New Best Start in Life service for families launches at The Lantern
On Tuesday 15 September, a new series of Stay and Play sessions will launch at The Lantern, Shrewsbury, as part of the new Best Start in Life service offer.
In five free Stay and Play sessions, parent carers, accompanied by their children aged 3 to 4, will be able to receive tips and guidance for how they can support their child’s development at home, based on the PEEP Learning Together programme.
Parent carers will explore simple ways to support their child’s learning and development through everyday activities such as talking, singing, reading and play. Sessions include fun, interactive activities, practical ideas to try at home, and opportunities to build confidence, connect with other local families, and share experiences.
Also returning in September will be a free weekly parenting support group for parent carers of children aged 0-5, offering the opportunity for them to learn from trained staff about communicating and building connection with their child, establishing routines including bedtime, understanding their child’s behaviour and emotions, handling childhood transitions and supporting their child’s development.
The Lantern is the first of six designated Best Start Family Hubs and Network Sites in Shropshire, reflecting a new government initiative designed to give families access to all the help and support their child needs in a single location near to them. Best Start in Life aims to help improve the number of Shropshire children starting school having met their development milestones and to reduce the number of children in care. The Severn Centre in Highley is the first Best Start Network Site to be identified, and the locations of the remaining hubs and networks sites will be confirmed in the autumn.
The Best Start in Life programme will also help Shropshire Council meet the objectives of its corporate and improvement plans by improving the health of Shropshire communities and making the council more sustainable financially.
Councillor Andy Hall, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children and education, said:
“Parenting can be challenging, but these new services to support parent carers will boost their confidence and help them ensure their children thrive and have the best start in life. Shropshire Council’s trained staff are looking forward to welcoming families to the groups.”
Best Start in Life is one strand of the transformation of children’s services recently approved by Shropshire Council’s Cabinet. The transformation, which reflects changes to government statutory requirements affecting children’s services nationwide, will see a new focus on prevention and on greater collaboration between agencies and services to ensure a smoother experience for families needing support. It will affect services for children aged 0 to 18 as well as for young adults with SEND up to age 25, to help make a more child-friendly Shropshire.
Free Stay and Play sessions (PEEP Learning Together) will take place on Tuesday mornings from 15th September to 13th October (five sessions), 10am to 11.30am, and are open to everyone. To find out more and book a free place, go to: https://orlo.uk/B1SfX
The free 0-5 Parenting Group will meet on Mondays from 21 September to Monday 31 November (ten sessions), 12.30–2.30pm, and are open to everyone. To find out more and book a free place go to: https://orlo.uk/PH6tj
Other services available at The Lantern include Health Visitor Open Access Clinics on two Thursday mornings a month and weekly meet and chat drop-in sessions on Thursday mornings. Families can check dates and times of these activities on the Shropshire Public Health Nursing Service Facebook page and the Community Hubs page on the Shropshire Council website respectively.
