What’s on at your local Children’s Centre

October 2014

www.rbkc.gov.uk/childrenscentres

Find us on RBKC Children’s Centres

Welcome to our children’s centre ‘what’s on

guide’, this booklet is designed to give you

some information about the different activities

that take place in your children’s centre.

We hope it will help you to decide what activities

to attend. In addition to this booklet, each

children’s centre produces a monthly calendar

showing the times and dates of activities they

offer. You can get a copy from any of our

centres or from our website

www.rbkc.gov.uk/childrenscentres

We look forward to meeting you soon!

Contents School Ready 4—11

Speech and language 12—15

Health 16—22

Family Support 23—26

Back to work & financial support 27

Get involved 28

Contact us 28

Soon after joining your children’s centre one of our

dedicated team will meet with you to complete your own

Family Star. This will help you to identify what services

are right for you and your family. If you would like to

have this assessment sooner, please speak to any of

the team at your children’s centre who will arrange this.

Family Star Assessment

In the first three years children develop at a faster rate

than at any other time in their lives. Children who

experience high quality early years activities/education

are well placed to achieve higher outcomes at school

and develop the skills necessary for life-long learning.

The role parents’ play in supporting their child’s

development is fundamental to making a difference to

children’s learning.

Children’s centres run activities to support your child’s

early years development and ultimately support them to

become ready for school.

School ready

Stay and plays

Also known as Drop ins

A chance for your child to develop by experimenting with

toys, activities and other children.

The sessions are a fun and relaxing place where you

can meet other parents and carers and their babies and

toddlers. Sessions encourage your child to enjoy books,

rhymes and songs, messy play and physical activity.

Parents are responsible for their children and must

stay with them at all times. The sessions are run by

our experienced Stay & Play staff and are often visited

by professionals such as Family Support and Speech

and language therapy.

Cuentacuentos

Hakawi

Is a Stay and Play for all families. Hakawi means

Storytelling. During these sessions there is great use of

Arabic songs and rhymes. Parents whose first language

is Arabic are encouraged to attend this group to help

them develop communication skills with their children.

Is a Stay and Play for all families. During these

sessions there is great use of Spanish songs, stories

and rhymes as well as stay and play activities. Parents

whose first language is Spanish are encouraged to

attend this group to help them develop communication

skills with their children.

Raconteur

Is a Stay and Play for all families. During these

sessions there is great use of French songs, stories and

rhymes as well as stay and play activities. Parents

whose first language is French are encouraged to attend

this group to help them develop communication skills

with their children.

Free 2 year old childcare

The FREE places are to help with your child’s early learning and development through play. Children aged between two and five will follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). ‘Learning through play helps children begin to understand simple sentences, listen and enjoy rhymes and stories, express themselves through action and sound and begin to make and manipulate objects and tools. Some of the benefits include

Improving children’s development, for example their

communication skills

Helping them learn to socialise

with other children and make friends

Giving them access to new

activities and exciting places to play

Helping them begin to get ready for school

An opportunity for parents to access support such as

returning to work, parenting, school readiness

2 Year Childcare Information Sessions

These sessions are an opportunity for you to find out

more about the FREE 2 year childcare places, find out

whether your child is eligible and get help to complete

the application form, if you need it. Pop along to one of

these friendly sessions, enjoy a cup of tea and meet

other families too.

Crèche Crèches provide childcare to enable parents to attend

an activity taking place on the same premises. We

provide crèches for some activities such as Literacy,

Parenting, ICT, ESOL

Sensory room The Sensory Room fosters an atmosphere of

relaxation. Relaxation is good for children’s emotional

health; it gives them a chance to explore their feelings

and to become interested in their environment. This

calming environment is a place for parents/carers to

bond with their children, providing a restful and peaceful

experience in today’s busy and sometimes stressful

lifestyles. This is a very

powerful and supportive

environment for children with

additional needs, babies and

young toddlers, it creates a

stimulating and yet calming

atmosphere and among other

things can help to improve

hand and eye co-ordination

and develop language skills.

The overactive child can be

calmed, the inactive become interested.

Bookstart aims to support you to enjoy books with your

child from as early an age as possible with the offer of

free book packs at two key stages before they start

school. By helping families to enjoy reading together

everyday, the packs can inspire a love of reading that

can give your child a flying start in life. It’s never too

early to start enjoying books with your child!

Summer University Is a structured 4 to 6 week programme designed for

parents and their children to prepare them for starting

Nursery or School. These sessions normally take place

during April and July at the end of the programme the

children will take part in a Graduation Ceremony to

celebrate their achievements.

Bookstart

Childminder drop ins

Childminders are registered with Ofsted to look after

children in their own home. They provide a wide range

of activities for children they care for including taking

them to drop ins, parks,

museums. Some childminders

meet regularly at Children’s

Centres and community

venues. If you are a parent

looking for a childminder to

look after your child when you

return to work/training, this is a good place to meet

childminders and discuss your childcare needs.

Community Drop ins Like children’s centre drop ins, these drop ins are a

great place for your children to

meet other children and

support their development as

well as for you to meet other

parents.

These drop ins are open daily

(some are closed during

school holidays) see contact

details on opposite page

Ilys Booker Centre (term time only) Lower Clarendon Walk, W11 1SL 0207 221 9031

Monday to Friday 10:00 13:00

St Marks Stay and Play Kensington Memorial Park, St Mark’s Road, W10 6BZ 020 8968 4339

Monday to Friday 12:30 16:00

Little Wormwoods Scrub Playhut (term time only) Dalgarno Gardens, W10 6AD 020 8969 7779

Monday to Friday 10:00 13:00

Meanwhile Gardens the Playhut Elkstone Road, W10 5NT 020 8960 7894

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (from 1st November 2014), Thursday, Friday

14:00 17:00

World’s End Under Fives 18 Blantyre Street, SW10 0DS 020 7351 5871

Monday to Fridays

10:00 11:45

Your community drop ins

Communication is vital to social, emotional and

educational development. Communication enables

children to develop friendships, develop their knowledge of

the world as well as communicating feelings and ideas.

The Early Years Speech and Language Therapy

Department provides a service for children aged 0 to start

of reception class in school. This is for children whose

needs might include problems with making speech

sounds, understanding language, putting words together,

voice (such as persistent hoarseness), stammering,

feeding / swallowing, social communication skills or a mix

of any of these. Sometimes these difficulties are alongside

other problems such as learning difficulties but this is not

always the case. Children might be born with these

difficulties or encounter them as a result of illness or

trauma. The Speech and Language therapy team is here

to:

Assess the speech , language and communication

skills of the child to identify areas in which they need

help

Work with families to identify how best to help the

child to communicate to their full potential

Work with the child individually or in groups,

dependent upon their needs.

Support colleagues in children’s centre and nurseries

to promote a language-rich environment .

Speech and language therapy

Language group

Read to succeed

A workshop for parents that aims to provide information on: how to develop children’s language skills through

shared book reading, the importance of frequent book sharing in relation

to children top tips and strategies for developing language

skills through book sharing.

Speech and language therapy groups are for children with diagnosed speech and language therapy difficulties. They provide each child with the opportunity to develop important foundation skills for language and learning. Activities used in all the groups are fun and based around play. Earlier language groups focus on developing looking and listening skills and social communication, such as initiating a conversation and turn-taking. As the child’s communication skills develop, the groups focus on developing his /her understanding, expanding vocabulary and the ability to express him/herself in sentences. Parents attend with their child.

Small steps to school For children with diagnosed speech and language therapy difficulties. Children will be encouraged to take part in small group activities with a focus on communication including song time, snack time and a variety of creative activities.

Workshop for parents run by the speech and language

therapy team. It aims to share current advice/latest

research about children learning more than one

language, hear top tips for supporting children’s

language development; gives parents the opportunity to

ask questions they may have about their child

Hear me follow me

A six week course for parents and their child. It offers

practical advice on how parents can support their child’s

language development at home through talking and

listening, snack time, pretend play, book sharing,

singing and signing.

Learning more than one language

Play make and say

A workshop for parents to provide information on early

language development and to demonstrate to parents

how they can practically support language development

at home through games/activities. Parents/carers attend

on their own, children are cared for in the crèche.

Support for Families with a Disabled child: Families who have a disabled child are welcome to attend any of the activities that the mainstream children’s centres

offer. There may be times when you feel a more specialist

provision would be better for your child. St Quintin centre for Disabled children in based in the North of the borough and offers support for all disabled children

aged 0-18years. Any family can drop into the centre which is open from 9-6pm

weekdays, Saturdays from 9.30- 4pm and Sunday from11-3pm.

We offer a keyworker service which is a specialist advice worker who can guide you through the maze of accessing

services this includes stay and plays, coffee mornings and a playgroup.

Our address is 2a Wallingford Avenue, London W10 6QB Tel number 0208 968 2570

St Quintin Centre for Disabled children and young people

Children’s centres offer significant opportunities for

improving children’s health and ensuring that families

are able to access the information, support and services

they need to help their child to thrive and achieve their

full potential. Children’s Centres work closely with

Health to reduce health inequalities.

Our aim is to :

reduce smoking in pregnancy

reduce infant mortality

increasing uptake and duration of breastfeeding

reduce incidence of low birth weight babies

improve physical activity

promote healthy eating

promote the early take-up of antenatal

services

improve provision of postnatal services

including parenting support

Improve access to contraceptive services

Improve access to Healthy Start Vitamins

Healthy Parents, Healthy Children

Cook and taste

Covering healthy eating for adults and young children,

tips on fussy eating, as well as recipes suitable for the

whole family. Please note that this programme does

not cover weaning, but does signpost parents to free

local weaning groups. Give your child the best start to

life learning about the foods children need to grow up

happy and healthy.

Baby massage

Come along to this five week course to learn skills and

techniques to massage your baby. Baby Massage

supports baby and parents well being, improves

relaxation and attachment.

Antenatal Classes to educate parents how to look after

their health during pregnancy; Birth preparation to help

them to cope with labour; Breast feeding workshops to

give help and support to mothers before and after

giving birth.

Baby Cafe Also called child health clinic

Come along to this drop in session facilitated by health

professionals where you will receive advice and

support on health and well being of babies and

breastfeeding support in a non judgemental supportive

environment.

Healthy child information sessions

Delivered by health professionals, each of the

sessions will cover a different health promotion topic

such as weaning or First Aid. You can also discuss

queries and concerns you have on specific health and

social topics.

Perinatal clinics

Postnatal clinics

Postnatal Discharge Clinic to give mothers a chance to

meet up with other new mothers as well as to have their

Postnatal check and discharge.

Talking times

To support women with post natal depression, helping

them overcome unhelpful thinking using a cognitive

behavioural approach, also to lessen mental health

impact on the infant and other family members.

Women’s circle

This is a women only activity where women can come

together and talk. It is about local women supporting

each other in pregnancy, birth, early motherhood and

beyond. The group aims to create an empathic, calm,

enriching environment where women share

experiences, knowledge and skills with one another.

Your child will have a full health and development

review, checking on areas including language and

learning, safety, diet and behaviour. This is an

opportunity for you and your partner to discuss with a

health professional any concerns you may have and

get ready for the next stage of your child’s

development.

Health and development checks

First aid for babies and infants

(Accredited by British Red Cross) This is an essential course for all parents. This

four-hour workshop will teach you basic life saving

skills specifically for babies and infants. The workshop

covers how to care for conscious and unconscious

casualties including seizures, resuscitation (CPR),

choking, shock and dealing with severe blood loss and

applying bandages.

Home safety equipment

This is a support group for pregnant women and new

mothers with their babies up to the age of 3 months.

During these sessions new mums can talk to other

parents and professionals about how they are adapting

to parenthood and any concerns they have during these

early weeks of parenthood.

Bumps and baby clinic

Many of our children’s centres sell a range of home

safety equipment such as safety gates, plug protectors

and safety film.

Healthy start vitamins

Help your family shine this winter with FREE Healthy Start vitamins Great News! Free Healthy Start vitamins for pregnant women and children under five are now available for all families across Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham. This includes daily vitamin drops for children containing vitamin A, C and D. For pregnant women, daily vitamins containing folic acid and vitamins C and D are available. Please visit your local children’s centre to pick up your vitamins and make a healthy start today. If you are already receiving Healthy Start vitamins, please continue to bring your coupons with you to exchange for your free vitamins.

FAMILY SUPPORT

Children’s Centres offer a full range of family support

services and activities, They offer parenting classes,

ESOL classes, young parents groups advice on

education, housing, debt, mental health, and other

specialist services. They also offer advice and support

on getting back to work or training. Children’s Centres

have a Job Bulletin that is updated 2 to 3 times each

week with current vacancies.

Early Help link worker Each Children’s centre has a named Early Help Link

Worker who will be on site at least one day per week,

you are welcome to pop in to speak to them about

concerns you may have about your child’s development

or behaviour. Or you can speak to your Family

Engagement Officer who will make an appointment for

you to meet with the Early Help worker, referrals can be

made for bespoke 1:1 sessions around topics such as

sleep routines, toileting, behaviour management and

coping with isolation.

When it comes to raising children everyone has an

opinion. There are so many ideas out there. So how do

you know what’s best and what works? Our workshops

and courses take the guesswork out of parenting.

Parenting Courses gives parents simple tips to help

manage the big and small problems of family life.

Problems like toddler tantrums or bedtime routines.

We offer two hour workshops on specialist topics or our

8 week parenting programmes.

Parenting

Dad power This course has been designed especially for Dads/

Male carers. We understand that sometimes parenting

can seem ‘easier for mums’. This two day workshop

aims to empower dads and enhance your knowledge of

child development, children's behaviour and the magic

of dad power!

Parent workshops

During these parent workshops the Family Engagement

Officer will cover different topics: Home Safety, positive

parenting, developing good bedtime routines, dealing

with disobedience, raising confident and competent

children.

Fathers group

A unique space for

fathers/male carers

to spend time with

your child/children

enjoying a wide

range of fun

activities with other

fathers from the

local community.

Drop in to meet our employment advisor, offering employment coaching, money management, CV writing, They can also help you gain work experience through volunteering or work placements.

Back to Work and Financial Support

Are you thinking about returning to work but not sure

whether you can afford to? Would you like to find out

what benefits you may be entitled to, if you return to

work? Do you want to know more about the Bedroom

Tax? Are you thinking of signing up for a mutual

exchange or downsizing your property? Are you getting

the right benefits? Are you

worried about Universal

Credits or the Welfare

Reform? Come and talk to

one of the specialist

advisors from housing and

benefits teams.

Back to work support

Food Bank Vouchers If you are facing a crisis and would like to know how you can get a voucher, please contact our Family Engagement Team.

English Skills former English for speakers of other languages (ESOL)

This weekly course will give you the opportunity to learn and develop your communication skills and to enable you to effectively support your children’s communication skills. You will be able to gain a recognised qualification.

Free Family Learning Courses for parents

FAMILY ENGLISH AND MATHS We are offering FREE COURSES to improve your skills in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening; to improve your skills in Numeracy for everyday use; and develop skills to support your child or children’s learning. All parents will get the opportunity to gain a recognised qualification.

FAMILY ICT Opportunity to learn and develop your computer skills to enable you to understand the skills that your child /children will develop in school and help you to effectively support your child/children’s computer skills.

FREE CRECHE PLACES FOR YOUR CHILD. ENROL TODAY! Call 020 7361 3722

GET INVOLVED All children’s centres have a User Group that they encourage parents and local residents to join. If you have about 3 hours per month to spare and want to ensure that children’s centres deliver the right services to the right families at the right time you may enjoy being part of this group. Contact your local children’s centre for more information

1 Clare Gardens Children’s Centre

349 Westbourne Park Road, W11 1EG

020 7727 2725

2 Holmfield House 4 - 6 Golborne Road, W10 5PE

020 7938 8400

3 Maxilla Children’s Centre

4 Maxilla Walk, Kingsdown Close, W10 6NQ

020 8962 3070

4 St Quintin Children’s Centre

90 Highlever Road, W10 6PN

020 8968 2580

5

Chelsea Open Air Nursery School and Children’s Centre (COA)

51 Glebe Place SW3 5JE

020 7352 8374

6 Cheyne Children’s Centre

10 Thorndike Close SW10 0ST

020 7349 1650

7

St. Cuthbert with St. Matthias CE Primary School and Earl’s Court Children’s Centre (SCWSM)

Warwick Road SW5 9UE

020 7373 8225

8 Violet Melchett Children’s Centre

30 Flood Street SW3 5RR

020 7938 8621

NORTH LOCALITY

SOUTH LOCALITY