Foundation Years - Sure Start Children's Centres

Written evidence submitted by Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships

1. In relation to questions 1 and 3 in particular, TCCR welcomes the focus of the ‘Core Purpose’ document on Children’s Centres aiming to reduce inequalities in child development and school readiness through ‘supporting personal, social and emotional development’.

2. However, TCCR finds the document’s statement that such reductions are to be supported by improved ‘parenting aspirations, self esteem and parenting skills’ and ‘child and family health and life chances’ somewhat problematic; not because we do not agree with the potential for improvements in these areas to lead to better child outcomes, but because the document should also acknowledge the beneficial impact which improvements in the quality of the relationship between parents can have on children’s well-being and outcomes.

3. While we accept that the Core Purpose document subsequently notes that ‘the quality of the relationship between parents is linked to positive parenting and better outcomes for children’, it does so only in the context of ‘families with the greatest needs’, referring to parenting and family support as a ‘targeted service’.

4. We believe that the Core Purpose should therefore include relationship support as one of the bullet points under point 1 (i.e. the Core Purpose). Relegating relationship support to the section on targeted interventions for families in greatest need – as the document currently does – will do nothing to change the culture around relationship support, something which is one of the Government’s own objectives (http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/families/relationship/a00212569/relationship-support-first-time-parents-trial ).

5. After all, it is not only ‘families in greatest need’ who can be helped by relationship support. Focusing only on ‘parenting aspirations, self esteem and parenting skills’ as the means to improve child development and school readiness will mean that the opportunity for services for help parents whose relationship is running into difficulty before such problems become entrenched (http://tccr.ac.uk/policy/policy-briefings/273-relationship-difficulties-tccr-policy-briefing) will be missed, with all the negative consequences that parental relationship distress, conflict and/or breakdown can have on children’s emotional, social and cognitive development (http://tccr.ac.uk/policy/policy-briefings/267-impact-of-couple-conflict-on-children-tccr-policy-briefing )

6. Regarding the delivery of relationship support services through Sure Start centres (‘Using evidence-based approaches to deliver targeted, family-centred support’), notwithstanding the points made previously about this needing to be seen as part of a universal offer, TCCR believes that the workforce implications of the aspiration contained in the document that relationship support could be provided on a targeted basis are significant. Despite evidence showing that parenting work which specifically focuses on the parental couple relationship is more effective in improving outcomes for children than parenting work that focuses on parenting issues alone ( http://tccr.ac.uk/policy/policy-briefings/276-parenting-work-tccr-policy-briefing ), how best to support parental relationships does not form part of the training of frontline workers such as health visitors and children’s centre workers ( http://tccr.ac.uk/research-publications/practitioner-guides/200-a-short-guide-to-working-with-co-parents ). Until and unless such skills form a core part of the training of these professionals, it is difficult to envisage how Sure Start centres will actually make relationship support part of their offer.

7. In answer to question 2, TCCR believes that Ofsted should be required to appraise the extent to which a focus on the parental relationship is embedded in the work of the centre. Given that the Core Purpose document states that ‘the quality of the relationship between parents is linked to positive parenting and better outcomes for children’, it would surely be reasonable to expect an effective and well-functioning centre to take the quality of the relationship between parents as a focus of its work. Furthermore, measuring the degree to which centres adopt this approach would be measurable and act as a spur to improving practice.

8. In answer to question 5, please see this document - Finding and using effective measuring tools - which sets out a range of tools for use with children and young people: http://pelorous.totallyplc.com/public/cms/115/237/85/6728/Evaluation%20tools%2015%20Feb%202012.pdf?realName=uKkLx6.pdf And this document for a discussion on the subject of measuring school readiness: http://www.idocshare.com/pdfview/khxj7k/children/school-readiness-eugene-m-lewit-linda-schuurmann-baker-i-n-05_02_Indicators.pdf

December 2012