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Free childcare place success
in Liverpool
A campaign to encourage parents to take
up free childcare and early learning places in Liverpool has proved a huge
success.
Liverpool has around 3,000 free places for under 2' as part of a national
programme targeted at low income families.
In June 2015 around a ⅓ (1,100) had not been taken up, but following a huge
drive over the last year the take up rate now stands at 82%.
It means almost 350 additional children have benefited from 15 hours of support
per week to help learning and development, which is an 18.5% increase on last
summer term.
Councillor Nick Small, Assistant Mayor and Cabinet member for education,
employment and skills, said:- "I am delighted we've had such success in
driving up take up rates and it's a result of a lot of hard work by our staff in
finding innovative ways to reach out to families through our Children's Centres
and other council services to encourage them to sign up. It is vital that
parents who are eligible for free childcare and early learning places use them
as the additional help and support from childcare professionals following the
early years curriculum can make a big difference. This is all about making
sure that our children get the very best start in life and are where they need
to be in terms of development when they start school."
The Council worked with social enterprise Outreach Solutions to run an
intensive, targeted campaign, targeting Clubmoor and Norris Green in the north
and Knotty Ash and Yewtree in the east where take up rates were low. A 6 week
programme engaged communities and nurtured local champions to become advocates
for early learning; and the way a wide range of activities in many different
settings; from local shops to children's centres; were used to get messages
across.
More information about free childcare and early learning places can be found
online or parents can
contact their nearest Children's Centre. |
