Venue details
Address (not for correspondence):
Sure Start Central Children's Centre, 7 Welcome Way,
Doncaster, Yorkshire (South), DN1 3QS
Opening hours
Days & Times: Wednesday 11am to 6pm Saturday 9am to 5pm
Centre charges
Detailed charges available on request.
Services available here
Supported contact
Supervised contact
Handover
Supervised contact assessment
Indirect
Accepts self referrals
Enhanced Accredited
To make a referral,
contact:
Address: Brian Jackson House , New North Parade, Huddersfield, HD1 5JP
Telephone: 0300 800 0074
Notes from this centre
COVID-19 UPDATE: Centre is open for contact sessions from 18th July 2020 (updated 13.8.20)
This centre is accredited to provide supervised contact
Accreditation is a way of checking that your contact centre is safe and meets our standards.
How is a centre checked?
An assessorSomeone working on our behalf who has experience and an interest in child contact services and must assess if a service meets our standards. looks round the centre’s rooms, toys, equipment, and any outside play areas to make sure that they are safe and good for you to use. They talk with the people at the centre to make sure that they are trained and helped to do their job as well as possible. They then check the informationThe assessor checks through the centre’s accreditation portfolio which includes policies, procedures, risk assessments, reports (if the service offers supervised contact) and information for families. on what happens at the centre and how it keeps you safe. If your family time happens in the community The service might use local community venues to deliver their service or in some cases, residential properties including family members’ homes, where this is safe and appropriate., then the assessor will check that this is going to be safe for you.
When the assessor is happy that a centre meets our standards then they are awarded their accreditation and you can find them on this website. Accreditation happens every three years with extra checks if needed.
Accreditation Summary
Date: 18/07/2023
Summary:
Yorkshire Children’s Centre, Doncaster has been in operation as an outreach venue of Yorkshire Children’s Centre since 2019 and now provides the full range of contact services, supported, supervised, indirect and handover contact. It also undertakes work as part of the Improving Child and Family Arrangements (ICFA) programme funded by Cafcass. Yorkshire Children’s Centre is a very established charity (from 1974) which provides a wide range of services for children and families including domestic violence perpetrator programmes from its main base in Huddersfield. The centre is on the outskirts of Doncaster on a fairly deprived housing estate but within walking distance of the town centre and with its own secure parking.
The centre is based in the Doncaster Central Family Hub which it hires on Saturdays from the local authority with the added advantage that all parents attending the contact centre can also use all the classes and programmes available at the family hub. The building is modern, very well appointed, and next door to a primary school. There is a buzzer to enter the ground floor reception which means no one can access the building without staff being present. The building is fully accessible with three contact rooms on the ground floor, each with their own disabled toilets and access to a safe secure outdoor space. The rooms are designed to cater for babies and very young children, older children and a large multipurpose family room is available all of which are very well appointed in terms of toys etc. The outdoor play area has safe “bouncy” tarmac. There is also a quiet room which functions as a waiting room and if a member of staff needs to talk to a parent outside the contact rooms. No supervised contact takes place off site in this centre, apart from occasional short visits to the park at the rear of the centre.
Information for referrers and parents can be found on the centre’s website which also has a link to the centre’s safeguarding and privacy policies. A welcome pack is available which explains how to find the centre with photographs and transport information etc. Contact plans are seen and signed by both parents. Parents do not normally meet unless this is specifically included in the contact plan – in addition staggered arrival and departure times maintain this separation.
The centre has a high commitment to children with them always being offered a pre-visit, good resources in the contact rooms varying by age/stage of child’s development and opportunities for them to express their feelings. They also use “All About Me” forms to learn more about children and a specific children’s feedback form which is colourful with easy to complete emojis.
Overall management is by the parent charity Yorkshire Children’s Centre with two members of staff and a volunteer team based at the centre supported by the contact co-ordinator. Frequent team meetings are organised to ensure that the Doncaster team are not isolated.
Particular strengths of the centre include:
- an excellent building with opportunities for safe outside play not found in some other centres;
- access for families to a wide range of complementary services;
- an experienced and committed staff team;
- clear policies and lines of accountability;
- a child centred approach with opportunities for children to express their feelings and needs before, during and after sessions;
- a high level of training especially regarding safeguarding.
The centre meets the requirements for enhanced (supervised) accreditation.
Photos from this centre
