Sure Start Children’s Centres
The Government has today published a new core
purpose of children’s centres for consultation, which sets out the
Government’s overall goals for children’s centres.
The Government’s intention is to enable
greater flexibility for local authorities and children’s centres to
commission services based on an assessment of local need. To find
out more, visit:
www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare
Comments on the core offer are invited this
week via a short online survey. These online contributions will
feed into the debate in advance of the Government’s policy
statement on the foundation years, which will be published shortly.
However, there will be a broader consultation later in the year on
updating the statutory guidance on Sure Start Children’s Centres
and NCMA will continue to welcome your feedback over the
summer.
The start of a busy
summer
The Government’s reform of children’s centres
and the EYFS is part of its wider work on a new vision for
families in the Foundation Years. In the coming weeks more detail
on how the Government plans to support parents will be published,
which will be followed by further proposals to improve the quality
of the early years workforce.
In addition to the consultation on statutory
guidance on Sure Start Children’s Centres, a further consultation
will be held in the autumn on the flexibility of the free
entitlement, which will examine allowing the free entitlement to be
used over a minimum of two days rather than three, and from 7am to
7pm.
NCMA will keep our members informed
throughout the process.