Sure Start

Education - Letters

Tuesday June 10, 2003

The Guardian

A good start

On behalf of Kennington Sure Start, can I correct a few mistakes in your article "Begin here" (June 3).

First, Sure Start has never withdrawn its offer to fund places for the Hurley pre-school's two-and-a-half-year-olds. Indeed, we have allocated £67,815 over the next three years for just this.

Second, although we did not have the resources to fund the nursery extension, we are hoping to offer over £60,000 to improve the building. In addition, we are funding parenting classes, trips, and extra dental inspections, as well as the free fruit and bottled water that was mentioned.

Sure Start is very new in Kennington but is already doing its bit to fill some of those gaps referred to.

Jon Davies
Programme Manager, Kennington Sure Start, London

Supporting parents

Focusing on a single day-nursery is not a fair reflection of the provision in the area, nor an accurate reflection of Kennington Sure Start's role and effectiveness. Ethelred nursery school is the largest provider of early years education in Kennington. We have worked closely with Kennington Sure Start to build existing and develop new services that are based upon the needs and interests of local families. The decision-making process about how funding has been allocated has been public, absolutely visible and owned by local people.

The real strength of Kennington Sure Start has been the level of involvement and support that local mums, dads and carers have demonstrated. Sure Start Kennington has helped to develop a wide range of services that truly support parents as parents. It's such a shame you missed an opportunity to congratulate Kennington Sure Start on the way in which it has been able to nuture the aspirations we all share for Kennington's children.

Lucy Whittaker
Headteacher, Ethelred Nursery School, London

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