Exploring and evaluating understandings of children’s centres ‘core purpose’ through qualitative thematic analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper evaluates the complex understandings of practitioners about the ‘core purpose’ of Children’s Centres in the context of the on-going suspension of Children’s Centres by the UK government education and children’s care inspection service Ofsted. Children’s Centres in the UK provide a range of services for families with children up to five years of age who are identified as vulnerable or in need. In this qualitative study the data were purposefully gathered from in-depth interviews with four practitioners and documents related to Children’s Centres. The evaluation’s main findings identified a lack of awareness of the core purpose amongst practitioners, the ability of Children’s Centres to tackle inequalities was hampered because of the structural inequalities’ families face, and localism was a key feature of the evaluated Centre’s approach. The research implications of this evaluation include the need for Children’s Centres to establish what their actual purpose is. The core purpose of Children’s Centres is explainable but only by government providing of a clearer definition of what inequality looks like. Austerity politics have contributed to inequality in UK society, along with a lack of government policy and valuing of early intervention services, such as Children’s Centres.