Simon Vevers went to see
The gradual devolution of resources and responsibilities from the county council to local children's trusts is at the heart of Kent's drive to integrate services, improving them and making them more accessible for children and families.
Currently, the county is divided into 12 districts, each with its own children's consortium - a multi-agency steering group which plans children's services. Additionally, there are 23 'clusters' of schools.
Alex Gamby, county early education and childcare officer, says, 'The consortia and clusters will be brought together into local children's trusts, which are anticipated to be incorporated bodies, to which Kent CC will, in the fullness of time, delegate resources and responsibilities, including the management of children's centres.'
She says that consultation with the consortia about the suitability of potentially available buildings and sites, coupled with falling rolls and surplus accommodation in primary schools, have been key determining factors in deciding where children's centres should be located. The children's centre strategy has been guided on a countywide basis by the Early Years, Childcare and Extended Services Board, which replaced the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).
Children's centres
In Round 1, from 2004-06, Kent established 20 centres, nine of them originating from Sure Start Local Programmes. It received 7.1m capital and Pounds 1.8m revenue.
In Round 2, from 2006-08, the county is to have a further 52 centres. It is getting 9.3m capital and 5.3m revenue.
Based on the assumption that as a large county, Kent should shoulder approximately 3 per cent of the national target of 3,500 centres to be reached by 2010, Alex Gamby estimates that Kent will probably have around 33 centres in Round 3, bringing the total number potentially to 105.
Extended schools
Kent has beaten targets set by the DfES for the development of extended schools. Of the county's 609 schools, 74 were providing the core offer by September last year, while the DfES target was 40. The target set for September this year is 166, but head of extended services Marisa White says it is aiming for around 200.
Of the 74 already in operation, five were originally funded to be full-service extended schools, but the county has now developed 23 clusters, each with their own extended schools manager.
'We have carried out an audit with schools to establish what is being provided already, who they are working in partnership with and the sustainability issues,' says Marisa White.
She says there were a few instances in the past where schools 'wanted to do everything and develop their own provision and put a couple of good childcare providers out of business, and this was done against advice.
'We have a much more robust approach now, whereby first of all we check our data and if there is sufficient childcare coverage, we tell schools not to develop their own provision. We also help to broker discussions between schools and local providers if there are gaps in provision.' Recently, she says, some schools have been approached by local childcare providers to take over their provision, either because a key manager has left, or there are concerns about viability.
She detects more interest in extended provision from schools that may have been lukewarm in the past but have become more enthusiastic since the programme was re-badged as extended services in and around schools. 'A lot more are more eager because they feel that they are not expert but that partnership working means they can contribute,' she adds.
Extended services in Kent has been funded with 1.5m in 2004-05 from the Standards Fund, which has been delegated to the clusters as the local authority has provided core funding for key staff. Sure Start revenue funding amounted to just over 500,000 for 2006-07 and this is set to rise to 1.5m next year. There will be Sure Start capital funding totalling at least Pounds 2.4m next year and money is being found to continue financing the crucial family liaison officer role formerly supported by Kent children's fund.
Early years strategy
Kent is heavily dependent on the private, voluntary and independent sector.
According to Alex Gamby, at least 95 per cent of early education and childcare in children's centres is provided by PVI providers.
In all, there are nearly 3,000 providers, supplying around 50,000 childcare places. These include 1,800 childminders supplying 7,500 places; 43 creches with 1,100 places; 270 private day nurseries with 13,000 places; 156 holiday schemes with 6,800 places; 39 nursery units in independent schools with 1,100 places; 65 before- and after-school clubs with 2,000 places; 46 year-round providers of breakfast, after-school and holiday provision for 2,000 children; 374 voluntary pre-schools with 11,000 places and 75 private nursery schools with 2,500 places. (Numbers of providers and places fluctuate regularly and are, therefore, approximate).
The county completed a four-year plan in 2006 to double the number of maintained nurseries from 35 to 70. 'Some of those maintained nurseries are co-terminus with Round 2 children's centre sites and they will provide at least the early education part of the core offer,' says Alex Gamby.
The county is particularly proud of its under-threes provision, and principal adviser for Early Years and Childcare Jennie Landsberg says that it is being developed now as part of the nought-to-five agenda in anticipation of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Sustainability
The county's sustainability strategy has been underpinned by some internal restructuring which has involved attaching a childcare development officer to each of the 23 clusters.
The Parents Consultation Project, a needs assessment of childcare which involved knocking on the doors of 30,000 households, has resulted in data by cluster about numbers of children in age groups and provision.
Alex Gamby says, 'We hope it means we get childcare in the right places at the right time. We are moving towards taking a preventative approach to sustainability rather than always trying to tackle it when it becomes an issue.'
She says her department will be working with the property section of the county council to ensure 'consistency and moderation' in the amounts charged to childcare providers for leasing parts of school premises. She adds that it is 'not uncommon for a provider to come to us for sustainability grants because they can't afford the cost of renewing their lease'.
Nursery education
Kent became the focus for discontent over the new DfES Code of Practice for nursery education after the Government refused to let providers charge parents 'top-up' fees - something they regarded as crucial to their viability.
Alex Gamby says KCC officers met DfES officials to discuss apparent anomalies in the Code of Practice. After suspending its local Delegated Conditions, the council is now consulting on a new set of proposals, hoped to be implemented in September.
She understands the tension that exists between sustainability for providers, affordability for parents and the need to invest in quality staff. She says providers face the dilemma of charging less and sacrificing quality and sustainability, or putting up fees. In both scenarios, parents could desert them on the grounds that quality had been compromised or because the fees were too high.
CASE STUDY: THE VILLAGE CHILDREN'S CENTRE, FOLKESTONE
A key element in the family support provided by the Village Children's Centre in Folkestone is the home visit made to families with newborn babies. Manager Chris Cummins says that this provides an essential initial bridge to other services and activities at the centre.
The centre has worked closely with health and social services to reach the most vulnerable families. 'We want to build up those links so families come in here and feel safe and don't feel frightened, because it can be daunting for them,' he says.
A dads' group provides a weekly drop-in facility and there are evening events exclusively for fathers, as well as day trips accompanying their children to attractions such as Dover Castle and Hastings Sealife Centre.
The Village developed out of a Sure Start Local Programme servicing one of the most deprived wards. It is housed in a purpose-built facility in the grounds of the Castle Hill Community Primary School. Mr Cummins says it is about to benefit from an upgrade of school facilities with the creation of two Foundation Stage classrooms which will link directly to the children's centre.
There is a 79-place day nursery, run by the school's early years team, a 12-place creche, medical room, meeting rooms, a family room and a communal area for play and other activities. There is also a sensory room and a sensory element to a fenced outdoor area.
Mr Cummins thinks collaboration between groups of children's centres, sharing expertise and resources, will be important as funding will become scarcer, particularly after 2008.