Sure Start Northern Ireland

Our Sure Start services promote the physical, intellectual, social and emotional development of children under four.

These services are delivered in our centres and in family homes, community venues or education facilities. By providing a mix of universal and targeted services, we can meet the individual needs of the different families we work with. It's all about giving children, including those with additional needs, the best possible start in life.

A broad range of integrated services

We're passionate about enhancing the life chances of young children and their families. That's what we achieve through our range of services, from those with a focus on early years to targeted services once issues have been identified.

A variety of voluntary, community and statutory partners combine to deliver our Sure Start services. Working closely with professionals such as speech therapists and health visitors, as well as parents, we can meet children's needs as early as possible. And providing integrated services in this way ensures all the needs of the child and their family are met.

Early education and intervention

Our services focus on early education and early intervention. By maximising children's early learning opportunities, we help improve their ability to learn and their readiness for school. Encouraging stimulating and enjoyable play and improving language skills are just two ways in which we do it. This happens in several of our early years settings such as crèches and the programme for two year olds.

Health services

Supporting families to look after the health of their children is important to us. Promoting healthy lifestyles and child development before and after birth is a big part of this. By working in partnership with primary and community healthcare, we can make sure all children receive the early healthcare support they need.

Parenting services

Our parenting programmes help parents to understand and cope with their children's needs. Through these and our general parenting services, parents have access to information and an opportunity to explore how to best nurture their children. Working in partnership with other agencies also allows us adopt a whole-family approach. That way, all of the parents' needs can be met by the best professionals.

We support parents to get involved in adult education and learning opportunities in the community. Where possible and appropriate, we also encourage them to explore training, employment or volunteering opportunities. With all this, plus a range of drop-in advice and support services, we really can meet the broad range of parents' needs.

Families with more complex needs

For families in more complex situations we offer effective, problem-solving interventions that are significantly affecting the well-being of children within that family. We use one-to-one and group work, and tailored packages of psychological support to build resilience and improve family attachments and reduce family breakdown.

We open pathways to support services to alleviate external stresses such as housing and work closely with partners to ensure all the needs of each member of the family are met.