The relentlessly determined effort to keep the children's centre roll-out on track has seen the programme expand to the point where it is now reaching one million children and their families. Some 500 centres were launched or designated in the past year, and we've spoken to some of the local authorities who are making the most progress to see what they think are the vital ingredients for meeting their targets (see news, page 4). Children's centres may be opening apace, but the bigger challenge is then their successful operation of high-quality services and their ultimate sustainability. Nonetheless, we could well see Sure Start and the children's centre programme being cited by Tony Blair as an important part of his 'legacy' as he nears the end of his premiership.
The relentlessly determined effort to keep the children's centre roll-out on track has seen the programme expand to the point where it is now reaching one million children and their families. Some 500 centres were launched or designated in the past year, and we've spoken to some of the local authorities who are making the most progress to see what they think are the vital ingredients for meeting their targets (see news, page 4).
Children's centres may be opening apace, but the bigger challenge is then their successful operation of high-quality services and their ultimate sustainability. Nonetheless, we could well see Sure Start and the children's centre programme being cited by Tony Blair as an important part of his 'legacy' as he nears the end of his premiership.
Local authorities may be congratulated on reaching the one million mark, but the large figures being thrown up by the Single Status Agreement fiasco - such as a potential 3bn in back pay - are cause for alarm rather than congratulation. Turn to our Special Report (pages 10-11) to see the scale of the problem of tackling local authority pay rates.
Meanwhile, Nursery World has got a fantastic reader offer in a series of tokens to collect starting this week, with the chance to win one of two Asco viaduct activity systems ideal for inspired outdoor play and worth 500 each. See page 14 for token 1.
