06/11/03 - Cumbria to go for Beacon Status for Early Years (Copeland)

Cumbria County Council is now seeking Government approval for Beacon Council Status for its much-praised Early Years and Childcare Service because it truly believes it has a national role to play in helping other regions develop similar integrated services.   

The Beacon Council Status scheme aims to identify the best performing authorities, which act as centres of excellence from which other local authorities can learn. Co-ordinated by the Office of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, nearly 200 Beacon Council Status awards have been made since the Government launched the scheme four years ago.  About 50 awards will be made in the next round with Early Years and Childcare (the Sure Start agenda) a key category for examination with the winners being announced in April 2004.

Joan Stocker, Cabinet Spokesman for Education, says 

“Cumbria’s excellent service deserves national recognition because it really does lead by example with numerous example of good practice. Indeed, several other local authorities are already seeking out Cumbria’s expertise, keen to adapt their own services to the model developed here. Some counties want to learn about how we consult with our service users, which is helping to identify the needs of the area and develop an integrated service which responds to the priorities of partners like the Police, Connexions, the health service and regeneration agencies.  Cumbria County Council has demonstrated that it is possible to work effectively at local level and draw together all the key organisations to meet the needs of the community.  This administration recognised early on that the Early Years and Childcare service needed to be consolidated under one structure to improve performance and focus.  Since then a flexible and forward-thinking structure has been developed with an excellent mixture of skills, knowledge and experience to deliver real benefits to our communities.”

Cumbria County Council has a proven track record of delivering national objectives in an innovative and supportive way to meet the needs of diverse communities in Cumbria. It does this through dynamic partnerships with providers and service users across the range of statutory, voluntary and private sectors. The Council wishes to be at the forefront of the Government’s Sure Start agenda, which places great emphasis on local authorities delivering expanded services that embrace childcare, health and family support. 

An example of one of the innovative schemes currently running in West Cumbria is The Egremont Nursery.   Established in 1985, it caters for a wide age range of children, including:

• Nursery Education from 0 years to 7 years 
• Before and After School Clubs for children aged up to 11 years
• Holiday Clubs for children aged between 5 years and 11 years  

The Nursery has successfully drawn down funding from the Early Years Service and the New Opportunities Fund to expand its provision.  Manager Julie Tubman says

“We’ve extended The Nursery by adding two more rooms which means we can now look after 102 children, instead of the current total of 76.  We also run the pre-school grant system from Cumbria County Council which means eligible parents are entitled to a discounts on the cost of childcare.  Expansion has also meant more jobs and The Nursery now employs 23 caring staff, trained to NNEB standards.  We believe that we offer an excellent service which enables parents to work without worrying about the welfare of their children.  The Before and After school club is popular because it means we can take people’s children in the morning, give them breakfast and take them to school. Then in the afternoon we can collect them from school and provide them with tea. We get a lot of grateful thank you letters from parents who use The Nursery for childcare.”

For more information on childcare services in the area please contact the Children’s Information Service on 08457 125737.