News and updates

OFSTED Praise for Sure Start Blakenall

During February 2012 the Children's Centre was rated as 'Good' by the OFSTED inspectors who visited.

The Centre was inspected against a new, rigorous set of standards and inspector Nick Gadfield noted many examples of good practice and acheivement from the Centre's staff team. Safeguarding arrangements, the level of care and support offered to families and the capacity for the Centre to improve were all described as 'excellent'.

You can read the OFSTED report for the Children's Centre by clicking here.

Walsall Council Website helped the Centre celebrate it's acheivement.

Children's Centre for Blakenall

Sure Start Blakenall and Valley Nursery school are working in partnership together and are now approved by Central Government to become one of three new Children's Centres in Walsall.

Being located next to each other in Blakenall means that Sure Start and Valley Nursery School will be able to offer a wider range of activities and resources to the children and families in the area.

“It is an opportunity for everyone, staff, parents and children to work and grow together. Being designated as a Children’s Centre means that we can do a lot more sharing of knowledge and resources’ according to Carol Ferron-Smith Sure Start Programme Manager and Dawn Kelly Head Teacher of Valley Nursery School.

Shortly before Christmas the Children’s Centre also learnt that it had gained the prestigious Investors In People Award which is a major achievement for the centre and all the staff which have worked towards this goal.

Being one of the fourteen Children’s Centres in Walsall means that Sure Start Blakenall and Valley Children’s Centre are able to offer their services and facilities to a wider geographical area which is currently being decided upon. It also means that children up to the age of five years old can be catered for, instead of the previous four year old limit.

To find out more about the new Children’s Centre and the services it can offer you can call 01922 476698 for the Sure Start office or 01922 710518 for Valley Nursery Office.

Investor in People Award

Sure Start Blakenall has been successful in gaining the prestigious Investor in People status. During Summer of 2005 Programme Manager Carol Ferron Smith began negotiations with Business Link Black Country to start the process of working towards the award. The staff team at Sure Start Blakenall were all asked to take part in the questionnaire phase of the process and some were later interviewed by David Blunt, who was assigned the assessment task. Shortly before Christmas the programme was informed that they had been successful in gaining the award becoming the first Sure Start Programme in the West Midlands region to have the status of Investor in People.

In October 2005 it was also announced that Sure Start Blakenall and Valley Nursery School, situated next door, would join together to become the campus model Children’s Centre for Blakenall. With Valley Nursery School already holding Investor in People status, the current achievement of Sure Start Blakenall ensures that the whole campus is a beacon of good practice in all aspects of the services it delivers to the children and families in Blakenall.