Sure Start Children’s Centres

Sure Start Children’s Centres are places where families with children 0-5 years old can access information, support and services.

Services delivered through the Sure Start / Children‘s Centre programme are tailored to the needs of different districts . They also have to meet the Government’s targets to improve outcomes for pre-school children and their families – particularly disadvantaged families or families with additional needs.

Sure Start Children’s Centres are part of the Government’s drive to tackle child poverty and social exclusion by working with parents-to-be, parents, carers and children to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of babies and young children so that they can flourish at home and when they get to school.

Sure Start brings together services like health, early education, voluntary, private and community organisations and self help groups, to provide services for young children and their families based on what local children need and parents want.

Some of the services provided through the Sure Start  Children’s Centre programmes are:

Children’s Centres supplement services and activities in the local area. Targeted services are often provided  for  vulnerable parents or families with additional needs  – not for  the wider public. Services provided will differ depending on the needs and priorities  of the local area.  

A health visiting team is a mixture of Health Visitors, Community Children’s Nurses, General Nurses, Nursery Nurses and Health Visitor assistants. They work with GP's and primary health care teams, in Sure Start areas and with Children’s Centres.

Health Visitors have a caseload of families with children under school age. Health Visitors specialise in preventative health and health promotion. The team provide universal services to all children and families, which helps them to understand and identify individual health needs. Targeted health programmes are then agreed and provided to those in greatest need either by health visiting staff or other specialist providers within local communities.

Families are visited at home when babies are between 10 and 16 days old. This is called the new birth visit and health visitors offer a package of support that is tailored to the families needs. They offer extra support to mothers with postnatal depression, vulnerable families and children with additional needs. Parents, carers and families can contact the service at any time if they require extra advice and support.

Health Visiting teams work with all agencies to protect children from harm. They work through child protection plans to safeguard and improve outcomes for our young people.

Health Visitors provide different services depending on the needs of the local area, which may include.

All Leicestershire  families who have a child aged 0-5 years old are able to access support and advice from Sure Start Children’s Centres but some services will be targeted and restricted to families with additional needs. Find your district/borough using DirectGov’s Local Authority Finder

These Children's Centre maps show the current and intended locations of the Children’s Centres in Leicestershire.

Children Centre activities take place in a range of buildings and community venues throughout districts as well as in Sure Start Children’s Centres.

Please contact Leicestershire’s Family Information Service on 0116 305 6545, email them on family@leics.gov.uk, or visit the Family Information Directory.

 

 

 

Tel: 0116 3056545