Cumbria County Council backs the future of children and families with excellence

Cumbria Early Excellence Network is celebrating after Ofsted HMI praised the team for their hard work and achievements. The Network is part of a national government initiative to develop integrated centres for children and their families. 

Cumbria was one of 25 Authorities to take part in the Early Excellence Programme pilot phase which began in 1999. Often referred to as 'One Stop Shops' the centres were built up by expanding existing, recognised, good practice in order to provide integrated early years education, childcare, family services and adult education which meet the needs of the local communities. As a pilot project the network has been rigorously evaluated over the past three years. The Ofsted Inspection marked the end of the pilot phase. 

County Councillor Joan Stocker Cabinet Spokesperson for Education is delighted with the progress being made by the Cumbria Early Excellence Network, she says 

"I am delighted that Inspectors have acknowledged the hard work and achievements of Cumbria Early Excellence Network. Cumbria County Council is committed to providing quality early years education and child-care services, which are essential to contribute to the well being of families and educational progress. The Network has been inspected at a very early stage but this has given them the opportunity to build on what they have already achieved and plan areas for improvement." 

Jackie Bell, Early Excellence Manager in Cumbria says 

"I was seconded from Frizington Nursery School to manage the Network. At Frizington, as in some other schools, we had already begun to extend our services, and quickly became aware of the benefits, so I was pleased to be involved in this. A high standard of education is central to the Early Excellence Programme. I believe that education, that is, the pursuit of learning, is the key to lifelong opportunity. What we do is to attempt to increase access to education, for children and their families. The unique geography and rich demography of Cumbria, were reasons which led to us apply to join the programme as a network, rather than a single centre. We could then spread benefit and share expertise. As national roll out of the programme has grown, 58 Local Authorities are now involved. The inspection report describes a success, not only for the centres themselves, but the County Council and the Early Years and Childcare Service, which is very supportive of joined up working. We are especially pleased with the report as we are one of only a few LEA's to have had this inspection" 

A total of 7 Inspectors visited the County spending more than a month in the various network settings and with the Network Manager. Strengths identified by the Inspectors included multi- agency collaboration, provision for Special Educational needs, and the range of adult and parent's education throughout the centres. 

Isabella Geraghty, Senior Education Officer for Lifelong Learning and Lead Officer to the Cumbria Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership says 

"The Government and Cumbria County Council have Early Years and Inclusion high on their agenda, lessons learned from this very successful pilot phase will be used over the coming year to plan services which meet the needs of today's young families. I am delighted that Cumbrian professionals have informed national policy by being part of the Early Excellence Programme."