From the cradle to the school gates

Case study

Walton Lane Nursery School orchestrates work with a variety of services in a drive to improve chances for children growing up in a deprived area. The Walton Lane co-location operates on three sites and uses a not-for-profit company to give local families better access to the support they and their children need.

Key learning

The chance to get to know children from birth onwards offers the school a long-term view and facilitates measurements of success.
Careful use of tracking software shows that Walton Lane children’s achievement in the foundation stage is improving.
The value of the services provided to parents is demonstrated in the willingness of families to “come back for more”.
The existence of the Walton Lane not-for-profit company offers opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available. For example, the ability to bid for grants and services and to take on local property means that Walton Lane is bringing extended services into the area and contributing to local regeneration.

Background

In a divided community that has, historically, exhibited little commitment to working together, Walton Lane is committed to improving the life chances of all local children. Walton Lane serves the community of Nelson in Lancashire. The nursery’s main site is on the fringes of the town in a white working-class area. One of the satellite site is more centrally located and is used by a more diverse cross-section of the community. The school’s governing body is responsible for both the school and the children’s centre.

Nelson’s population is clustered along ethnic lines and scores highly on a variety of indices of deprivation. The school is well aware of the recently increasing social and political tensions in the area and of the existence of drug and alcohol problems in some families.

Key challenges

Raising aspirations and engaging parents

The school and children’s centre are located in an area of low ambitions, poverty and social and ethnic divisions.

Pressure on leadership

The headteacher’s dual role as headteacher and children’s centre manager is extremely demanding.

Contractual differences

There are contractual differences between those who are employed by the local authority and those employed by the not-for-profit company.

Solutions

Early intervention

Working with families and children from birth to the age of five enables the early identification of any significant issues which can quickly be addressed by the nursery team with the support of wider support from co-located services.

Creating a single professional community

Coherence and consistency is maintained through offering all staff the same continuing professional development (CPD).

The work of staff from both organisations is organised into five key areas

Work focuses on delivery of the core offer of the children’s centre and early years education. In addition, there is activity to support early intervention, differentiated (multi-agency) support, collaborative advantage (enabling families to consult a wide range of services without the fear of being stigmatised), long-term support and commercial flexibility.

A not-for-profit approach

The two organisations benefit from the existence of a not-for-profit limited company, established by a number of governors. This offers considerable commercial flexibility in commissioning services and facilities for both school and children’s centre. Over 50 of the 78 staff employed by the two institutions are funded by this company.

Further information

For further information contact Walton Lane Nursery by email at audrey.wilson@waltonlane.lancs.sch.uk.