Early Years Coordination Service

Staffordshire Children's Centres are seeking to deliver an integrated approach for under 5's: connecting all families to what they need in the community and improving outcomes for children and families based upon two key principles:

A quality offer for all accessed through: a. Information, advice and guidance b. Good universal services Extra support for those who need it by providing: c. Effective early help for those at risk d. Protection for the most vulnerable families

The national core purpose of Sure Start Children's Centres is to improve outcomes for young children and their families, with a particular focus on those in greatest need. They work to make sure all children are properly prepared for school, regardless of background or family circumstances. They also offer support to parents. The full copy of the core purpose for Children's Centre's can be found at http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Core_purpose_of_Sure_Start_Childrens_Centres.pdf

To lead the Children's Centre offer in the district there is a need for an early years coordination service to provide a coordinator and administrative support.

The Early Years Coordination Service is a critical function within the model. This service currently consists of an Early Years Coordinator and an administrative support. The roles deliver against several areas; • Leadership and management of the Children's Centre delivery within the district including facilitating a partnership governance board to deliver shared priorities across the district. • Safeguarding for provision commissioned on behalf of the Children's Centre or within the Children's Centre venues. • Marketing and Engagement of stakeholders across the district to ensure families and stakeholders are engaged in the model and families are able to access high quality provision. • Inputting, analysing and sharing key data. • Administrative capacity to support delivery.

This service is the local leader for the Early Years offer and a key part of any regulatory inspections by Ofsted. The service will operate within a required framework however the delivery will be different in each given district to meet the needs of the local community.

The service is a countywide service based within the eight districts. The contract will also be required to lead, nurture and support the development of the local leaders and ensure that they operate to a consistently high standard and provide a single point of contact for the partnership.