The Families First Quality Award is an established national quality assurance and improvement framework designed to help organisations demonstrate excellence in helping families. Assessment Services Ltd has recently been appointed by the Family and Childcare Trust to undertake the assessments against the framework on its behalf.
Frameworks are available for children’s centres, Family Information Services and schools, produced by the Family and Childcare Trust and Suffolk County Council.
Kathy Leahy, Managing Director of Assessment Services said:
We are delighted to take on the Families First Quality Award into our ‘family’ of quality standards. We see the value that the Standard can bring to organisations and we will be working closely with the current assessors and the sector to maintain its relevance to the valuable work undertaken
Megan Jarvie of the Families and Childcare Trust said:
We are pleased the Family First Quality Award has found such a good new home at Assessment Services Ltd. We are confident that their expertise in providing other standards will allow the high-quality Families First Quality Award to grow from strength to strength in supporting schools, children’s centres and Family Information Services to put families at the heart of their work.
Suffolk County Council and the Family and Childcare Trust developed the Family First Quality Award for Schools as part of Suffolk’s Raising the Bar Programme. It can help schools engage parents in their children’s learning and development. There are standards for Schools, and an additional set of Standards to help them meet the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice.
Councillor Gordon Jones, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills, said:
The Families First Quality Award recognises the excellent work schools, children’s centres and local authority Family Information Services do to provide support, advice and assistance to families. Staff from both organisations designed this successful national accreditation and I am pleased it will now be operated by Assessment Services Ltd; an established company highly respected in the field of quality assurance.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Assessment Services Ltd
a ‘boutique’ assessment centre with over 20 years of experience in assessment and accreditation.
We are committed to ensuring our assessment process adds value to organisations being accredited by Assessment Services. Our philosophy is;
‘We Care…We Assess…We Add Value.’
We are the sole provider for two Government Standards; the matrix Standard and the Merlin Standard. We are also part of only four assessment centres assessing for the Customer Service Excellence Standard. In addition to this, we also assess a range of standards in different industry sectors as well as deliver SFEDI Qualifications, including the Service Champion Level 5 Programme.
Families and Childcare Trust
Working to make the UK a better place for families by bringing together what we learn from our on the ground parent-led programmes and our research to campaign for solutions that parents want and need. We focus on childcare and early years to make a difference to families’ lives now and in the long term.
Suffolk County Council’s “Raising the Bar”
Raising the Bar is Suffolk’s programme to improve levels of educational attainment across the county. The number of Suffolk schools being judged good or outstanding by Ofsted continues to be high at 87%, but there is still more work to be done.
By working together with education providers, families, communities and businesses, Raising the Bar will ensure that every child can achieve their full potential, build a strong reputation for Suffolk education and deliver wider benefits for the county and its economy.
