Our History
• Our journey began way back before March 1993 at Shaw Primary School when we opened the door for our pre-school in response to the need expressed by parents and professionals. We set up a Committee of Parents and Carers in 1992 who were interested in the welfare and education of children from 3-5 years of age. With an initial donation of £10 to open a bank account it took 12 months t
o prepare the playroom and raise funds. In June 1993 we added a Parent and Toddler Group session for those on the pre-school waiting list.
• SURESTART registered as a charity in 1997, a year after moving to Culver Centre, and in November of that year established an After-School Kid’s Club, again responding to family needs. Meanwhile, a Government funding initiative was launched with the same name written as SureStart. This has led to confusion over the years but we felt our name embodied our ethos and have been reluctant to change it and were unable to get the Government to compensate.
• A further move to larger premises within Culver Centre in 1998 allowed us to access a Community Fund Grant to build a secure outside play space and garden.
• We continued to operate to extremely high standards and welcomed Ofsted taking over the regulatory role for childcare providers from Social Services in 2001. Our inspection reports reflect the hard work we commit to all our sessions and our slogan ‘Where Kids Come First’ epitomizes this belief.
• With a change of leadership at Shaw Primary School, we returned to open a Breakfast Club in 2002 with the support of the Head and Governing Board.
• In 2004 we were approached by Thurrock Council to become the childcare providers for a new purpose-built Children’s Centre in South Ockendon. It would mean expanding in to full daycare for 0-5 year old’s but we felt we could meet the challenge.
• The new build Children’s Centre, in the grounds of Shaw Primary school, was completed in June 2006. Its name – Compass - was chosen by a community panel and its logo was designed by a local school pupil. In 2009 Thurrock Council changed the name to Ockendon Children’s Centre.
• In August 2006 SURESTART ‘Where Kids Come First’ moved in, not only to continue providing a morning Pre-School but to open an afternoon session AND extend our services to Full Day Care for children from 2 to 5 years of age. The new home for our After-School Kids Club became the demountable, in the grounds of Somers Heath Primary School in September 2006. We went on to launch our Full Day Care for 0-2 years in January 2007 and re-launched our Holiday Club at Shaw school in October 07.
• During 2009/10 the national ‘credit crunch’ began to affect us and changes once again had to be made for our survival. The Committee worked extremely hard and with advice from Thurrock Council’s ‘Early Years Team’ increased the fees significantly and agreed to amalgamate all our clubs to run from the Children’s Centre premises from June 2010. This initiative has proved to be a great success, with older children nurturing the younger ones, and the younger ones having positive role models.
• In March 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic saw us reducing our sessions for only Keyworker or vulnerable children until the Government lifted restrictions. Parents were unable to come into the nursery and cleaning was enhanced all through the day. Over the last 18 months we have done our best to follow the Government guidelines and, with our own precautions in place, we have not had to close at all. We really miss the relationship we used to have with parents and hope to see this return in the future so we can continue to maintain the ‘family-feel’ childcare we have always provided with a range of ages playing, growing and learning together… the journey continues!
• Our Charitable Aim
Our aim is ‘to provide the children with opportunities to LEARN THROUGH PLAY in a stimulating and exciting setting. We also wish to support families and encourage their involvement in their children’s education outside of the home. In providing quality care we are committed to developing the full potential of the children and staff’. We are very proud to be an integral part of our community and try to source services and provisions locally. We also plan outings for our children, covering road safety as well as all areas of the curriculum.
