| The Village 
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The Village was one of the first purpose built centres of its kind in Kent. Based in Folkestone next to Castle Hill CP School, it has been providing services to children and families since April 2004. Our centre values are based on the Sure Start principles.
The centre runs an exciting timetable of groups, activities, events and trips throughout the year. Click to see our calendar of events or keep an eye out for our ‘What’s On Guide’, and our Facebook page which can be found under the title The Village Sure Start Children's Centre. 
We also offer advice and guidance from a range of professionals in a friendly, welcoming environment. We have a strong emphasis on community involvement and encourage our families to participate in all areas of the centre, including planning our activities and events.
We work in close partnership with Castle Hill CP School who run a busy full day care Nursery within the Children’s Centre. We also run our own 12 place Ofsted registered crèche to compliment and support our services.
Here’s what some of our parents say about the Village:
"I feel less stressed now as I have somewhere to go with my children"
"The crèche is fantastic with excellent staff"
"It gets me out of the house and has given me the chance to make some good friends"
The Village Sure Start Children's Centre, Denmark Street, Folkestone, Kent, CT19 6EQ
Tel: 01303 856200 Fax: 01303 856210
Email: nicola.tucker@kent.gov.uk
Summary for centre users
We inspected The Village Sure Start Children’s Centre on 16 and 17 November 2011. We judged the centre as good overall. We would like to thank those of you who took the time to talk with us about your involvement and experiences at the centre. It was very enjoyable to meet with you and your families. It is very clear that you value the people who work at the centre and the services they provide. Many of you told us the centre has a very positive impact on your lives.
Your children’s centre has many good features, and one that is outstanding. We thought the care and support shown to you by the staff are exceptional. We noted how dedicated and passionate staff are in listening to your concerns and responding very quickly to refer you to relevant help and advice. This is particularly evident for families experiencing crisis. We thought staff are very good at understanding the needs of the local community and arranging services and activities which meet your personal circumstances well.
The centre uses data generally well and uses it to identify which families need the most support. The local authority and senior managers meet with the centre manager regularly and discuss any improvements which are necessary to ensure services really meet your families’ individual needs. We noted that information held by health services is not always shared with the centre promptly enough. As a result, sometimes there is a delay and centre staff are unable to offer families support immediately after babies are born. We have asked the centre’s management to address this with the health managers.
Procedures for making sure adults and children are safe are good. Staff provide a very welcoming environment and good attention is given towards helping you understand potential dangers within the home. Many of you told us how useful you found the home safety checks. We noted the wide range of support services provided when parents are facing challenges in their lives. A number of parents told inspectors the centre had really helped them when they had been experiencing difficult times.
Children benefit from their time at the centre and enjoy a good selection of quality play experiences. This enables children to learn and develop well and prepares them for starting school. All centre activities are of good quality and the nursery and crèche service enable children to benefit from purposeful play. Many parents told us how much they had benefited from courses completed at the centre. We were impressed with the number of centre staff who had used the centre as parents and been successful in obtaining relevant qualifications. This enabled them to gain employment within the centre and be a positive role model to other parents. The volunteer programme is good and there are many opportunities for parents to develop their skills and confidence through centre activities.
The centre’s management is very committed to making improvements. It regularly reviews the services available and identifies where it can develop services further. There are good systems in place to ensure all staff are accountable and deliver services which really meet your needs. Staff regularly evaluate activities and consider what impact they have made to your lives. We noted that staff have not carried this out over a longer period to measure the difference the centre has made to local families. We have asked the centre and the local authority to improve this.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much again for engaging so positively with inspectors during the inspection. We wish you and your families the very best for the future.
