What is a Children's Centre?
Children’s Centres provide a place within the local community offering information and access to services for families with children under the age of five years. They aim to offer every child the best start in life and have been developed so that families can benefit from a range of flexible services and support when they need it and in a convenient location.
Barleyfields
Barleyfields Children’s Centre offers services for approximately 500 children under five which include:
- Links to good quality early years provision
- Support for all children and families including those with additional needs
- Support for parents through toddler groups and parenting programmes
- Support for Childminders through networks and groups
- Links with JobCentre Plus, training and higher education providers
- Links to antenatal, child and family health services
- Advice and information for parents and carers.
- Signposting to support services.
Barleyfields Children’s Centre was in Phase 3 of the Government’s programme to ensure that there was a Children’s Centre in every community nationwide by 2010. We aim to signpost to and build on the existing good quality services in the local area rather than starting new ones when it’s not necessary.
The Children’s Centre operates as a hub and spoke model. The ‘hub’ base is based at Woolmer Green Village Hall, and this is where the work of the Centre is co-ordinated as well as being an easy-to-reach contact point for parents and professionals. The ‘spokes’ of the centre are all the partner groups, including childcare and health, whose services are provided out in the local community. Together all these groups make up the children’s centre.
To ensure the quality of services, all Children’s Centres were designated by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Barleyfields Children’s Centre was designated in September 2009 and reached Full Core Offer in March 2011 and has therefore demonstrated that it meets all of the necessary criteria.
Children’s Centres aim to improve the lives of children and young people. They support the Government's aim for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to:
- Be healthy
- Stay safe
- Enjoy and achieve
- Make a positive contribution
- Achieve economic well-being
All organisations involved with providing services to children – from Children’s Centres and schools, to police and voluntary groups - work together and share information in order to protect children and young people from harm and help them reach their full potential.
Barleyfields Children's Centre has an Advisory Group who provide the governance for the Children's Centre. The role of the Advisory Group is to provide support and challenge, to identify priorities, agree objectives, monitor progress and ensure services meet local needs and contribute to improving children's outcomes. The Advisory Group meet every three months and the action minutes of the last meetings are available below. Copies of the full minutes and a list of the membership of the Advisory Group are available from the Children's Centre office.
 Action Minutes of Advisory Group 11 January 2011 (112KB)
Action Minutes of Advisory Group 5 April 2011 (117KB)
Action Minutes of Advisory Group 8 July 2011 (118KB)
Action Minutes of Advisory Group 5 October 2011 (117KB)
Further information about Children's Centres is available on the Hertfordshire County Council Children’s Centre website at www.hertschildrenscentres.org.uk
Early Support is a tool to support children with disabilities and their families. It is for families with babies or children under five
with additional support needs associated with disability or emerging special educational need. Early Support is relevant to
anyone who works with young children and their families. It impacts on the work of front-line practitioners across all
disciplines and is all about Integrated Practice.
10 Early Support Champion Children’s Centres (one per district) have been identified in Hertfordshire, and Barleyfields Children’s Centre is one of these. These Children’s Centres will:
- Link with a named District Champion and will champion Early Support.
- Hold information about Early Support and provide updates to other Children Centres in the district.
- Support the promotion of Early Support training in the district to multi-agency partners.
- Link with the district MAST.
For more information, please see:
List of Early Support Children's Centres and District Champions (32KB)
County Framework for Early Support (44KB)
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