  Too many children in Reception Year in the local primary schools are obese. Although there are programmes designed to support parents’ knowledge of healthy eating and weight loss, not all of those who start to attend manage to finish the course.  Planning and meticulous checks by staff on the progress of children from target groups who regularly attend sessions such as ‘stay and play’ show that they do well from their individual starting points. Even so, staff do not use this information to check how well children who have benefited from attending such services at the centres achieve by the end of Reception Year in local schools.  The centre prepares children well for school. When children start attending activities at the centres, their development is not as good as it should be for their age. By the time they leave, their development is in line with expectations. The proportion of children across the reach who achieve a good level of development is in line with the national average. The gap in achievement between the lowest achieving 20% of children and the rest is reducing. It was narrower than the national figure in 2011/12 for the first time in three years and this is improving children’s life chances and reducing inequalities.  Staff work closely with local private childcare providers to make sure that assessment and Inspection report: Stockport – Reddish Group Page 6 of 9

observations of children are reliable and are used well to help all young children to make good progress, whatever their individual need. Parents say that they receive helpful guidance on how to promote good communication and language skills with their children at home. They particularly appreciate the home learning cards.  Support for women who experience postnatal depression, domestic violence and low self-esteem is of high quality. Women confirm that this support programme helps them to make a wider circle of friends, develop a vital awareness of their own self-worth and so take the first steps back to living full and purposeful lives. Typically, they say, ‘This course has been a lifesaver.’  Services in the area are improving children’s well-being and improving the lives of the majority of families in the Reddish area. However, as one parent stated, ‘Excellent services but not enough of them.’

The effectiveness of leadership, governance and Requires improvement management

 There are established and well understood arrangements for governance, leadership and management. The joint advisory board has a secure knowledge of the group’s priorities and strengths, and members contribute to accurate self-evaluation. However, there are not enough representatives from adult education or from a cross-section of parents to reflect the various socio- economic characteristics of the reach area.  The local authority provides timely updates of performance data and has the overview of what is working well and where services require improvement. The impact of services is measured by the local authority along with the group manager in terms of rising trends.  The centre leader and staff are committed both to ensuring that the centres continue to improve and to reducing inequalities where they still exist. They have already planned to increase staffing in order to increase the numbers of families from the groups most in need, especially in Reddish North, that access services or use the available resources regularly.  Staff do not initiate their own case files. However, the relatively new electronic recording system, which is gradually unrolling throughout the local authority is already greatly enhancing the sharing of information among professionals.  Safeguarding arrangements are supported by robust policies, procedures and practices, including for the recruitment of staff. Case files are well documented and audited, ensuring that children and families are appropriately protected. Staff have a good knowledge of procedures to keep children and families safe, and undertake regular training.  Staff use the Common Assessment Framework and other tools well to reduce the risk of harm to families. The centre also uses the data and information it routinely receives about children who are subject to child protection plans, children in need and looked-after children to make sure their families are involved in centre activities and receive the help they need.  Relationships between the centre leader, staff and users at both centres are warmly supportive and leaders show the capacity to improve further the group’s impact.

Inspection report: Stockport – Reddish Group Page 7 of 9

What inspection judgements mean

Grade Judgement Description Grade 1 Outstanding Practice consistently reflects the highest aspirations for children and their families and as a result inequalities are reducing rapidly and gaps are closing.

Grade 2 Good Practice enables most children and their families to access good quality services that improve children’s wellbeing and achieve the stated outcomes for families.

Grade 3 Requires Performance is not as good as it might reasonably be expected to be in improvement one or more key areas. Grade 4 Inadequate The needs of children and families in its area are not being met and/or the leaders and managers are not providing sufficient challenge to bring about improvement to the quality of services. Inspection report: Stockport – Reddish Group Page 8 of 9

Children’s Centre Group details

Unique reference number 80631 Local authority Stockport Inspection number 429907 Managed by The local authority

Approximate number of children under 1,624 five in the reach area Centre leader Christine Smallwood Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 0161 480 6179 Email address [email protected]

This group consists of the following children’s centres:  22486 Reddish North Children’s Centre  22487 Reddish Vale Children’s Centre

Inspection report: Stockport – Reddish Group Page 9 of 9

Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the procedures set out in the guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email [email protected].

(Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email [email protected]. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’. Piccadilly Gate Store St M1 2WD

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: [email protected] W: www.ofsted.gov.uk © Crown copyright 2013