Yippee! Sure Start is back under a new name!

Of course it’s a policy that needs loads of money to implement. It’s so important though, as it goes to the heart of the question “what does Labour stand for”
Conservatives closed then to save money. Look at the cost to children, families and society. Labour recognises the need to invest in Early Years.

GrannyGravy13

When these additional sure start centres are up and running is the time to celebrate.

So many things promised by Governments (regardless of party) never come to fruition, or if they do it’s usually a lot less than promised.

I am just so cynical about politicians and their promises/pledges…

Me too. When I see it put into practice I will celebrate.

Angela Raynor credits Sure Start will helping her understand the needs of her first baby, singing, talking with him from day one. This isn’t something she’d learned in her family of origin . I remember sitting on the floor with one young mum who told me there was no point talking to her baby and the baby didn’t understand what she was saying. The Sure Start centre was this mum’s only source of support and guidance

One thing I did in a Sure Start centre was to get the mums singing! ... in hatmony! They loved it and it was a bonding experience for them... sounds crazy but it was a great stress buster ... their children were happily in the next door play room and they could let their hair down.
And some of the input was quite subtle. One mum said to her child"You are a naughty boy. If you do that again I won't love you." This lead on to a discussion about what makes children feel secure and their need for love and how this impacts on their behaviour. Sounds nebulous and unquantifiable but profound in its impact ... a whole group of mums left the building with some positive parenting ideas under their belt without having attended a formal parenting class which they would have avoided like the plague. Noone was telling them what to do but there was a guided discussion that they responded to.

In Wales a similar programme is called “Flying Start”

I’m in agreement NotSpaghetti, the centres I was involved with were good. Staff developed real skills in encouraging reluctant people to get involved. I read that Blair claimed that recent research confirms better outcomes for the sure start infants now adolescents
It’s true in the Scandi countries who invest in early years

Putting Children's dentists in the new BestStarts would be an excellent idea I think.

Iam64 my "project" pre-SureStart was involved in outreach work to find out what was needed in a local area.
I confess I was deeply sceptical about it all at first and getting people to even engage with the idea was a slog... BUT... lots of us really wanted it to work because something had to change and in our patch we identified 13 (i think) things/activities etc that were needed.

Once it was going, some of us actually went along to SureStart with our isolated (and frightened) young mums, struggling dads and overwhelmed families. Little by little, SureStart drew them in and it was a delight to see confidence growing as they made new friends, learning a lot on the way and eventually needing little outside support.

Obviously you can't make people engage but you can be genuinely supportive and encouraging. I don't want to pretend it was a miracle cure but it did seem to be an instrument of change for many.
I am totally convinced it was a great way forward and supported dozens - probably hundreds of families in my area during my time working alongside it.

It was important to do quite a bit of hand-holding at first though... I do hope there will be hand-holders available this time round too - to help new people gain trust and confidence. 🤞
If we invest in our children we will undoubtedly build a better future.

I don't think they will, I think they will back down.

Let's just hope we are as happy when the Government reforms the provision for Special Educational Needs which is on the horizon.

It’s great to see posters who worked in family and children’s social work posting about the positives we saw in Sure Start centres. Some of the purpose built centres included primary school, health visitors, midwives , drug alcohol mental heskth clinics, duty social worker and a library . Staff ran dads groups, baby massage, budgeting, cooking and best of all put so much work into reaching hard to reach families

We must indeed invest in children and families, both for their own sake and for ours. We will all reap the benefit further down the line in so many ways. Fit well educated young adults who feel invested in our society rather than on the periphery.

Luckygirl3

Best Start is what it us called. This is exactly what I have been wanting this government to do from day one. Thank goodness for a proper Labour policy at last. We just have to hope that subsequent governments do not knock it on the head as happened before.

Couldn't agree more.

Iam64

Luckygirl - From my mp this week - from labours plan for change.
I’m donning my tin hat to protect myself from inevitable criticisms 🌞

10 year health plan

More care delivered through neighbourhood health centres

Better dental care for children

Better access to GP, stop the 8am scramble

Partnership with food retailers aimed to reduce obesity

NHS revamp to make managing health care easier

4.2 million additional nhs appointments since July

300,000 social and affordable homes to be delivered through the 39 billion program

380,000 jobs created since July

500 towns benefit from Safer Streets with increased police patrols and local action to tackle anti social behaviour and crime

On track to deliver over 4000 places in school based nurseries in September saving working parents £7500 giving children the best start

Full review of parental leave launched

45,000 jobs to be created by 2030 as part of Labour’s Onshore Wind Strategy

its brilliant news!!! Labour are doing fab now, really finding their feet.
Sure start was fab, as an ex child protection social worker if I knew someone struggling with parenting, which is easy to do on minimal resources, I'd take them along to sure start who would help them through difficult times.
Less kids in care & cheaper for the taxpayer

4allweknow

Will await the introduction of Best Start to see exactly what is to be provided. Have all the details been released and where are all the people coming from to provide the services?

Probably from the resources already in place. I will be interested to see which existing places will be renamed as Best Start and which will continue to be used as they are currently.

Allira

It sounds promised but are some of these for England only (again!)?

That is because the funding for Scotland and Wales is in the hands of the devolved governments for health and education, and it is these who can choose or not to implement

Really please the government is going to put some real money back into early years support.

Will await the introduction of Best Start to see exactly what is to be provided. Have all the details been released and where are all the people coming from to provide the services?

Iam64

Luckygirl - From my mp this week - from labours plan for change.
I’m donning my tin hat to protect myself from inevitable criticisms 🌞

10 year health plan

More care delivered through neighbourhood health centres

Better dental care for children

Better access to GP, stop the 8am scramble

Partnership with food retailers aimed to reduce obesity

NHS revamp to make managing health care easier

4.2 million additional nhs appointments since July

300,000 social and affordable homes to be delivered through the 39 billion program

380,000 jobs created since July

500 towns benefit from Safer Streets with increased police patrols and local action to tackle anti social behaviour and crime

On track to deliver over 4000 places in school based nurseries in September saving working parents £7500 giving children the best start

Full review of parental leave launched

45,000 jobs to be created by 2030 as part of Labour’s Onshore Wind Strategy

Do you really believe all that? I'm obviously getting my info from a different source. I'll never vote Labour again ever.

It really is good news. It’s also cost effective, less children in care, and better long term outcomes

That's really good news. Getting young families fully supported gives better outcomes for the child and society.

Excellent news. My daughter was a Sure start volunteer. She was paired with families that had need of support for up to a year. She would visit the family for two hours weekly and play with the children (in one case), helping them develop their language skills. This gave the mum time for herself. The centres provided much needed support, especially for families that didn't have access or knowledge of NCT classes or Parents &Toddler groups etc. I truly feel that for every £ we invest in the early years we are repaid 100 fold in reduced crime, mental health issues, vandalism etc. We must invest in our precious children.

Visgir1

I haven't heard of them. So I have just Googled my area.
There isn't any close by, so you would need to drive or get a taxi to get to the nearest one, no Bus route either.
Also asked my DD who has 2 children under 5, she was not aware of their existence either.

Because when the coalition government came into power in 2010 they were the first thing to go under austerity measures

Hopefully the new proposals will address these problems by making the service available more widely.
They are likely to be aimed at deprived communities, which makes sense.

I haven't heard of them. So I have just Googled my area.
There isn't any close by, so you would need to drive or get a taxi to get to the nearest one, no Bus route either.
Also asked my DD who has 2 children under 5, she was not aware of their existence either.