South Acton Children’s CentreHead of Centre’s Report to Governors February 2011 

 Governors.We have had several changes in the membership of the Governing Body since our Autumn meeting. Louisa is moving out of the area and has resigned for personal reasons. As we also had a vacancy for a parent governor we held an election and I am delighted to welcome both Louise Troy who has 2 children in the centre, one in Snowflakes babies and the other in the Over 3s, and Nuura Jama who attends the groups with her child, to the Governing Body. Gwen’s term of office expired so we also held a Staff election which was won by Amanda Ireland so I am also very pleased to welcome her to the Governing Body.We continue to have 2 vacancies for LA Governors and Natasha has informed Governor Services so we are waiting for action to fill those positions.I would like to thank all retiring Governors for their work and support and look forward to working in partnership with the new members. Dates for induction will be set at the meeting in March.I would urge Governors to consider inviting Gwen to become an Associate Governor which is a similar role to those with full membership but excluding voting rights as I feel that we need her expert knowledge and skills. We will discuss this under agenda item “Governing Body Membership” at the next full meeting.Only 2 Governors did not attend the twilight training session led by Melian Mansfield and I believe that we all benefitted from it. We need to decide how that is going to strengthen our practice.Several Governors have carried out their yearly visit but not all so please bring your diaries to the next meeting so that we can formulate a plan.We no longer need to write an annual report to parents but need to discuss what information we should be providing and think this could be a very significant role for Parent Governors.  

 Staff.Please refer to Personnel and Pay Committee minutes.Beverley Beason was seconded to cover Sheila McCabe’s secondment to Acton Park Children’s Centre and we have enjoyed working with her and have appreciated her efficiency and team working. Sheila plans to return at the beginning of April and we are happy to welcome her back.Ami Mathur, the Speech and Language Therapist in I CAN went on maternity leave at half term and is shortly expected to give birth.  

Staff Training.

Our third training day took place on 18th February and several sessions were provided. Ami led half a day’s training on linking sounds and letters for the Over 3s and some of the Family and Community Team which has been identified as an area for improvement. I led a session to introduce the Ealing Early Years Foundation Stage Progress and Profile Tool for the Under 3s and they were then given time to start to use it. The document is designed to be used to track children’s progress from the time they enter the Centre until the end of Reception and is then passed on to the Year 1 Teacher. In the afternoon most staff had training in using the new Common Assessment Framework while others had the opportunity to visit alternative early year’s settings. The administrative staff had IT training all day according to their individual needs.There are some very interesting training opportunities coming up for the Under 3s. I am hoping to send at least 2 members of staff to a day’s training on using the outdoor space for babies and toddlers run by “Learning Through Landscapes” which is a very innovative organisation to which we belong. There is also ICAN Early Talk training for 0 – 3 year olds to which I am also planning to send several staff.

Centre Development.You should all have received the current Centre Development Plan and the updated CDP work plan will be available at the meeting. ·       

Children’s Achievements and Standards of Practice

Please refer to the Curriculum, Family Support and Inclusion Committee minutes.

As 2011 has been designated as The Year of Communication, different communication, language and literacy activities have been planned for each month throughout the centre.

Carole, Hazel and Mandy have now observed the crèche and judged it at OFSTED grade 2 which is “good”. The formal observations that I made with Sue Benson, our Centre Improvement Partner, showed practice in the under and over 3s to range from 2 – 1 (good to outstanding) although there continues to be a lack of consistency in some rooms.

My analysis of the attainment levels of the children attending Berrymede at the end of the Reception Class showed that a larger percentage of children who attended nursery at SACC achieved 6 points or more at 10 out of the 13 areas assessed than the national and LA average. There was a further marked difference in the level of attainment between SACC children and those who had attended other local early years settings. I intend to drill further down and compare the attainments of different groups of children in order to better understand how far we are reducing the achievement gap. Most of you will have received my breakdown of the results but I include the table here for the benefit of our new Governors.   

N = National                 E = Ealing           S = Children who attended SACC OS = Children who attended other settings The numbers are percentages.

 
Berrymede
 
Berrymede

N
E
S
OS
N
E
S
OS

Personal, Social & Emotional
Dispositions and Attitudes
91
91
94
91
Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
Numbers for Labels and for Counting
89
90
92
82

Social Development
86
84
90
74
Calculating
76
72
86
50

Emotional Development
81
79
82
67
Shape, Space and Measures
84
79
98
72

Communication, Language and Literacy
Language for Communication and Thinking
84
80
86
67
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
 
83
78
86
61

Linking Sounds and Letters
77
76
72
54
Physical Development
 
91
91
100
89

Reading
74
69
64
35
Creative Development
 
82
80
92
63

Writing
65
67
62
52
 

  We are extending the maths library to Rainbow Room and Janis hopes to have that up and running by the end of March. ·       

 Working With Families

Please refer to the Curriculum, Family Support and Inclusion Committee minutes.

We have had a further 2 Saturday morning workshop sessions for all families and with an emphasis on engaging Fathers. Children and parents attend together and we demonstrate fun activities that they can share within one of the areas of the curriculum highlighting especially the use of outdoors. In December we explored the Creative area of learning when 75 people attended and in February we looked at Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy with 52 attendees. The feedback from parents (and some Grandparents!) has been very positive.

We have started another exciting new initiative working with parents to help them understand how we are supporting their children’s learning and development. Each Key Worker is running workshops for their families, explaining the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum with slides and video. They are then encouraged to observe the practice inside and outside in pairs to try and identify how the six areas are being developed. In the under 3s Janis is leading most of the sessions as the staff develop confidence to, hopefully, take the lead in the future. 

As there are so many weeks designated to raise awareness of various health issues, Gill has identified 10 that are the most relevant to our community. Apart from The Year of Communication, there are 2 in the next 2 months – National No Smoking Day 9th March and National Autism Month in April. We will have a display plus an information stand in Reception for each event and I will let you know when further dates are nearing.We are continuing to work towards “Asthma Friendly” status and the nurse from the asthma team provided a drop-in for users at the beginning of February. She felt that it had been very successful and worthwhile.  ·      

  New Initiatives

The Family and Community Team are liaising with Carole with a view to visiting the families who are waiting for a place in the specialist provision. Quite frequently the rooms are full and families have to wait a considerable length of time for a place so it is helpful for them to make contact and find out about other services they may be able to take advantage of. This is an excellent idea but we will have to monitor how it works and ensure that staff do not become overloaded as they are already working extremely hard.

We have expanded our re-cycling facilities and are now able to recycle cardboard which is collected fortnightly and cooked food which is collected every week. We also have a bin in Reception for second hand clothes, CDs, DVDs etc collected by a local charity called “Make It Work”.

Finance

Please refer to the Finance Committee Minutes.

I have been told that the F and C budget will be approximately the same as financial year 10 – 11 and that the under 3s budget will be cut by £70,000 so we will need to find ways of making cuts across all 4 budgets to compensate for this. I understand that Charles Barnard has managed to maintain the level of the Children’s Centre budget which is a huge relief.We have now received our second indicative budget for the over 3s which appears to be slightly higher than last year but, as the single funding formula comes in at the start of this next financial year we will need to have a contingency fund as we are unlikely to always be completely full on the 3 census. 

Premises, Health and Safety Issues.

Please refer to the Premises Committee minutes.Following my report to OFSTED after the 2 children crawled under the fence we had an unannounced inspection as follow up. The inspector was happy with our security but decided that our risk assessments were not specific enough so we are in the process of re-writing them.The sliding doors in the training room have been replaced and are much easier to manage.We are having yet another audit towards the end of March. Zurich Risk Engineering UK has been commissioned by the LA to carry out a series of fire, safety and security assessments of all Ealing schools. 

Leavers and Admissions

Four children left the Over 3s at the end of the Autumn Term and 28 were admitted. However, there has been quite a high mobility rate and we will have at least 6 spaces after Easter which will need to be filled by May 5th which is the date of the census.Part of the problem is that we admit children according to age rather than proximity to the Centre. Consequently, if they are then offered a place at a nursery nearer to their home they tend to leave mid-year. I would like Governors to consider changing the admissions policy so that we offer places according to address.   

Attendance.

Monthly attendance for the under 3s since the last Governing Body meeting was as follows: 

 
0-1s
1-2s
2-3s
ASD
SCU

Oct 10
95%
76%
87%
83%
89%

Nov 10
96%
91%
84%
63%
79%

Dec 10
73%
73%
70%
70%
89%

Jan 11
92%
80%
88%
90%
82%

Average
89%
80%
82%
83%
81%

Overall Average                                    83%

  Monthly attendance for the over 3s since the last Governing Body meeting was as follows: 

 
Red
Yellow
Blue
Green

Nov 10
82.5%
87%
87%
77%

Dec 10
80%
85%
80%
71%

Jan 11
89%
91%
93%
86%

Average
84%
88%
87%
78%

Overall Average                                                    84%

   Authorised and unauthorised absences for the Over 3s was as follows: 

 
Red
Yellow
Blue
Green

 
A
U
A
U
A
U
A
U

Nov 10
82
7
55
1
44
9
86
0

Dec 10
74
12
56
0
61
10
87
0

Jan 11
59
6
42
1
38
2
47
0

 Yet again the statistics for Red and Blue Class are extremely disappointing and I will speak with the staff concerned to set targets. 

Accidents.

During January and February there were 13 minor accidents in the Under 3s. There were no underlying preventable causes and they were due to the very young children falling and bumping themselves, bending to pick up something then banging heads, scratches etc.

In the Over 3s there were 22 similar accidents caused by walking into furniture, bumping into other children, falls off the swing etc.   

Diary Dates  

Tuesday 15th March 4.00 pm – Governing Body Meeting.

Tuesday 22nd March – Whole Centre Staff Meeting.

26th March – Saturday Workshop, Communication, language and literacy area of learning.

Tuesday 29th March – Zurich audit. Wednesday 6th April – Finance Committee Budget Meeting.

Thursday 7th April – Last day of term for Over 3s.

Friday 8th April -  Training Day 4.

Tuesday 26th April – First day of term for Over 3s.  

My thanks to all staff who have contributed separately to the Head of Centre’s report to give Governors a fuller flavour of the work of the Centre.  

Sue Wadhams

Head of Centre       

Under 3s Governing Body Report February 2011

PAYING PLACES PROGRAMME

At present we have 22 children on roll in paying places. We put up the fees in January 2010 for new parents only and our fees are now more in line with other local providers.

STAFFING

There is still a 0.5 job share nursery officer vacancy in the “children in need” staffing.1 “children in need” staff member is currently on maternity leave with her post covered by an agency member of staff. She is due to return in May this year. Another “children in need” staff member has decided not to return from maternity leave.Paying Places staff are currently still on annual contracts and there is no solution to this issue at present due to funding of paying places not fully covering staff salaries.Vacancies in the Paying Places staff are still being covered by agency staff.

CHILDREN

Currently we have 38 referred “children in need” on roll, with 10 on the waiting list.  We have no children attending at present under the 2 year old funding pilot scheme. This scheme was due to end in March 2011 but the new government has reinstated it. The Special Care Unit is full with 6 children on the waiting list. The Nurture Group is full with 3 on the waiting list. The ASD group is full with 2 on the waiting list.

Under Threes Development Officer

Janis Willmott, our Under Three’s Development Officer / Early Years Advisor, is currently holding sessions with all keyworkers and parents looking at the importance of play. She is also leading on the Saturday workshops we are holding over the coming academic year covering the 6 areas of the curriculum. Two have been held so far and have been fairly well attended. 

Carole Clement, Manager.

 Over 3s Governing Body Report February 2011 

This year we are celebrating the year of communication and we have different events each month.  In January we asked parents to come in and sing in their home language as well as asking children to greet staff in English or home language as they entered the Centre. Both events went very well with a good response.  In February we asked parents to come in and tell stories either in English or home language.  Some parents read a story at story time and others sat on our comfortable settee and read stories to the children during the session. Other planned events are:

March: - World Book Day – dress-up as a book character, April: - Communication Language and Literacy workshop, May: - Share a story Month, June: - Fathers story week July: - Join the library month

We held Open Evening on the 19th January and the staff were able to talk to 100% of their parents (in some cases we made extra appointments in order to reach the 100%).We celebrated the Chinese New Year which is The Year of the Rabbit.  The children danced the dragon dance and also made Chinese noodles to eat, and some children attempted to use chopsticks.

On Saturday November 27th we held a creative workshop which was very well attended across the whole centre especially by our fathers, a display of photos was put up in the entrance.  We held a Maths workshop on Saturday the 12th February; again we had a very good turn out of both mums and dads playing a variety of Maths games with their children indoors and out. They also had packs with advice and ideas for activities at home.

Wednesday 16th February there was a visit to the Science Museum again there was a good response and a high turn out.

During November and December staff held their key worker family learning sessions in the new garden room, these sessions worked well for both staff and parents.  After February half-term these will continue with staff holding the sessions for any parents who missed the original session in order to achieve 100% attendance.

Hazel O’Neil, Deputy Head Teacher. 

Family & Community Team Report to Governors Feb 2011 

Adult Learning Courses ESOL for catering – Attendance – 17 parents - FULL·        High need for crèche where parents have been turned away ·        Many parents now looking to build learning at college.

ESOL for beginners – Attendance 7 parents. Let’s Get Cooking

The first pilot group started this term with the support of Rebecca, a nutrition assistant based at Jubilee Gardens health Centre. We have had 7 parents and 5 children attending.Weekly evaluations are carried out and comments include; ‘I learnt about some spices and how vitamin D is important and not enough in foods’ ‘It’s a good way to bond and learn’ ‘I like the new ideas especially home made dips instead of buying them’ ‘I got to do cooking with my son which is something I don’t usually do at home’‘I’m going to introduce some of the ideas at home. Very healthy’        

Family Links Parenting Course We have 12 parents currently attending and the feedback is very positive so far.

Next term we are planning to offer this as an accredited course through the Open College Network, however take up may be reduced if we cannot offer crèche provision. 

Next Term

We are currently unable to make plans for any classes next term as we are awaiting clarification re funding   

Play Therapy Individual sessions are being offered to children over 3 identified as needing additional support. Currently 5 children are being seen on a weekly basis. Most children are seen for 10 - 12 sessions but this can vary according to need. Evaluations are being carried out with parents and key workers. This will extend to offering small group sessions around self esteem/social skills next term. 

Stay & Play Groups

These groups are very well attended and sometimes families have to be turned away as they are full. We are incorporating activities to support The Year of Communication within the sessions. 

Mandy Hall, Senior Family Support Worker.                

Ethnic Minority Achievement Planning Report to Governors Feb 2011 

Library*Enrolling new children in library.*Continuing display of core stories.*Ordering more core books so that parents can borrow books displayed if money available.*Checking for damaged books.*Continuing to monitor book borrowing and inform key workers of poor borrowing.*General house- keeping of library area. Home Maths/Story Visits*Complete story visits either to homes and organise maths home visits. *Lend more story sacks to children where necessary Local Visits*To follow up first half term’s topic of animals by visiting a large pet shop in Shepherds Bush Market, travelling by bus and accompanied by parents.*Take all EMA children to a local fruit and vegetable shop to increase children’s knowledge and understanding and introduce use of digital camera and information books. Follow up activities to include observational drawings, tasting, slide show and preparing fruit salad/ vegetables to eat. This will be part of the second half term’s project of growing .* To follow up the topic of “people who help us” we will visit the local fire station. There has been a great deal of interest amongst the children in fire engines.*Shapes Walk using camera, shapes books and follow up constructional and drawing activities and slide. Science MuseumVisit to the Museum by EMA children.  Music and Festivals*Chatterbox Challenge – theme animals*St Davids Day*St Patricks Day*Spring SongsBecause it is “the year of communication” we are making a concerted effort to encourage parents to come to our music sessions and sing songs in their home language. We are hoping to have French, Romanian, Polish, Japanese and Arabic songs.  Maths Library

All EMA children not already enrolled to be joined in Maths Library Accessing the Curriculum*Continue to provide appropriate CLL Science and Maths activities*Provide support where necessary for social and emotional development *Encourage active participation in Creative and Physical activities     

Karen Blick, EMA Teacher                                              

I CAN Report to Governors Feb 2011Children:·       

Numbers

There are currently seven children attending the I CAN provision. At the end of Autumn term 2010 we had five children. At the beginning of Spring term 2011 one child, who had been attending the I CAN provision since October 2009, transferred to the main nursery after being discharged I CAN as well as from speech and language therapy. After the I CAN SLN Admissions Panel in December 2010 three children from the main nursery transferred to I CAN as well as one more child from a PVI in Hounslow. After the February half term one more child will transfer from the main Over 3’s nursery to the I CAN provision, making the number of the children eight for this term. ·        Attendance

Most of the children have been attending regularly, apart from occasional absences due to illness. All children attend for five morning sessions per week. In addition, three of the children currently attend extended/full days, integrating into the nursery classes, or access the Breakfast/Afterschool club. ·       

 Working with other agencies to help the children’s achievement

Since the beginning of the Spring term we have;-         referred three of the children to Educational Psychology and supported Judith Thomas (EP) in assessing two of the children. We have also set dates for assessment of one more child;-         contributed to the referral of one of the children attending I CAN at SACC to the Nuffield Speech and Hearing Centre for an in depth assessment. -         referred 3 of the families whose children attend the I CAN provision, to the Family and Community team for further support in a form of one-to-one support, counselling and attending the Parenting course;-         referred one child to play-therapy sessions with a member of the Family and Community Team and have been working very closely with them to help the child access the play therapy;-         applied for a statutory assessment for one child;-         organised a visit to St.John’s Primary School and its Additional Resource Base for the parent of one of the children for whom we have made a referral to the enhanced language resource base, and accompanied them on that visit. ·       

Events

On 8th February 2011 we took part in the I CAN Sing along event – ‘Chatterbox Challenge’, raising awareness of children’s speech and language needs and raising money for I CAN, the charity which helps children with speech, language and communication difficulties. The children rehearsed nursery rhymes on this year’s topic ‘Animals’. Parents were informed about the event and the song choices, as well as given the Makaton signs for the songs and encouraged to practice them with their child at home. We also gave the parents sponsorship forms should they want to raise sponsorship money for their child’s participation in the Chatterbox Challenge. Due to the generosity of the parents as well as their relatives, friends and neighbours we have now raised over £700 and are still accepting donations. The parents were also invited to attend and see their children perform.  ·        Outreach

We are currently trying to arrange a visit for a teacher from a Japanese nursery where one of our children attends one afternoon per week. We have planned an Open Session for practitioners in the neighbouring settings which will take place before the end of the Spring term 2011. This year the Open Session is extended to the PVI settings as well as the Maintained sector.Since the beginning of the Spring term we have held a Coffee Morning for the parents of the Children attending the I CAN provision.In addition we held four parent training sessions for the parents focusing on early language development. Out of the 7 parents, 6 accessed the training, with the number slightly differing from session to session.Zhana Stojanovska, I CAN Teacher.

Maths Library Report to Governors Feb 2011·       

Number of children using the Maths library

At the end of the first half of the Spring term 2011, the number of parents and children using the Maths library is 57 (58 % from the total of 98 children currently attending the Over 3’s Nursery at South Acton Children’s Centre). From the 83 children due to transfer to the Reception year in September 2011, 57 (69%) children have been introduced to the Maths library. From the 41 children awaiting introduction to the Maths library, 15 children are returning for another year in the nursery from September 2011. We are continuing with introductions and are aiming to significantly increase the number of children using the Maths library by the end of the Summer term.·        Frequency of using

This term parents/carers have shown real interest in joining in the Maths library and have been very proactive in helping their children achieve their full potential. ·        Games

Since the summer term 2010 we have added 6 new games to the Maths library. Most of the new games are from the areas of Maths that were lacking in the library, such as shape and pattern and simple addition. Furthermore, Janis has been planning for and making Maths games suitable for the younger children, 2-3 years, in Rainbow and Star rooms. We will continue adding new games.·        Staffing

This term Mrs Rose Nugara continues to work in the Maths library as a Maths library assistant. This term we have not yet been able to find a parent helper.·        Translations

Mrs Rashed, Zeneh’s mum, has started translating game instructions in Kurdish.·       

 Other

Since the beginning of the Autumn Term 2011 we have started asking parents to give £10 refundable deposit which, should they look after the games, will be given back to them at the end of their child’s nursery placement. All parents have been in agreement with this action and have been happy to give the deposit.Zhana Stojanovska, Maths Coordinator