The activities and groups running in the Sure Start Centre and Valley Nursery School can all play vital roles in making parenting an enjoyable experience.

Parents and Toddler groups, Play and Stay sessions, Sing a Long group, Share-A-Story, Bumps’ n Babes, St John’s parent & toddler group, Sure Steps etc can all encourage interaction with your children so that you can be there to watch them grow, learn and develop. 

Children have a fantastic time at these kinds of activities and they can explore their own personalities and strengths and have fun playing with children of similar ages. Our Library Links Worker also runs sessions aimed at promoting an early love of books and reading.  Planning some of her sessions with a Speech & Language Therapist, she delivers groups that can be of benefit to your child’s speech and language development while being fun and enjoyable story and book based sessions that parents can join in with too. 

Dropping your child at one of our creche’s is a great way for children to gain confidence in being away from a parent.  They can develop social skills, learn how to interact with children of their own age and start to develop their independence skills.  The creche’s are also a great opportunity for parents or carers to take time out.  Creche’s often run alongside a course so you can learn some new skills safe in the knowledge that your little one is being looked after. 

The Creche Team are all very experienced carers, friendly and enthusiastic about making sure your child has the best possible time with us.  Lots of planning and preparation goes into every crèche session, with each group having a stimulating activity, a snack and a story.

Valley Nursery School also offers a lively playgroup for children aged 2 and half to 3 years.  This group runs at Blakenall Community Association, Mondays to Fridays with morning and afternoon sessions except for Wednesday mornings.  Valley Nursery School can book sessions for you so please contact them using the button to the left of this page.

For children attending Valley Nursery School, a ‘wraparound’ care facility is also provided, where children can start the day early at 8.00am and have breakfast with Nursery staff.  After school care is provided from the close of the school day to 6.00pm.  During the School holidays children can have fun with children of a similar age at the Holiday Playscheme.  More information on Valley Nursery School can be found by clicking on the button to the left of this page.

Quality, affordable childcare is also available at the Sure Start Centre.  Sure Starters Nursery is housed within the Centre and can provide integrated day care for up to 36 children, from 8.00am – 6.00pm Monday to Friday.  More information on the Neighbourhood Nursery can be found by clicking on the Sure Starters Nursery link to the left.

Improving Children’s Ability to Learn is a key aim of Children’s Centres and many of the activities and groups running in the Sure Start Centre and Valley Nursery School contribute towards meeting this aim. In addition to these groups the Creche team at the Sure Start Centre have implemented Birth to Three Matters, a framework aimed specifically at supporting children’s development, right from birth.

 

The Sure Starters Nursery Team also delivers the Birth to Three Matters framework and elements of the Foundation Stage Curriculum. Valley Nursery School will be delivering the full Foundation Stage Curriculum to children of 3 years and over. You can see more of how Valley delivers this by linking the link below to view their website. We want your children to enjoy their learning experiences while achieving their Early Learning Goals so having fun is always a top priority.

www.valley.walsall.sch.uk

The Family Support Team is on hand to provide the best advice and guidance in all manner of parenting issues.  Working alongside local Health Visitors, Social Services and Speech & Language Therapists, Community Midwives and a Quit Smoking Co-Ordinator, the Support team are equipped to help you with any difficulties you may be experiencing as parents.  This could be anything from establishing routines in your home, advice on safety in the home, signposting you to other helpful agencies, helping you with child protection or social services issues or even just lending a listening ear.  The Family Support Team run groups such as Interests Day and Dad’s Day where you can get to know other local parents and also do some fun activities at the same time.  The Teenage Group helps to support younger parents in their new roles and provides opportunities to follow courses and gain essential parenting skills.  The Rainbow Group runs at Valley Nursery School on Thursdays and Fridays and is a meeting group for parents and carers.  This group is an ideal way to meet other local parents from the Blakenall area.  You can contact Valley Nursery School for more information.

First rate health advice and support is available from the team of health professionals working alongside the Family Support Team.  Community Midwives are on hand at sessions like Bumps n’ Babes and Teenage Club to give you expert advice before and after the birth of your baby.  They can also support you with breastfeeding, weaning and other issues such as Post Natal Depression.  We have Health Visitors at every local practice that can help Sure Start families and one of these will visit every new baby in the Blakenall area very soon after they are born.   We provide every mum to be with a pregnancy bag, with lots of essential items for the birth.  Your new baby will also receive a New Baby Bag from your Health Visitor with items like a toothbrush, toothpaste, bib, board book, non spill cup, a toy etc

The Children’s Centre team work with Speech& Language Therapists to ensure that your child’s language development progresses well.  Any speech or language development problems can be identified early and referral to Speech & Language Therapy to address this can be arranged.  The Share A Story session on Tuesdays is also co-run by a Speech & Language Therapist and is available to chat to if you have any concerns about your child’s speech development.

Health Visitors are on hand to give help and advice at various sessions such as Health Hut and there is a Health Visitor at each of Pinfold, Blakenall Meadow, Harden, St Peters and Beechdale practices that can support Sure Start registered families.  Quit Smoking advice is available from our Quit Smoking Advisor who can support you through the whole process of giving up smoking.  Patches, chewing gum, counselling and lots of moral support are all on offer to give you the best chance of giving up and stopping for good.

Parents of children who have special needs can also find help and support from the Children’s Centre. The Early Years SEN Team work with us to provide assessment, guidance and support to any child who may have any special education needs and we can arrange for transport to help you attend assessment appointments and groups.

The Children’s Centre is also a base for the Childminder network.  This supports Childminders by providing a well resourced setting where they can meet and network with each other, whilst also bringing their children with them.  The children can play with lots of creative and stimulating toys, use the sensory room or relax in the reading area while the Childminders can get to know each other and share their experiences.

There are many opportunities for parents and carers to learn new skills or update existing ones with a range of short courses.  Assertiveness training, behaviour management, basic skills, personal image, basic food hygiene training, paediatric first aid and baby massage are among the variety of courses that  have been put on for parents.  In the Computer Group there is also the opportunity to follow longer courses of study for ECDL and CLAIT.


The Children’s Centre also has strong links with local colleges and training providers to help you find other courses that might interest you.  We can help with childcare so that you can concentrate on your study.  Valley Nursery School also provides training opportunities for parents in short courses such as Basic Food Hygiene, First Aid and Basic Skills.  Computer training is also available via the mobile community Lamppost Bus, equipped with ICT equipment.  Access to NVQ training is provided by Valley Nursery School for the Blakenall community.  You can find out more about NVQ training by contacting them.  In addition to this, training is also available from Children’s Information Services and they can help you gain nationally recognised childcare qualifications. 

Skills gained from any of these courses can help you on the way to returning to work.  Working with Job Centre Plus, Connexions, Steps to Work and New Deal for Communities ‘Work on the Horizon’, the Children’s Centre team can support you in finding employment in a field you enjoy.  There are two computers in the foyer area of the Sure Start Centre where you can search internet sites that hold lots of job vacancies.  Help with filling in job application forms, writing CV’s and preparing for an interview is available to make the whole application process as easy as possible.  Help with the costs involved of buying clothes for an interview, travelling to the interview and childcare can also be arranged for you.   We can also arrange for you to have your benefits assessed to see if you would be worse or better off by taking a particular job.  Advice on the Government Tax Credits and how you can use these to help pay for childcare is also available.

As you can see, there’s a lot on offer at Sure Start Blakenall and Valley Children’s Centre.  If you would like to know days and times of activities or crèches please use the ‘Get in Touch’ page to request a newsletter and Activities Booklet.  Working together, Valley Nursery School and the Sure Start Centre can support you with every aspect of becoming a parent and making sure that your children get the very best start in life.