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Evaluating Sure Start (2002-2003)
Funder
London Borough of Lewisham
London Borough of Lewisham
Research Team
Anan Collymore
Joanne Sadler
Ben Gidley
Anan Collymore
Joanne Sadler
Ben Gidley
Sure Start is a government funded regeneration programme aiming at 0-4
year olds and their families in the 20% of neighbourhoods in the country
which are most deprived. The Centre for Urban and Community Research at
Goldsmiths College have evaluated two of the local Sure Start programmes
in Lewisham.
We evaluated Sure Start Bellingham, located in the south of the borough. There, we focused on two projects, the Numeracy and Literacy service (NLS) and the Lewisham Community Child and Family Service (LCCFS) run by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). We also evaluated Sure Start Honor Oak, based on the Honor Oak estate in Telegraph Hill ward. There, we focused on a project called First Steps, offering massage to mothers and babies and educational talks, aimed at parents at risk from Post Natal Depression.
More recently, we have conducted evaluation research for three Sure Starts outside Lewisham. For Sure Start North Leyton in Waltham Forest, where our research team was joined by Jane Tooke, Mark Edmondson, Vic Seidler and Imogen Slater, we looked at the involvement of male carers. For this, we conducted a literature and project review [PDF format], an evaluation report, and a resource listing children's books suitable for fathers to read with their kids [PDF format]. For Sure Start West Peckham in Southwark, where our research team was joined by Deborah Humphries, we looked at a range of issues, as well as training a group of parents as researchers. This training, building on the Toolkit for Action Research developed with Magpie and Gap for the Local Knowledge for Local Solutions project aims to enable parents to lead the evaluation process in the future. We are currently working for Sure Start Woolwich Riverside and Glyndon in Lewisham. There we are looking at why the programme has been so successful in reaching BME families, but not so successful in reaching white British families. This project is linked to work Roger Hewitt has done, in Greenwich and elsewhere, on white working class communities (see Racism and 'Unfairness' discourses in South London as an example).
Our evaluation reports are available from CUCR or can be downloaded from the web site for the National Evaluation of Sure Start (link opens a new browser window).
We evaluated Sure Start Bellingham, located in the south of the borough. There, we focused on two projects, the Numeracy and Literacy service (NLS) and the Lewisham Community Child and Family Service (LCCFS) run by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). We also evaluated Sure Start Honor Oak, based on the Honor Oak estate in Telegraph Hill ward. There, we focused on a project called First Steps, offering massage to mothers and babies and educational talks, aimed at parents at risk from Post Natal Depression.
More recently, we have conducted evaluation research for three Sure Starts outside Lewisham. For Sure Start North Leyton in Waltham Forest, where our research team was joined by Jane Tooke, Mark Edmondson, Vic Seidler and Imogen Slater, we looked at the involvement of male carers. For this, we conducted a literature and project review [PDF format], an evaluation report, and a resource listing children's books suitable for fathers to read with their kids [PDF format]. For Sure Start West Peckham in Southwark, where our research team was joined by Deborah Humphries, we looked at a range of issues, as well as training a group of parents as researchers. This training, building on the Toolkit for Action Research developed with Magpie and Gap for the Local Knowledge for Local Solutions project aims to enable parents to lead the evaluation process in the future. We are currently working for Sure Start Woolwich Riverside and Glyndon in Lewisham. There we are looking at why the programme has been so successful in reaching BME families, but not so successful in reaching white British families. This project is linked to work Roger Hewitt has done, in Greenwich and elsewhere, on white working class communities (see Racism and 'Unfairness' discourses in South London as an example).
Our evaluation reports are available from CUCR or can be downloaded from the web site for the National Evaluation of Sure Start (link opens a new browser window).