Sure Start Children's Centres

Children's Centres in Bexley

Bringing Services Together

A Children's Centre brings together a wide range of service for children from birth - five years and their families/carers. The Centres create a one-stop shop within the community for parents and providers of childcare and family support.

Parents with young children often have difficulty travelling to different places to access services, the aim is that Children's centres provide a whole range of information and activities. By bringing together a range of services for children and families/carers, from early education and childcare to health and family support, the Centres will make it easier for parents to access services for their children and themselves and help more families benefit in the critical early years of their children's lives.

Examples of service provided by a Phase 1 Children's Centre include:

Childcare for children from birth - 5 years from 8am-6pm, 50 weeks of the year to support working parents and others.
Early education led by a teacher for children aged 3 and 4 years.
Child and family health services e.g. ante natal and post natal support.
Family support e.g. advice and support with parenting skills, dads clubs, learning courses etc.
Links with Jobcentre Plus e.g. support in accessing training and employment.
Bexley Family Information Service e.g. details of playschemes for older children.
Services for Children with Special Educational Needs and disabilities.*

*All Children's Centres are fully inclusive settings with support for children with Special Educational Needs and disabilities and are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all children.

But activities will vary at each centre according to local community needs.

Will every ward have a Children's Centre?

Children's Centres will be developed in 3 phases to cover every ward in Bexley.

The first phase has seen the development of 5 Children's Centres. These are:

By 2008, there will be a further 8 Children's Centres and by 2010 Children's Centres will serve the whole of Bexley.

Phase 2 Children's Centres in Bexley

To deliver Phase 2 of the Children's Centre Programme the Borough has
been allocated £ 1.5m and £2.2m revenue for the period 2006-08.

The targets for Bexley are to deliver eight new centres by March 2008 in
addition to the four centres developed in Phase 1.

The capital allocation in Phase 2 is significantly lower than the funding for the
Sure Start Local Programme and the first round of Children's Centre development. This will mean future Children's Centres will not be large scale new build schemes, but smaller refurbishments. It also means that opportunity for joint planning of capital resources will be needed to ensure the best use of the funding can be realised.

Identifying the areas for Phase 2 Children's Centres

The following information has to be taken into account to identify potential
areas which should be prioritised for Phase 2 Children's Centres:

Indices of multiple deprivation at ‘Super Output Area'* level;
Density levels of children under the age 5;

* Super Output Areas – These are areas with approximately 1,500 residents. Added together these areas form Bexley Borough Wards.

The areas for proposed development are set out overleaf. Factors taken into
account for potential sites within an area are:

Levels of disadvantage within an area;
Site availability and accessibility;
Existing service provision in an area;
Existing development plans in an area which could enhance a scheme.

Children's Centres need to include the following services:

Easy referral to health Professionals
Support and Outreach services
Information and advice
Support to childminders
Drop in sessions
Links to Job Centre Plus

There is no target for the creation of childcare places within Phase 2 of the Children's Centres Programme so each new Children's Centre will not necessarily have a new full day care facility. In areas where there is already sufficient full day care we shall look to work in partnership with existing providers and with existing childminders.

Ward	Description
Cray Meadows	North Cray Children's Centre is housed within North Cray Neighbourhood Centre. There is a good Children's Centre programme underway and people looking for a full/sessional day care at the nursery should contact Mapalim the nursery provider here. Click here for more information. Childrens Centre 020 8308 3881 Health Visitors 020 8308 3886 North Cray Neighbourhood Centre 020 8308 3860
Danson	This is a designated Children's Centre. Plans are in place to create a new building adjacent to Danson Youth Centre.
Sidcup	This is a newly designated Children’s Centre that has been created at The Adult Education College for Bexley and will be run by New Foundations. New Foundations will also provide full/sessional day care for young children.
St Micheal's	This is a newly designated centre. Refurbishment of the Health Clinic will take place shortly. The centre will work closely with the new full day care provider (Clever Cloggs) based at Welling School.
Colyers	This is a newly designated Centre at Normandy Primary School. Plans are in place to provide a new building to fully house the Children's Centre within the school.
Crayford	This is a newly designated Children's Centre at Barnes Cray Primary school. A new Children's Centre area will be created when the rebuilding of the school is complete.
Falconwood & Welling	Falconwood Children's Centre is based in Falconwood Community Centre, this is a newly designated Centre. There is a pre-school on this site, as well as morning mother & toddler groups, a twins club held every second week and a child health clinic.
Christchurch	Plans are in place to provide a Children's Centre at Upton Primary School on the new school site.
Northumberland Heath	This is a newly designated Children's Centre at Northumberland Heath Primary School. A new Children’s Centre is soon to be built next to the school that will also provide a full day care nursery for babies to 5yr olds.

The identification of sites for Phase 2 schemes has taken into account other key developments in the Borough such as Building schools for the Future and School Organisation proposals etc.

How will I access services while a Children's Centre is being developed?

Parents and Children will still be able to access health, childcare, early education and family support service from the usual places whilst Children's Centre are being developed.

How do I find out more information?

For general information on Bexley Children's Centres, contact Bexley Family Information Service (FIS) on Tel: 020 8856 5398 or email to fis@bexley.gov.uk.

All Children's Centres across the Borough are looking to encourage parents, families and other members of the local community to become involved in the development of services. For more information contact your local centre.

Sure Start Children's Centres

For further details on children's centres, please contact Jane Vong 020 8836 8209 or jane.vong@bexley.gov.uk

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