Best start
Children have the best start in life
The first few years of every child's life help shape the skills they gain and the choices they make throughout their lives. We want children and their families, communities and services to work together to provide positive childhood experiences, support when it is needed and to ensure every child in Kirklees starts school healthy, happy and ready to learn.
Children's journeys through school and into adult life shape the rest of their lives. We want to prepare all children for successful, independent lives where they have the skills they need to achieve their aspirations.
Case studies
What we're aiming to achieve
- Confident children ready to do well at school and in life.
- Better outcomes for vulnerable children.
- Child focused activities that support families.
- As many children as possible staying with their families.
Priorities for action
Tracking our progress
- School readiness: good level of development at the end of Reception.
- Placement stability for our Looked After Children.
Auntie Pam's
Auntie Pam's was created in 2009 within the then local NHS Primary Care Trust, providing a community-based resource to support improved health and well-being outcomes for mums, mums to be and babies. The service was created to address a range of poor maternal health outcomes and behaviours and was designed using intensive social marketing techniques and co-production.
Town centre venues in Dewsbury and Huddersfield operate a drop-in service delivered by peer support volunteers and backed by support, expertise, and resources from the public sector. However, the pandemic restrictions meant that both centres had to close. Volunteers suggested that a mobile phone service, delivered by them from home, would still offer a limited but needed service. The gradual reduction in local COVID-19 cases has meant that both centres have (with restrictions) been able to extend their drop in provision again. The service saw the pandemic as an opportunity to review and refresh some aspects of delivery based on experiences and identified needs. Providing place-based peer support, as well as in both centres, is one way that depth and reach can be expanded.