Sure Start Program

I live in Northampton and use the three Sure Start Centres local to me, there is one in St James, one in King Heath and lastly there is one in Spencer. I started using the St James Sure Start when my eldest daughter now four and a half was six weeks old and have contained to use it with my other two children. Sure Start is aimed at families with children under five. My local sure starts do a range of different drop in session when you go in to the centre with your child and play. I find these great as they help my little one mix with other child and for me I get some adult conversation. At the drop INS, they have many different ...  Read the complete review

I have been involved with three sure start centres since my son was born twenty one months ago. They were originally set up to work in the poorer area and while they do a great job ,it seems to get more political and being seen to do the right thing rather that actually doing what helps an individual The first centre I used I only used to get my son weighed where there was a health visitor present and I could collect multivitamins for myself as I was breastfeeding. I was also able to buy safety equipment and a breastfeeding pump at a dramatically reduced rate. I have been told that they no longer offer this equipment. The second was when my son was ...  Read the complete review

Sure Start life saver if i didn't have this place called the Red Hill center i think i would of cracked up i have three children oldest 12 second one 9 baby nearly 1 i have been using this place for the past 7 yrs its a god send.I have completed lots of courses such as first aid,confidence building,healthy living, weight management with keep fit parenting classes all with free crech provided.I used the center when pregnant to see midwife.there is lots of groups for the kids such as baby massage tiny treasures stay and play tiny signers.we have a community cafe witch i visit nearly every day to meet other parents to chat I Even got my self a little job in cafe at one ...  Read the complete review

My local sure start center is called the art room and I have been going there for just over a year now. The center runs a few different groups and is popular with the mums on our estate. The groups that are currently running are Stay and play - This is run on a monday afternoon and friday morning, its about interacting with your child and they set out activities to help you do that. Tumble time - This session is run by a local gymnastic school whoc come in on a wednesday morning for a hour and at 50p is a lot cheaper than the other gyms around here. Mummies and tummies - This is for expectant mums and ones with babies not yet ...  Read the complete review

Taken from the website www.surestart.gov.uk: "Sure start is a government programme to deliver the best start in life for every child by bringing together early education, child care, health and family support". So what does this mean? -------------------------------- Basically the government were worried about children entering the school system at 5 years of age with varying degrees of ability. Finding children from poorer backgrounds to have less ability with speech, and seemingly more family problems they set about trying to even the field for all children. In June 2008 there were 2907 Sure Start Centres across the ...  Read the complete review