I recently visited Adderley Children's Centre in Birmingham which is integrated with Adderley Nursery School and operates from shared premises on one site. There are 687 children under five within the reach area, which is ranked as one of the most deprived in the country. A high proportion of families are non-working or low income. The community is very diverse: four out of ten of residents were born outside of the EU. And nine out of ten children born in 2011 were from a black and minority ethnic group. The largest community is Pakistani, followed by Bangladeshi, other Asian, White-British and Black-African.
The centre reports it has a longstanding and successful relationship with the community, with a commitment to the continued development of positive interactions with the people it serves at the heart of its approach.
The centre has invested time and resources to understand its users. This knowledge helps it to shape service development and delivery to meet the diverse needs of the community and encourage participation.
The team of staff and volunteers is representative of user groups; many have been recruited from the community. Having staff who can communicate with families in their home language supports participation.
Recently, the centre did a piece of work on its Bangladeshi community. Data and children's centre information was compiled into a report analysing participation by Bengali-speaking families. This research informed an action plan to engage Bengali-speaking families with children aged under five.
The centre utilises its Bengali-speaking workers at targeted parent and toddler groups; this supports parents to understand how children learn. This is successfully engaging families before they become eligible for a two-year-old place.
The targeted approach has been successful. Fifty of the 60 Bengali speaking families are engaged, accessing services and taking up their early learning place at two, three and four. This is significantly impacting on Foundation Stage Profile results.
James Hempsall is director of Hempsall's
