Barleyfields Children's Centre

Pre-School Learning Alliance

Hertfordshire Pre-school Learning Alliance is Lead Agency for eight Children's Centres:

• Barleyfields covering Woolmer Green and Knebworth
• Bluebell covering Hitchin South and villages
• Chestnut Tree in Letchworth Garden City
• Chorleywood and Loudwater in Three Rivers
• Ebury covering Moor Park Estate and Eastbury Farm
• Lime Tree in Letchworth Garden City
• The Lanes covering Chipperfield, Bovingdon and Sarratt
• Three Villages covering Nash Mills, Kings Langley and Bedmond

Children’s Centres provide and sign-post to flexible services in communities that meet the needs of young children and their families.  For parents and carers this can also include help with finding a job and training opportunities.

Not only can families become involved in Children’s Centres by using the services provided, there are also opportunities to participate in events and other activities.  Parents can volunteer on projects or in the Children's Centres, for example, helping with community activities such as fun days and fundraising events.

There are also opportunities for parents and children to learn together, such as healthy eating projects where families can learn to cook and eat healthy meals together.

The services and activities are designed and developed to meet families' needs.  Parental participation ensures that the Children’s Centres provide the services and opportunities to benefit local families as well as the wider community.

Volunteering Opportunities (255KB)

The Pre-school Learning Alliance is a leading early years membership organisation and one of the largest providers of quality childcare in England. The Alliance offers support to over 15,000 early years settings and impact positively on the care and education of over 800,000 young children and their families each year.

2011 is a very special year for the Alliance as it is celebrating 50 successful years delivering families a range of high quality, affordable and accessible childcare. It is a great opportunity to celebrate the positive impact of work taking place by members today.

The Alliance actively involves parents and families in all aspects of their work. Theirmission is to:

• Help children to succeed
• Create the childcare that families need
• Build learning communities

The Alliance's work is dedicated to supporting the work of community pre-schools, whether through training courses, quality assurance systems, local visiting by skilled advisers, a range of helpful publications and other merchandise, advice and help lines, advocacy or help with PR and fundraising.

Employing more than 2,000 national and local staff, whose work is supported by more than 40,000 volunteers, the Pre-school Learning Alliance is also the largest grass-roots movement committed to the education and well-being of children and to the value of education as the means to a better life for the community as a whole.

In 2009 the Alliance underwent a restructure. The outcome of this has meant that the traditional branches have been replaced by Alliance Communities. These are less formal and are no longer governed by formal requirements and regulation. They are a way of supporting local settings, voicing opinions and sharing ideas and are led by the volunteers and members of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.

The charity, in a very real sense, belongs to its members. Member pre-schools, together with other committed individuals, shape the direction of the charity. All of this effort arises from a commitment to the needs of children and to the principle that parents are their children's first and most important educators. In our pre-schools, we work with parents, supporting them in the management of their children's behaviour and in activities which can be a source of enjoyment and learning at home.

We are committed to mutuality and inclusiveness.  Because of this, there are no rigid hierarchies, which means that people can move easily from one role - parent helper, student, committee member - to another.

For more information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance:
Telephone: 020 7697 2500
Email: information@pre-school.org.uk

Pre-school Learning Alliance - www.pre-school.org.uk