Children s centre self-evaluation form guidance

Children s centre self-evaluation form guidance Age group: 0 5 Published: March 2010 Reference no: 100008

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to Subscribe. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann s Square Manchester M2 7LA T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk No. 100008 Crown copyright 2010

Contents Introduction 4 Purpose of the form 4 When to complete the form 4 How to fill the form in 5 Structure of the form 5 Other resources for effective self-evaluation 5 Completing the questions in Section A: Self-evaluation 5 Sub-section A1: The centre s context and, particularly, any significant characteristics 6 Sub-section A2: Outcomes for children, parents and other users 6 Sub-section A3: How good is the provision? 10 Sub-section A4: How effective are the leadership and management? 12 Sub-section A5: Summative judgements 17 Section B: Factual information about your children s centre 19 Sub-section B1: Information about your children s centre 19 Sub-section B2: Organisation and services 19 Sub-section B3: Governance arrangements 19 Sub-section B4: Registered childcare/early years provision 19

Introduction This document provides information for children s centres on completing their Ofsted self-evaluation form. It includes guidance notes for responding to each of the questions. Purpose of the form Ofsted recognises the importance of self-evaluation as a crucial part of children s centres ongoing cycle of review and planning. The self-evaluation form is designed to be an important tool in this process, enabling children s centres to capture a summary of their evaluations. It should indicate key strengths and weaknesses, and what needs to be tackled to effect improvement. The self-evaluation form should also record the impact of the centre s actions on outcomes for users. Judgements and conclusions about the quality of the centre s work should be substantiated with evidence. Inspectors will make considerable use of the self-evaluation form when discussing their arrangements for inspection. The impact of your self-evaluation in helping to bring about improvement will be a major factor in their judgements about the effectiveness of leadership and management and the centre s capacity to sustain improvement. When to complete the form You should complete this self-evaluation form if: you do not already include evaluation of your children s centre in an existing Ofsted self-evaluation form (for example because you are also a school or have registered childcare) using this form in addition to an existing Ofsted self-evaluation form is helpful to the centre and its leaders and managers in improving outcomes for young children and their families by separately identifying the centre s strengths and areas for improvement your local authority asks you to complete this form as part of their performance management arrangements. There is no fixed time in the year when we recommend that you complete the selfevaluation form. It is best done to fit in with your normal cycle of review and planning and to inform your annual conversation with the local authority. It is likely that the most efficient and effective manner of managing the process will involve the centre focusing on, and updating, different sections of the self-evaluation form throughout the year. 4

How to fill the form in The self-evaluation form is not yet available to complete electronically. You should download the form from Ofsted s website and keep it with other centre documents. The inspector will ask for access to the form during the telephone call to arrange the inspection; this will normally be at the centre. Structure of the form The self-evaluation form is organised into sections. Section A: self-evaluation Section B: factual information about your children s centre Other resources for effective self-evaluation When completing your self-evaluation form, you should pay close attention to the outline guidance for inspectors and the grade descriptors, which are contained in Inspection of children s centres: evaluation schedule and grade descriptors, available on Ofsted s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. Completing the questions in Section A: Self-evaluation Section A, the evaluative section, is structured in sub-sections that correspond to the judgements made by inspectors. Inspection of children s centres sets out what inspectors evaluate, outline guidance and grade descriptors for every inspection judgement. We recommend that children s centres have a copy of this guidance and Inspection of children s centres to hand when completing Section A of their self-evaluation form. Each question starts by asking centres to grade aspects of their work on a four-point scale, as follows: Grade 1: Outstanding Grade 2: Good Grade 3: Satisfactory Grade 4: Inadequate. Please refer closely to the grade descriptors and guidance for inspectors when deciding on a grade. Briefly list your main reasons for deciding on this grade and ensure that you reference your judgement to the matters in the relevant grade descriptor. You should include only the minimum amount of detail in support of your judgement; bullet points are quite acceptable. If you judge that the children s centre is close to a grade boundary, briefly say why you did not select the other grade. The self-evaluation form is intended to be a summary of your children s centre s self-evaluation. You should support your judgements with carefully chosen evidence that demonstrates the impact of the centre s actions on the outcomes for 5

users. The self-evaluation form may signpost this evidence it does not all have to be included in the self-evaluation form. Sub-section A1: The centre s context and, particularly, any significant characteristics This sub-section enables you to identify the context in which your children s centre works and to explain its distinctive aims and ethos. It provides the factual background for your later judgements about how well the centre is doing. You may wish to refer to: the main characteristics of the users and the communities served by the centre, including their social, economic and ethnic backgrounds and indicating the level of prosperity or deprivation your distinctive aims and any special features of your children s centre, for example whether your centre is in a significant partnership with particular providers or agencies (such as shared arrangements for the provision of services and activities or partnerships with employers) whether your centre has particular characteristics, including significant awards you have received any specific contextual or other issues that act as aids or barriers to raising performance, for example: any difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff or members of the advisory board; recent or impending reorganisation; important facts in your recent history, such as a change of leadership any recent and significant changes in the composition of the children s centre, in terms of the social, cultural or other backgrounds of users. Sub-section A2: Outcomes for children, parents and other users In this section you should take a critical look at outcomes for users of your children s centre. You are asked to evaluate how the centre is improving outcomes for users in each of the five Every Child Matters areas before evaluating how well the centre promotes outcomes for users overall. You should consider how you can use your analysis of data and your own evaluations to support your judgements. Please refer closely to the grade descriptors in Inspecting children s centres (pages 9 20) when deciding on a grade for each outcome. This self-evaluation form guidance provides examples written in italics to illustrate how you might use data and evaluations to support your judgements. These are not exhaustive and do not provide examples for all indicators in the document Inspecting children s centres. You should consider including evaluations for all relevant indicators in your self-evaluation form. 6

A2.1: Being healthy The extent to which children, including those from vulnerable groups, are physically, mentally and emotionally healthy and families have healthy lifestyles. that the promotion of healthy lifestyles, including healthy eating, good hygiene and participation in sport or other activities, has improved the understanding and take-up of more healthy lifestyles by children and their families for example, demonstrate that parents are adopting healthier lifestyles by referring to the proportion who are exercising more regularly or preparing healthier food; conside r whether you can provide data to show whether such healthy lifestyles are sustained the impact of child and family health services supporting women at transition into motherhood for example, refer to data that show improvements in the proportion of teenage mothers and pregnant teenagers in the children s centre reach area with whom the children s centre establishes contact; provide data from the National Indicator Set demonstrating the percentage of mothers breastfeeding at six to eight weeks from birth the impact of specialist services such as speech and language therapy for example, show improvements in the progress of targeted children attending directly provided or commissioned early years provision and/or progress over time in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile scores for communication, language and literacy of targeted children how the centre s links with other services such as GPs, child and adolescent mental health services, portage services, special educational needs coordinators and community mental health teams have led to improved health and well-being for children and their families (cross reference with partnerships in leadership and management section) for example, use data to show the increase in the numbers of parents and carers accessing mental health support. You should consider evaluating all of the relevant indicators in Inspecting children s centres for this outcome in A2.2: Staying safe The extent to which children are safe and protected, their welfare concerns are identified and appropriate steps taken to address them. the centre s engagement with the prevention strategy, locality working and the use of the common assessment framework is improving the safeguarding of children, including those in families who are hard to 7

engage for example, numbers of children in the local area who have child protection plans (National Indicator) and the frequency of the centre s use of the common assessment framework the centre s knowledge of and involvement with the most vulnerable families (such as children subject to a child protection plan) contributes to improving the safety of children for example, evidence through case studies of the beneficial impact of the centre s involvement with families in challenging circumstances structured parenting programmes are improving outcomes for those users who are experiencing difficulties with children s behaviour for example, refer to the number of positive evaluations from adults who have accessed the centre s parenting courses. The staying safe grade will contribute to the grade for overall effectiveness. You should consider evaluating all of the indicators in The children s centre evaluation schedule for this outcome in A2.3: Enjoying and achieving The extent to which all users enjoy and achieve educationally and in their personal and social development. improvement in children s achievement for example, an increasing proportion of children in the centre s Early Years Foundation Stage provision are meeting or exceeding the developmental milestones; targeted children achieve at least 78 points across the Early Years Foundation Stage profile with at least six points scored in each of the personal, social and emotional development and communication, language and literacy scales (Sure Start children s centre key indicator) the centre s work with parents is improving young children s enjoyment and achievement for example, young children whose parents and carers attend the centre are making improvements in their communication, language and literacy; and in their personal social and emotional development improvements in adult users achievement so that parents gain skills and confidence to enable them to access further learning and help with their children s learning for example, where the centre offers adult and community learning, the number of adults obtaining accredited and nonaccredited qualifications. You should consider evaluating all of the indicators in Inspecting children s centres for this outcome in 8

A2.4: Making a positive contribution The extent to which children engage in positive behaviour and develop positive relationships and users contribute to decision-making and governance of the centre. that children and parents improve their ability to make appropriate choices and decisions for example, evidence that children using early years or childcare provision made directly by the centre or commissioned by it, or who take part in stay and play sessions, develop sound relationships and positive behaviour, join in, cooperate and share, make friends, respect each other and tolerate each other s differences the centre has established itself at the heart of the community, is promoting tolerance and understanding, and community cohesion is improving as a result fo r example, provide the numbers o f teenage mothers, lone parents, minority ethnic groups and parents with disabilities in the reach area that the centre has established contact within the previous year and evidence of the range of local community groups using the centre the contribution of users to the development of services for example, where users participation in decision-making has led to positive changes in the centre s working practice; include evidence from any consultations on changes made by the centre and consider the contribution made by a range of different groups of users. You should consider evaluating all of the indicators in Inspecting children s centres for this outcome in A2.5: Economic and social well-being The extent to which children are developing skills for the future and parents are developing economic stability and independence including access to training and employment. improvements in outcomes for users who face challenges such as teenage and lone parents and families living in poverty or without work for example, evidence that an increasing proportion of teenage mothers aged 16 to 19 are entering education, employment or training (Sure Start children s centre key performance indicator) access to information regarding benefits and tax credits is improving economic stability and independence for families for example, evidence that increasing numbers of adults are accessing Jobcentre Plus, citizen s advice, housing association advice or Connexions services 9

the progression that users make to further learning, employment or promotion at work for example, evidence of the take-up rates of users who are benefiting from adult training and the numbers achieving qualifications, entering employment or gaining promotion. You should consider evaluating all of the indicators in Inspecting children s centres for this outcome in Sub-section A3: How good is the provision? This section is about the quality of the centre s provision and the impact this has on outcomes for users. Your self-evaluation should not just list all that the centre does. It should include an evaluation of the impact of activities and services on outcomes for users. Where applicable, this section should take account of the evaluation of the centre s provision for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage when making judgements. Please refer closely to the grade descriptors in Inspecting children s centres (pages 20 25) when completing this section of your self-evaluation form. A3.1: Assessing needs The effectiveness of the assessment of the needs of children, parents and other users. 10 how effectively the centre ensures that users welfare (health and social) needs are appropriately assessed and reviewed for example, evidence from any needs analysis and consultation; the centre s arrangements for sharing information with other agencies to gain an accurate understanding o f users abilities and aspirations the extent to which assessment information about individual and diverse groups of learners is used in programme and course development for example, assessment arrangements for children in the centre s Early Years Foundation Stage where applicable; the procedures to negotiate the objectives of programmes of work with adult learners to accurately reflect their abilities and aspirations. A3.2: Learning and development How well the centre promotes purposeful learning, development and enjoyment for all users.

that it enables individual users to improve their educational and/or personal development and progress to further employment, education or training for example, how the centre uses learner s prior learning, achievements and identified learning goals to plan and deliver activities and services the impact of provision on improved outcomes for children and their families for example, the progress made by targeted children receiving the Early Years Foundation Stage provided or commissioned by the centre; any clear links between changes in provision and subsequent improvements in outcomes for groups of users that users receive constructive feedback on their progress and how they might improve for example, the completion rates of parenting programmes; the number of parents going on to other activities. A3.3: The range and appropriateness of services provided The extent to which the range of services, activities and opportunities meet the needs of the users and the wider community. how well it adapts services to meet the needs of users for example, evidence of consultation with parent groups and the wider community; the participation rates and attendance levels of particular groups in the children s centre reach area with whom the children s centre establishes contact such as: teenage mothers and pregnant teenagers lone parents children in workless households children in minority ethnic groups disabled children and children o f disabled parents the provision and balance of universal and targeted services for example, evidence that outreach services are linked to an accurate analysis of local need and are prioritised on identified vulnerable groups in the children s centre area; evidence that there are targeted services arising from needs analysis; evidence of services open to all children and families such as stay and play sessions, their take-up and how this is monitored that programmes ensure equality of access and opportunities for all users or potential users for example, how changes in the timing and scheduling of activities has increased the part icipation of fathers and male carers. How specific consultation events have been targeted at hard to reach groups and evidence of things changing as a result of consultation. 11

A3.4: Care, guidance and support The quality of care, guidance and support offered to users within the centre and the wider community. the quality of early years and childcare provided either directly or in partnership with a school or setting for example, reference to the latest Early Years Foundation Stage inspection reports or local authority quality assurance visits the quality of information, advice and guidance for users on smoking, alcohol and drug misuse and sexual health for example, evidence of the numbers of adults on smoking cessation programmes, whether this number is increasing and the success rate of those attending the quality of care and support offered to families in times of crisis for example, evidence from case studies and positive evaluations of the support received by families the quality of impartial information, advice and guidance on appropriate adult and community learning programmes, services or employment to meet learners needs for example, evidence of increasing take-up of adult learning courses, users with qualifications and adults attending employment advice sessions. Sub-section A4: How effective are the leadership and management? This section is about the effectiveness of significant elements of the centre s leadership and management. This includes the leadership and management of the centre s Early Years Foundation Stage setting, where applicable. You should consider your vision and how you communicate this to staff, parents and children. An evaluation of how well you deliver your vision by embedding your ambition and prioritising what improvements you make contributes towards how effectively the setting is led and managed. Please refer closely to the grade descriptors in Inspecting children s centres (pages 25 39) which provide definitions of some of the terms used in this section. 12

A4.1: Governance and accountability The extent to which governance, accountability, professional supervision and day-to-day management arrangements are clear and understood. governance arrangements that enable all those responsible to work together to ensure high-quality, integrated provision for example, the minutes of advisory board meetings provide evidence of well-defined roles and responsibilities with a clear focus on improving outcomes the clarity and effectiveness of accountability arrangements, including quality assurance, performance management and financial oversight for example, the centre s development plan contains clearly delegated quality assurance responsibilities leading to improved outcomes in those targeted areas the clarity of and relationship between professional supervision arrangements and day-to-day management responsibilities for example, the frequency of professional supervision arrangements, how supervision is aligned for all staff and how these arrangements focus on the centre s stated development priorities. A4.2: Ambition and prioritisation The extent to which ambitious targets drive improvement, provision is integrated and there are high expectations for users and the wider community. the extent to which the centre s development plan sets out the priorities, challenging targets for improvement and the resources required to deliver them for example, the centre s development plan contains clear milestones and quantifiable success criteria and has raised outcomes for users resources are clearly identified, targeted at identified priorities and shifted to meet changing needs for example, the centre can highlight how services have been adapted to meet the needs of different groups of users the extent to which partners, including users, are clear about the priorities and have been involved in identifying them at both local and strategic levels for example, staff and users have participated in an annual conversation to identify the priorities in the development plan and how and when they will be delivered. 13

A4.3: Value for money The extent to which resources are used and managed efficiently and effectively to meet the needs of users and the wider community. the progress or levels of development reached by users, taking account of their starting points where this is possible for example, the centre can provide tracking data of user s progress from their starting points how effectively resources are managed and used for the different activities to achieve the desired outcomes for example, the centre can provide evidence of the steps taken to obtain more effective use of the premises through an increased number of activities provided for targeted groups o f users the extent to which staff knowledge and expertise is deployed to ensure high quality provision for example, the centre s records of staff training and professional development show their increasing knowledge and level of qualifications. A4.4: Equality and diversity The extent to which equality is promoted and diversity celebrated, illegal or unlawful discrimination is tackled and the centre fulfils its statutory duties. Two principles guide the overall judgement: how effectively the centre is narrowing the achievement gap how effectively the centre actively promotes equality and diversity and tackles discrimination. the range of users reflects the community that the centre serves for example, there is evidence of a correlation between the local authority data on the groups of potential users in the centre s reach area and the centre s data on families who access their services how well the management team knows who its most vulnerable groups are and takes steps to engage them in the centre s work for example, the centre 14

can provide evidence that it is making increasing contact with identified hard to reach groups through outreach and family support programmes the range, coordination and accessibility of services for children or adults with learning difficulties and/or disabilities for example, the deployment of a family support worker has increased the numbers of adults with learning difficulties and/or disabilities attending activities. A4.5: Safeguarding The effectiveness of the centre s policy, procedures and work with key agencies in safeguarding children and, where applicable, vulnerable adults. Safeguarding practice and guidance is underpinned by a duty for children s centres to cooperate with relevant agencies to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The staying safe outcome judgement will influence the safeguarding judgement. the centre identifies concerns about possible abuse, records information relevant to safeguarding concerns clearly and accurately and shares it appropriately, both internally and with other agencies for example, evidence of the centre s safeguarding policy and procedures and how these are disseminated to staff and key partners such as details of staff induction programmes and safeguarding training the effectiveness of communication between all agencies for example, staff s understanding of the information sharing protocols, common assessment framework and child protection procedures with a shared understanding of thresholds for referral to social care services all staff working in the centre receive appropriate, up-to-date, high-quality safeguarding training, especially those working with more vulnerable children and adults for example, the centre has maintained staff training records which record the date and level of child protection training by an appr oved provider of safeguarding training. A4.6: Evaluation The extent to which evaluation is used to shape and improve services and activities. 15

how effectively partners evaluate the outcomes of their service or provision and also contribute to the overall evaluation of the effectiveness of the centre for example, evidence of the contribution of partners to compiling the centre s self-evaluation and development plan and in deciding on priority issues the systems to evaluate the longer term impact of the provision on outcomes for users for example, evidence of tracking case studies over time to see sustained impact; tracking children into school to follow through the achievement of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage, accredited qualifications for adult learners, numbers returning to work or parental confidence in meeting their child s needs. A4.7: Partnerships The extent to which partnerships with other agencies ensure the integrated delivery of the range of services the centre has been commissioned to provide. the extent to which the centre works in partnership with parents to improve outcomes for young children for example, evidence of increased numbers of parents joining parent forums; evidence of contributions to evaluations of activities and other ways their views are used to shape services; any systems to feed information about their experiences, needs and concerns back to staff arrangements with partner agencies ensure delivery of a wide range of services and provision for example, how the partnership arrangements help to identify families in need and how they provide services for identified groups such as families living in temporary accommodation, minority ethnic groups and those with English as an additional language the effectiveness of work with other agencies and providers for example, the centre s inclusion of childminders from the private, voluntary and independent sector in staff training to improve the quality of childminding ; the use of the centre for community groups that increases participation by users. 16

A4.8: User engagement The extent to which the centre supports and encourages the wider community to engage with services and uses their views to develop the range of provision. how well the centre routinely seeks the views of users for example, evidence of consultation, evidence of how successfully outreach services are engaging with members of the community who do not access services in order to accurately identify their needs how well the views of young children are captured to help shape provision for example, how the views of children, young people and adults who need support to communicate their views are used to improve provision how users contribute to management of the centre for example, parent representation on the governing body or advisory board; working or interest groups; contributing to interviews or through voluntary work. Sub-section A5: Summative judgements This final section draws together all the evidence and judgements made in the preceding sections of the evaluation schedule. There are three key judgements on How good are outcomes for users? How good is the provision? and How effective are the leadership and management? Drawing on your judgements made in sections A2 A4 above now make your summative judgements for these areas. The judgement on The centre s capacity for sustained improvement draws on the quality of leadership and management in securing past improvement and ensuring the centre will continue to make progress. The capacity to improve judgement will be linked to the overall effectiveness judgement but may not always be the same grade. All of these summative judgements inform the final judgement on Overall effectiveness. When completing this section refer to pages 39 41 of Inspecting children s centres. A5.4: Capacity for improvement The centre s capacity for sustained improvement, including the quality of its leadership and management. This judgement covers the extent to which the centre has the ability to improve outcomes and provision based on what it has accomplished so far, or to maintain exceptionally high outcomes and provision. It includes the extent to which self- 17

evaluation provides the centre with an accurate appraisal of its effectiveness and what it needs to do in order to secure further improvements. the centre s self-evaluation is of high quality for example, it gives those in charge a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision and enables them to make improvements to outcomes; there is evidence that the local authority or its delegated authority and the advisory board, ask challenging questions of senior managers to improve provision and outcomes plans for the future are well targeted to bring about further improvement to outcomes and provision for example, the centre can show that actions taken to tackle identified weaknesses are effective in delivering improved provision and outcomes users and partners are meaningfully involved in the self-evaluation process for example, self-evaluation includes the views of parents, other users, key partners and children. A5.5: Overall effectiveness The effectiveness of the children s centre in meeting the needs of and improving outcomes for users and the wider community. The overall effectiveness judgement is the final judgement. You should take account of all available evidence. You should weigh the key judgements on the overall outcomes for users, the quality of provision and the centre s capacity for sustained improvement, including the quality of leadership and management. 18

Section B: Factual information about your children s centre Section B is a record of statistical and other factual information about your children s centre. This section of the self-evaluation form is to help us find out more details about your children s centre. Sub-section B1: Information about your children s centre This section sets a number of factual questions that provide the location, size and arrangements for your children s centre. If your centre has more than one site, the address in B1.2 should be that of the main site. Make sure that the main post town and correct postcode are included. In section B1.6: Email, please insert the correct email address for communication about the children s centre. We will use this increasingly to contact you. In section B1.9, please indicate the number of sites occupied by the children s centre. Sites that are run by other distinct institutions should not be included. Sub-section B2: Organisation and services If you have already recorded information about your services in Part A of the Selfevaluation form for Sure Start children s centres (SEF), you can either crossreference to this document or transfer the information here. Sub-section B3: Governance arrangements Local authorities are responsible for their children s centres but many have chosen to delegate the governance and management of them to other organisations including schools governing bodies or charitable organisations. Please indicate in the selfevaluation form the governance arrangements that apply to your centre. Sub-section B4: Registered childcare/early years provision Please complete the box(es) in this section to help us ensure that we hold correct information about any of your centre s provision which we have registered on the Early Years Register and/or Childcare Register. If the registered childcare and/or early years provision is provided on more than one site and/or by different providers, please complete a separate box for each registration that forms part of your centre s services. The registered person refers to the individual or organisation that is registered to provide childcare and/or early years provision. 19