Beehive Sure Start Children's Centre is a government funded centre based in Dunstable, Central Bedfordshire. It aims to provide a high quality, integrated service that meets the needs and requirements of the community it serves, offering a wide range of activities to families with children under five years old. There are various stay and play sessions available, baby massage, regular drop in sessions from the local job centre plus and the centre also works with the college to encourage mothers to go back to education on a part time basis within the centre whilst a creche is ran to support them alongside. Whilst I was volunteering here I was lucky to be apart of a one off session which had taken place within the centre called baby signing which helped parents to understand their child more and also encourage their child to use signing. There are also baby brasseries which are run by the local health visitors. These are just few of the services that this centre provide, whilst volunteering here you will work alongside various other professionals including health visitors, family support workers, play workers, speech and language therapists, and early year teachers which benefit the experiences you gain.
I stayed at home throughout my placement as I lived very local, however there are various hotels/inns/B+B's that are local to the placement. I would recommend some however all of these are different standards and some people may prefer to look for themselves within the area. If you are looking to stay at a hotel or B+B whilst on your placement here ensure to look at what the area is like and also look to reasonably close to the setting so you are not travelling too far, for example look in the areas such as: Houghton Regis, Luton, Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable or any areas surrounding Central Bedfordshire which have regular transport to Dunstable
I walked to my placement and back everyday as I didn't live far away however there are buses available that run towards the Dunstable area regularly, the buses that run through Dunstable are: 31, x31, 34, 38, A, C, 70. If you get a weekly bus pass you would save more money rather than paying for taxis or bus tickets daily. For people that drive, the centre is outside of a primary school so can be quite busy around half 8/quarter to 9 so it is important to arrive early to get a space outside or you may not get a parking space. There is only one parking space at the centre and that is for the company van.
Dunstable is a very small village therefore there isn't so much to do unless you are travelling outside of the village. However there are various parks, shops, restaurants and farms which can be visited. Recently we had a small theatre built in the centre of the town which can be quite nice and some of the performances are very exciting with some famous actors, whilst also being cheap this is definitely something fun to do. I would recommend visiting Woburn safari park and also if the weather is nice going to the Dunstable downs, this can be lovely as it looks over the village into the next villages and there are always families there flying kites and enjoying the weather. However if you are willing to travel or have a car making it easier to travel there are various beautiful surroundings, I would recommend visiting the other villages around Dunstable including Milton Keynes, Bedford, Leighton Buzzard and Flitwick.
Things to do, things not to do
Keep in regular contact with the setting, there are various steps that have to be taken before the setting can be approved. Even though I had a DBS check done whilst at university, the placement setting had to have a new one completed for their own records and safeguarding precautions. Make the staff members aware of what you are there to achieve, they are very happy to help you along the way and will give you all the paperwork and statistics that they have which will help with your research. Ensure to ask permission from the setting to take pictures, complete observations and interviews and also have a consent form signed to have proof of this. Also before I began my placement I had an interview so it is important to email them a while before you need to begin so you can complete all the forms that they will be sending and also attend an interview- for this you will be needing a few documents which will be asked of you when you arrange a date. Working with young children you are on the go most of the day so it is important to wear comfortable clothing that are easy to move around in whilst also being appropriate.
Any ideas that you have or anything you would like to do throughout a session just put forward to who you are working with as they are always happy to help and love the idea of bringing new ideas forward and to the setting.
One of the most important things to not do is take any pictures of the children or the families. Although you have gained consent this will only be consent for taking pictures of the rooms and any interviews or observations you make they will be anonymous.
The Beehive Sure Start Children's Centre, Westfield Road , Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU6 1DW Tel: 01582 699092 Email: thebeehivecentre@btconnect.com
I would suggest when ringing ask to speak to Jennifer Henderson as she is the strategic officer who deals with volunteers and is very happy to help.
Research the placement setting before you arrive so you are aware of everything that they do, however personally although all individuals have specific interests I would say to keep your options open. This setting have various volunteers that are specific to what they want to do and who they want to work with but with me keeping my options open it meant I was included in everything. This is from staff meetings to governing body meetings and also health checks, meaning I gained an insight to all aspects of the service that they provided which benefited my experience widely.
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