However, Ofsted said that while the quality of care and learning was good, a third of the 23 centres inspected 'do too little to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning in the Foundation Stage' because of inadequate staff management skills and insufficient support from local education authorities.
The report, Children at the centre: an evaluation of early excellence centres, found that teaching was less strong in early maths, early literacy and aspects of creative development because staff who are not qualified teachers 'tend to lack confidence and subject knowledge'.
Most centres offer children under three 'a rich, stimulating environment, with high-quality resources, and emphasise children's personal, social and emotional development'. In a minority of centres there was a lack of interesting resources and too little observation, recording and assessment.
Chief inspector of schools David Bell said, 'Early excellence centres are ahead of the game when it comes to providing a range of services for local communities in some of the most disadvantaged parts of the country.'
During a visit to the Thomas Coram Early Excellence Centre in London, which is highly praised in the report, he said 'We must not just see this as a little early years world. There are lessons here regarding its good practice that could apply to all primary schools.'
Ofsted said the report, which evaluated quality, standards, leadership and management in the centres, would inform the refining of combined inspections and the integrated inspection of EECs, children's centres and extended schools.
The inspectors found that overall management of centres was good, but that heads and senior staff often did not have the skills to provide clear strategic thinking. They stated, 'When faced with a welter of initiatives, their attention has been diverted from the quality of the education provided. Often, these heads have not been well supported by the LEA.'
The most successful settings were where family services and childcare existed before they became Early Excellence Centres. 'These centres have not had to struggle to accommodate a deluge of new initiatives, but instead have been able to build effectively on existing services,' the report stated.