Children's centres

A children's centre provides a range of high quality integrated early years and childcare services to local families. The services provided will be available all year round for a minimum of 48 weeks a year. Children's centres are ideally sited with or close to a primary school.

Bristol is dedicated to giving every child the best start in life. That's why we've provided a children's centre in every community.

Children's centres have been developed to meet local needs, typically offering:

• childcare and early learning for children aged under 5 years
• access to specialist services
• parenting support
• health services, and
• guidance on returning to work and training

The key features of a children's centre include a qualified early years teacher who leads the development of learning in each centre and a range of parenting, family support and family health services.

Day care is available in some children's centres or in other settings in the local area.

For more detailed information, see our presentation on children's centres in Bristol.