Welcome to our March update…
Timetable
We are planning ahead for the Easter Half Term this end and hope to share any holiday events with you early next month.
Here is copy of our current (term time) timetable – be sure to share it with your team and families.
Drop In’s: we have started to remove maximum capacities from most of our drop in groups now that COVID restriction have been removed. However, some groups still run best when a capacity is used to ensure families can get the most from them. This means that there is still a chance that some families will be turned away from drop in’s (eg. Gym Tots due to lots of equipment being set out). If you have a priority family you are working with that wants to access our universal drop in groups then please get in touch.
Bookable Groups: we are still asking parents to complete an ‘Expressions of Interest’ form in order to attend one of our bookable groups. This is the link to that form:
https://forms.gle/Ypkh1kyNDz6QoF2w7
However, we are hoping to move back to people booking onto targeted groups directly with facilitators in the near future to ensure people are getting booked onto the most relevant courses in a timely manner.
Once somebody has completed the above form their details will automatically be stored with us. They will then only be contacted by one of our Family Support team when a new group has been planned and this is when a place will be confirmed.
We continue to offer support for those that have or are experiencing domestic abuse. We are currently running the ‘Hope2Recovery’ programme which is a 6 week programme for any adult who is experiencing/has experienced domestic abuse. We offer a crèche alongside this group for children under 5 years old. Please get in touch to refer someone to this group as we cannot widely advertise.
Under 5’s Hub
Our Under 5’s Hub groups have now returned to being ‘Drop In’ style again so there is no need for your families to book in advance to see the Health Visitor on our sites any more. At these sessions parents can get advice and have their baby/toddler weighed. Our team is always on hand too to answer any questions about our current timetable and to share information about our services. These sessions are at the following locations:
Oldbury Court Children’s Centre:
Wednesday’s from 9.30am – 11.30am(Drop In’s start from 16th March onwards)
Speedwell Children’s Centre:
Monday’s from 9.30am – 11.30am (Drop In’s have already started and last entry is 11am)
Thursday’s from 10am – 11.30am (Drop In’s have already started)
1:1 Referrals
To refer a family for 1:1 support, please download and complete our referral form and return to eastbristol.childrenscentres@bristol-schools.uk.
Bristol Parenting Menu
Are you working with a family that needs some support with their parenting? We have a selection of different courses here at East Bristol Children’s Centre. Please get in touch to ask us about our targeted groups and what we can offer families at the moment.
Here is a link to city wide parenting course available right now:
This list is a great resource and has lots of useful contacts on it too.
Breastfeeding
We are committed to making our centres as breastfeeding friendly as possible at the moment and are working towards our Gold Award. Our dedicated feeding rooms continue to be well received by parents and we are collecting feedback all the time about how else we can improve our offer and knowledge for those who are breastfeeding.
Food Club
See our updated poster attached.
Food Clubs continue in Broomhill, Oldbury Court and Speedwell. Everyone in the local community are welcome to join to reduce food waste and save money. For £3.50 a week a family can collect a food box worth approx. £15. To refer a family complete a ‘Family Action’ referral form and send to eastbristol.childrenscentres@bristol-schools.uk or a family can call us and ask to join.
Adult Learning
See attached some up-to-date community learning information including a current list of courses. You can also access these documents on our latest blog post about Adult Learning here.
Please share this with your team and families. We are currently running an ESOL course and a Health & Social Care course at our centres and will share any new course we have planned in month’s update.
Family Email
Families can still sign up for a regular email to hear our latest news via our website: https://www.eastbristolchildrenscentre.co.uk/email-sign-up
Contact Us
Oldbury Court & Speedwell: 0117 353 4276
Broomhill: 0117 353 4276
St Anne’s Park: 0117 377 3189
