Young Inspectors reports for IOW Family Centres

Young Inspectors report on: Cowes Family Centre

Address: Cowes Family Centre. Love Lane, Cowes

Date of Inspection:  Wednesday 5th August 2024

Number of Young Inspectors present: 5 aged between 5 and 10 years

Number of parents present: 4

Need for the inspection: The Young Inspectors were called upon to inspect the Family Centres and provide opinions and feedback by participating, observing, and recording their views on a questionnaire along with their parents and carers. The findings from this are to be used as a reflective tool for supporting them to be more inclusive and disability friendly and to ensure that the voice of children and young people is considered in the development of the Family Hubs offer. The Cowes Family Centre is located in the south of the town and has a small designated outdoor space. There is no parking available on site but parking is usually available in the nearby residential streets. There is a bus service to the local area a short stroll away.

It has recently been rebranded and updated with additional resources and equipment to provide an increasing offer of information, advice, and support for families under the new Family Hub offer.

It offers support for families from conception until the age of 19 (or 25 for young people with special education needs and disabilities)

Report summary for Young Inspectors

All Young Inspectors said that they were not given any safety advice. 4 of the inspectors said they felt very safe, and one inspector said he felt a little bit safe – 50%.

The Young Inspectors said that the staff were friendly and helpful.

The Young Inspectors said that the building was accessible as it was on ground level but the building may be small for a person to access freely in a wheelchair.

The Young Inspectors all said they enjoyed themselves and would recommend it to their friends but that it needed to have more activities for older children. One of them said that he would like to see more colour on the walls as they are too plain. They all enjoyed have the drumming session available outside and having the option to join in or not. They all said that their friends would have enjoyed this as it was more suitable for older children as well. They also liked seeing their parents and the staff taking part.

They would like to see

  • More age-appropriate games for older children like Monopoly and more board games for all ages
  • Ride on outside equipment for older children like scooters to play on
  • A games console game for older children
  • More arts and crafts activities

Report summary for parents and carers

The parents had never been to this site before but felt it was a nice safe for families and really liked the safe outside area. They all said it was a lovely small space with a lot to offer but felt the building was not easy to find from the main road and is not visible for families.

One parent felt that the large room would benefit from having dedicated areas for babies to play in and quieter area for older children. The outside area would benefit from some equipment that would interest older children.

The building is wheelchair friendly and is on ground level making is accessible for both wheelchair users and parents/carers with prams. Parking is limited which may be a challenge for families during busy times in the nearby residential streets.

The parents were all aware of the Family Hub website but would like to see a greater social media presence about events coming up. They appreciated the notice boards and all the information on them throughout the centre.

The parents all suggested having more themed events like the drumming to encourage families to come along and find out what the building is used for and what they can access from there. They all felt that the centre should be open for longer hours and include weekend sessions for working parents as well as having sessions during the school holidays that are free for families to attend.

  • Outside equipment for older children
  • Sensory toys and equipment for children
  • More arts and crafts activities in the session
  • A games console for older children to use
  • Board games for older children

Feedback from the Family Hub

Thank you for visiting our Cowes Family Centre and for your feedback and suggestions.

We will

  • Use frames and prints to provide more colour – including Children/young people’s art work
  • Create  a list of our Board Games so before any sessions/events we can ensure there is a good selection available for the Children/young people attending
  • Talk to the youth group that plan to use the centre to ask them about ride on scooters etc but service users could bring their own otherwise
  • Make sure there is a wide range of arts and crafts activities to select from in sessions
  • Sorry we will not have a games console – The TV could be used to access you tube and find appropriate content to watch as a group
  • Rooms are flexible so we will adjust the room layout to ensure it is suited to the people attending ie baby focused or suited to older children
  • We will set up some sensory toys and equipment for the groups as requested

We will continue to look at opportunities for interesting or themed sessions and share via social media and community or schools. Although our budget and capacity doesn’t enable us to open all the sites all week we do ensure community providers and other agencies are aware they can use the space to offer services and sessions for families at weekends and evenings as well as in the week. We  are under discussions with a youth provider to sue the centre in the future   We use the venue to provide evening courses on occasions as we rotate them around the island. We are also offering a pop in weekly session starting from September


Young Inspectors report on: Ventnor Family Centre

Address: Ventnor Family Centre. Albert Street, Ventnor

Date of Inspection:  Wednesday 14 August 2024

Number of Young Inspectors present: 3 aged between 7 and 16 years

Number of parents present: 2

Need for the inspection: The Young Inspectors were called upon to inspect the Family Centres and provide opinions and feedback by participating, observing, and recording their views on a questionnaire along with their parents and carers. The findings from this are to be used as a reflective tool for supporting them to be more inclusive and disability friendly and to ensure that the voice of children and young people is considered in the development of the Family Hubs offer. The Ventnor Family Centre is located in a side street adjacent to the town centre and has access to a dedicated secure outside space. There is paid for parking in the nearby car parks and disabled parking spaces on the road outside of the centre. There is a bus service to the area with a bus top across the road and in the town which is a short stroll away.

It has recently been rebranded and updated with additional resources and equipment to provide an increasing offer of information, advice, and support for families under the new Family Hub offer.

It is offering support for families from conception until the age of 19 (or 25 for young people with special education needs and disabilities)

Report summary for Young Inspectors

The Young Inspectors all felt that the safety advice given was clear and easy to understand. They said that they felt very safe inside and liked the fact that the outside space was open so that they could see the local area but was surrounded by tall metal fencing so that no one could get inside.

The Young Inspectors said that the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. They spent time getting to know them and their interests individually and supported them to find toys that they might like to play with.

The Young Inspectors said that the building was very accessible as it was all on the ground level with a ramp to access the couple of steps at the main entrance. They said that building looked nice inside and outside.

The Young Inspectors all said they enjoyed themselves but 2 of them felt that it needed more toys and equipment for older children before they would recommend it to their friends as there would not be enough fun things for them to do here.

They would like to see

  • More board games for older children
  • More puzzles aimed at older children
  • An area designated to older children with age-appropriate resources and toys
  • Fidget toys for children to use
  • A PlayStation or console game for older children

Report summary for parents and carers

The parents really liked this building. A parent described it as light, airy and welcoming with a nice outside area and another commented on the amount of available rooms that could be used for different activities.  

The outside area would benefit from specific equipment that would interest older children.

The building is wheelchair friendly and is on ground level making is accessible for both wheelchair users and parents/carers with prams. There are disabled parking bays on the road outside the building.

The parents said information about the sessions in the building were clearly visible on the boards inside and one suggested having a board put on the fencing outside also to make families aware. The parents were also aware of the Family Hub website.

One parent said that they would like more activities available like the circus skills as it caters for all ages and was fun for all the family to join in. They also felt that there needed to be sessions on throughout the week and at weekends for working families.

They suggested having more open days and special events and better advertising of these on social media particularly using schools to promote this in the school holidays.

They said they would recommend the centre but would like to see more available for older children as their friends have children between 7 and 11 years old and there is not a great deal on offer currently for this age group.

  • A greater range of activities for older children. 
  • Sensory toys for older children
  • A sign to go on the fencing to advertise sessions in the centre and raise awareness of the building

Feedback from the Family Hub

Thank you for coming to Ventnor Family Centre it was a pleasure to see you enjoying the facilities and activities.

In response to your suggestions we will

  • Find out what is available for older children locally and share with families. We have met with the Youth provider for Ventnor and they are aware that the centre is available for them to use for sessions but their current facilities are providing a larger hall space as well as sessions within the sports centre. It will depend on a provider wanting to offer sessions to older young people as to what specific equipment we would look to provide on site.
  • Purchase additional sensory toys so more are available at more sites for a wider age range. We have spoken to the community providers and they were considering if they could seek funding for equipment to make a room a sensory space
  • Look at what space we have for outside notice boards/signs. We could consider a banner for the fence to say when the centre is open or an A frame sign to put outside
  • We will be making sure other providers are aware of the opportunity to use the centre for delivery of services including at weekends and in the evenings, particularly relating to SEND and can then work with those providers to ensure the environment and the resources are appropriate. We would like to see Short Break activities offered from the centres. We have meetings planned to start these conversations.  Some of our courses and workshops and those of our partner agencies are offered in evenings and weekends but we can increase the awareness about this as well as identify any gaps in services.


 

Young Inspectors report on: West Wight Family Centre

Address: West Wight Family Centre. Moa Place, Freshwater

Date of Inspection:  Monday 5th August

Number of Young Inspectors present: 2 aged between 7 and 10 years

Number of parents present: 1

Need for the inspection: The Young Inspectors were called upon to inspect the Family Centres and provide opinions and feedback by participating, observing, and recording their views on a questionnaire along with their parents and carers. The findings from this are to be used as a reflective tool for supporting them to be more inclusive and disability friendly and to ensure that the voice of children and young people is considered in the development of the Family Hubs offer. The West Wight Family Centre is located at the West Wight Sports and Community Centre. There is paid for parking in the car park outside of the centre and on street parking is available in the nearby residential streets. There is a bus service to the area and nearby town which is a short stroll away.

It has recently been rebranded and updated with additional resources and equipment to provide an increasing offer of information, advice, and support for families under the new Family Hub offer.

It offers support for families from conception until the age of 19 (or 25 for young people with special education needs and disabilities)

Report Summary for Young Inspectors

The Young Inspectors both said that they were not given any safety advice but both of them said that they felt safe in the session and that the outside area felt safe as it had a fence around it. One of the Young Inspectors really liked that he could see the skate park area.

The Young Inspectors said that the staff were friendly. They spent time getting to know them and their interests one of the inspectors said, “I liked the staff because they played with me”.

The Young Inspectors said that the building was very accessible so long as there were not too many toys on the floor of the rooms to navigate around. One said that there were no stairs and just a small bump over the frame to get a wheelchair inside.

The Young Inspectors both said they enjoyed themselves and would recommend it to their friends. One of the Young Inspectors said that it was not too noisy at this centre which he liked as too much noise hurts his ears and he also like that it was not so busy. The other Young Inspector said that she would have liked to see more flowers outside to look prettier

They would like to see

  • More age-appropriate games for older children like Monopoly and more board games for all ages
  • Ride on outside equipment for older children like bigger trikes and scooters to play on
  • A bigger selection of noisy toys like drums to play with a quiet place for those who struggle with noise with dimmed lights
  • Dinosaurs with mouths that open for pretend play
  • Water play activities for the outside area like the sand box
  • A bigger selection of pretend food for the kitchen area to cook with
  • Fidget toys for children to use
  • A PlayStation or console game for older children

Report Summary for parents and carers

The parent had never been to this venue before. She said it was a lovely small space with a lot to offer. She would have liked to see the centre a bit more colourful on the outside and felt it could do with updating some of the facilities. She said the space inside was cozy and bright.  

The outside area would benefit from the bushy plants being removed to create more space for children to play. The wooden numbers should be painted to make it brighter. The wooden water pipes display on the side need fixing and painting or removing. The outside music area needs to be replaced. The outside area would benefit from a water play area and some equipment that would interest older children.

The building is wheelchair friendly and is on ground level making is accessible for both wheelchair users and parents/carers with prams.

There are payable disabled parking bays in the car park outside the building.

The parent said she knows where to find information about the centre as she has been told. She does not live locally so probably would not visit very often as she does not drive but felt it was a good facility for local families. She said it need better signage at the front as it is not clear where the front entrance is from a distance.

She said that she would recommend the centre for families with young children and babies but unfortunately didn’t think it had much to offer older children.  She said that the building needs to be open for a couple of hours in the morning and afternoon for families during the week and in school holidays.

  • A water play area for the outside space and some equipment for older children.
  • More colour in the outside space – painting some of the existing wooden fixtures eg numbers and water pipes  
  • Sensory toys for older children
  • Parents would like to see better signage of the centre from the front and surrounding areas as it is quite hidden and not easy to find for new visitors.

Feedback from the Family Hub

Thank you for coming to the West Wight Family Centre and spending time to give us feedback about the environment and resources.

As a result of your visit we will

  • Remove the wooden music pipes and look at how we can make the area easier to manage and be more attractive. Requested a quote for some more paving and stones for the border. We will paint the wooden numbers. We will speak with the play group to see if they would want to use the area for play to decide if other adjustments are needed.
  • Be making sure other providers are aware of the opportunity to use the centre for delivery of services including at weekends and in the evenings, particularly relating to SEND and can then work with those providers to ensure the environment and the resources are appropriate. We would like to see Short Break activities offered from the centres. We have meetings planned to start these conversations. 
  • Some of our courses and workshops and those of our partner agencies are offered in evenings and weekends but we can increase the awareness about this as well as identify any gaps in services.
  • Check we have some portable tubs to be used for sand and water play outside
  • Create  a list of our Board Games so before any sessions/events we can ensure there is a good selection available for the Children/young people attending
  • Check that we have resources such as dinosaurs with open mouths and more pretend food to bring to this venue
  • Check with the play group if they would like more noisy toys and if they would also need a sensory tent as a quiet space
  • Purchase additional sensory and fidget toys so they are readily available at this site

From September we will be on site weekly on a Monday morning for families to pop in for information, support and advice. We don’t currently have the capacity or funding to provide more sessions to be on site for families but we will ensure we communicate widely when we are present and make families aware of our online offer and what else is available in their local community. We will look at an A frame board to make people aware when we are open and people can pop in.

The centre is not currently used for older children other than for one to one sessions or to meet and then use the field opposite so the games console and other outside toys would not be well utilised. Youth services are offered in the West Wight at different venues. We have adapted the office so it is more suitable for older children to use for sessions and this is adjusted to suit the session

Young Inspectors report on: East Cowes Family Centre

Address: East Cowes Family Centre. Beatrice Ave, East Cowes PO32 6PA

Date of Inspection:  Thursday 24 October 2024

Number of Young Inspectors present: 3 aged between 5 and 10 years

Number of parents present: 2

Need for the inspection: The Young Inspectors were called upon to inspect the Family Centres and provide opinions and feedback by participating, observing, and recording their views on a questionnaire along with their parents and carers. The findings from this are to be used as a reflective tool for supporting them to be more inclusive and disability friendly and to ensure that the voice of children and young people is considered in the development of the Family Hubs offer. The East Cowes Family Centre is located adjacent to Queensgate Foundation Primary and Seashells Early Years centre in the North of the Island. It has several functioning rooms and a designated outdoor space. There is no parking available on site but parking is available on the main road outside. There is a regular bus service to the local area a short stroll away.

It has recently been rebranded and updated with additional resources and equipment to provide an increasing offer of information, advice, and support for families under the new Family Hub offer.

It offers support for families from conception until the age of 19 (or 25 for young people with special education needs and disabilities)

Report Summary for Young Inspectors

All Young Inspectors said that they were given safety advice and they all said they felt very safe.  

The Young Inspectors said that the staff were very friendly, and they liked that they spent time getting to know them and playing games with them.

The Young Inspectors said that the building was accessible as it was on ground level with no steps, and it had a large reception area which leads to the other rooms and makes it suitable for a person to access freely in a wheelchair.

The Young Inspectors all said they enjoyed themselves and would recommend it to their friends but that it needed to have more activities for older children. They really enjoyed playing the chess game but said there needed to be more activities like this available.  One of them said that he would like to see more colour on the walls as they are too plain and some plants. Another wished there had been Halloween decorations as it was Halloween.  

They all liked the outside area but would have liked to have had scooters or balls outside to play with and somewhere to sit.  

They would like to see

  • More older games and activities for older children
  • Outside equipment for older children like scooters to play on and balls
  • A games console game for older children
  • Balance block game that they have in Cowes Family Centre
  • More colour on the walls and themes like Halloween

Report summary for parents and carers

One of the parents had been to the site before 8 years ago and another parent had never been before. The parents said that it was a nice site but not very visible for people passing by who may not know what was happening in the centre. The said the building was clean and welcoming and they liked the layout with the larger reception area. They also liked the safe outdoor space but felt it was not inviting and lacked equipment.  

A selection of sensory equipment and toys would be welcome. 

The outside area would benefit from some equipment and seating so that this space was used more.

The building is wheelchair friendly and is on ground level making is accessible for both wheelchair users and parents/carers with prams. There is adequate parking on the streets but the grass bank makes it difficult to access the car from the pavement and the road can be busy and not ideal to get children out from this side.

The parents were all aware of the Family Hub website but would like to see a greater social media presence about events coming up and maybe sent out to all schools who may be visiting friends and family in the area.  They liked the notice boards and all the information throughout the centre but felt that a board advertising the sessions going on in the day should be placed on the entrance by the main road to encourage more people to pop in.

The parents suggested having more drop in events like this, stay and play sessions for all ages and targeted sessions for children with additional needs. themed events like the drumming to encourage families to come along and find out what the building is used for and what they can access from there.

They all felt that the centre should be open to the community more and include free weekend sessions. They also said that having themed sessions in the school holiday like Halloween would encourage children of all ages to attend and would be welcome by parents who often find activities too expensive.

  • Outside equipment for older children like scooters
  • Sensory toys and equipment for children
  • A games console for older children to use
  • Longer opening hours at weekends and school holidays
  • More advertising, events, open days and tours to encourage people to come in see what happens in the centre

Feedback from the family hub

Thank you for taking the time to visit East Cowes Family Centre and provide the feedback and suggestions for how we can make it even better. We are really pleased you liked the welcoming and open reception area and the notice boards and information provided. We agree a board by the gate would be beneficial and we will take an A Frame board down on days when parents can pop in and see a member of the team.

Following your suggestions we will

  • Use frames and prints to provide more colour – including Children/young people’s art work
  • Decorate the centre for the themes and festivals
  • Create a list of our Board Games so before any sessions/events we can ensure there is a good selection available for the Children/young people attending
  • Talk to any interested groups with older children that plan to use the centre to ask them about ride on scooters etc but service users could bring their own otherwise
  • Check if we have another balance block game we can bring across
  • Sorry we won’t have a games console – The TV could be used to access you tube and find appropriate content to watch as a group
  • Purchase additional sensory toys so all sites have them
  • Consider the session times depending on the activity or group. There is availability on evenings and weekends for groups to use the centre and we will continue to seek activities and providers who may be interested to run these
  • Promote all activities and services using our social media (asking people to like, share and follow) as well as website and physical posters in the community.

 We now have a weekly pop in session in East Cowes and we are taking opportunities to bring other agencies on site to provide the information and guidance families are asking about. We will continue to listen to our service users, children and parents as we look at what services are best suited at which locations. Thank you for your help.

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