Early Years
Family Resource Centre UK
Family Tree Nursery
49 Broadway
Bracknell
RG12 1BB
This is an independent charity providing free information and
guidance to parents and carers of children up to the age of 14
years, and 16 years if the children have special needs, on behalf
of Bracknell Forest Borough Council. It is a one-stop shop
with information about childcare, health facilities, education,
pre-school provision, special needs resources, leisure activities
and out of school provision, in fact anything concerning children.
The office in Bracknell is open Monday to Friday 9:00 to 4.30pm
(closed from 12.00pm to 1.00pm).
Children's
Centres in Bracknell Forest
Children’s Centres are places where children under 5 years old
and their families can receive integrated services and information,
and where they can access help from multi-disciplinary teams of
professionals. The centres provide a range of services depending
on local need and parental choice.
The Rowans, based on the site
of Fox Hill Primary School, serves the communities of Easthampstead,
Wildridings, Harmans Water, Crown Wood, Forest Park, and Martins
Heron.
The Oaks, based on the site of Great
Hollands School, serves the communities of Great Hollands, Birch
Hill and Hanworth.
The Family Tree, based at
the town centre Nursery and local venues, serves the communities
of Priestwood, Bullbrook and the Town Centre.
The services for the other centres will be based in a range of
community buildings such as schools, pre-schools, community halls
etc and are:
The Alders, serving the communities
of College Town, Owlsmoor and Central Sandhurst.
The Chestnuts, serving the
communities of Crowthorne and Little Sandhurst.
The Maples, serving the communities
of Binfield, Warfield, North Ascot, Winkfield and Cranbourne.
Children’s Centre Managers:
Special
Educational Needs in the Early Years
All Early Years settings in receipt of the Nursery Education Funding
are required to have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO)
to plan for children with special educational needs and disabilities
within their setting. It is recommended that these co-ordinators
attend a minimum of two days SEN/Inclusion training per year.
The Early Years and Childcare Partnership section of Bracknell
Forest Borough Council has Area SENCOs who visit every setting
offering advice, support and on-site training. These Area
SENCOs work in partnership with all the other professional services
in the special education and disability field, Health Visitors
and Homestart and PACT from the voluntary sector.
For further information about Early Years services, please contact:
Early Years Team
| Tel: |
01344 354024 - Office at Seymour House |
| Tel: |
01344 312811 or 312812 - Office at The Rowans Children’s
Centre |
Resource
Library
Early Years has a resource library offering an extensive list
of developmental toys and equipment for children with special educational
needs, which can be accessed by parents and carers, but only by
appointment. In order to book an appointment please contact
Caroline Brown, Area Senco 01344 312813.
Daycare Trust
21 St George’s Road
London
SE1 6ES
Daycare Trust is the national childcare charity, campaigning for
quality, affordable childcare for all and raising the voices of
children, parents and carers. They advise parents and carers,
providers, employers, trade unions and policymakers on childcare
issues. They have an information line and website where enquiries
about a range or childcare issues are answered.
Homestart Bracknell
Forest
Coopers Hill Centre
Bagshot Road
Bracknell
RG12 7QS
Homestart is a registered charity set up to support families with
children under the age of five years who are experiencing stress.
Volunteers are recruited and trained to work alongside families
in their own homes, to enable and empower them to cope on their
own. Volunteers spend two hours a week with a family offering
practical and emotional support, and referrals can be from professional
agencies or families themselves. Many of the families currently
being assisted have children with disabilities. The main
criterion is that the family must have one child under the age
of five years.
For further information please contact the organiser at Coopers
Hill.
Margaret Wells-Furby Resource Centre
For full details please refer to the entry in the Social
Services and Housing section.
National
Autistic Society EarlyBird programme
Margaret Wells-Furby Children’s Resource Centre
This is a three-month parent programme which combines group training
sessions with individual home visits. It is run by local
professionals with experience and understanding of autistic spectrum
disorders. It aims to help parents understand their child’s
autism, structure interactions to develop communication and develop
strategies to pre-empt problem behaviours and/or manage those which
do occur.
Any parent with a child who has a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum
disorder may apply to join a programme. Details are available
from the Margaret Wells-Furby Centre.
EarlyBird Programme is for parents of children under five years
old. EarlyBird Plus Programme is for parents of children
aged four to eight years. A third place is allocated on this
programme for a professional who is currently working with the
child.
Bookstart
Bookstart is the national programme that encourages all parents
and carers to enjoy books with children from as early an age as
possible. They want every child in the UK to develop a lifelong
love of books.
Booktouch aims to get blind and partially sighted babies and toddlers
'bookstarted'. A Booktouch pack is available free to parents
or carers of blind or partially sighted children up to (and including)
the age of four.
Packs contain specially chosen touch and feel books. More
details and packs can be picked up from your local library.
Also available are two new booklets: ‘Finding books to suit different
needs’ and ‘Finding inclusive books’.
Snap Childcare Recruitment Agency
See entry in Working
Parents/Carers section.
|
