Case study 1
Sure Start Everton Early Childhood Centre
Everton has the highest levels of poverty, unemployment, long-term ill-health and social exclusion in Liverpool – a fact that’s often reflected in how well the pupils do in the local schools.
But the Sure Start children’s centre in Everton, which opened its doors in 2003, is slowly working to break the cycle of poverty and turn things around for the next generation.
The centre provides childcare for almost 190 children up to the age of five and is available between 8am to 6pm, five days a week, and 50 weeks a year.
“It’s important that we fit around parents’ needs, so we offer six different part-time options,” said the centre’s head teacher Lesley Curtis.
But giving local parents reliable, affordable and high-quality childcare is only the tip of the iceberg. The Sure Start centre also works with local hospitals, health services and primary care trusts to give local families easy access to ophthalmologists, paediatricians and clinical psychologists – to name but a few.
“In this kind of informal environment, someone like a community midwife can really build relationships and pick up on so many potential problems like drug and alcohol abuse, poor housing, or general health problems,” said Leslie.
The centre also operates a community parents programme, where local parents can share information about post-natal depression, healthy eating and behavioural problems, and then be put in touch with professionals who can help them to deal with the root causes.
Everton Sure Start holistic approach has been so successful that it has become a centre of expertise on how to provide families with a fully joined-up service.
“Tackling these issues early on can stop parents and or carers getting into further difficulties and maybe prevent a child from being taken into care,” said Leslie.
