Extended schools 'must reach out'

Centres need to monitor their impact on children's development

Children's centres and extended schools do not do enough to reach out to the most vulnerable youngsters whom they aim to help, inspectors have warned.

In some of these centres, which combine education, health and childcare services, most places are taken up by white British families, Ofsted said.

They tended to be better informed about what was available than those with English as a second language.

But, the report said, such services did have the power to transform lives.

Ofsted inspectors visited 30 children's centres and 32 extended schools in 54 local authority areas in England.

Support in children's centres for children from minority ethnic groups was sometimes patchy Ofsted report

They looked at how the services, including those provided through Sure Start, followed government policies aimed at ensuring all children fulfil their potential and boosting their development.

More than three quarters of the children's centres provided a good level of services or better.

And all integrated early education and childcare effectively, it said.

But schools and children's centres did not do enough to help harder-to-reach groups - including fathers and some minority ethnic groups.

"Some schools recognised that that services were not used enough by the families beyond the immediate school neighbourhood, but were not effective in widening participation," inspectors said.

"Support in children's centres for children from minority ethnic groups was sometimes patchy, particularly for children who used English as an additional language.

"In a few of the centres visited, the majority of the places were taken up by children from white British families who were often better informed about what was available and could therefore access services more easily than those new to the area or to England," they said.

'Positive attitudes'

But inspectors said that where vulnerable parents had used these services, their lives were reported to have been transformed.

In 23 of the 30 children's centres, youngsters' progress was at least good in the sessions observed.

But as the centres did not monitor the impact of their provision on children's long term development, it was not possible to judge how well children had progressed.

Schools did report, however, that those joining them from children's centres had "positive attitudes" and "were well prepared for and enjoyed learning".

Inspectors urged schools and children's centres to take more steps to monitor the positive impact their services were having.

Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert said it was encouraging that schools and children's centres were "making good progress overall"

'Improving outreach'

But they needed to do more "to attract those families and individuals that are not yet using the services to make sure they have the opportunity to benefit too."

Children's minister Beverley Hughes said the report showed children's centres were making a positive contribution to the lives of families and children.

She added: "The report highlights some areas where performance could be improved and we are already taking action in these areas, for example providing additional resources and support for improving outreach in children's centres."

Shadow families minister Maria Miller said Sure Start children's centres were set up to support the most disadvantaged families.

"Despite concerns raised by the National Audit Office in December 2006 and significant additional funding pledged by the government last August for additional outreach workers, this Ofsted report concludes that the most vulnerable families are still not being reached."