Last year Cllr Phillippa Martin-Moran-Bryant (Cllr Martin Moran) raised important questions at the Children's Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee surrounding what guidance and support the Borough provides to parents/carers when choosing schools.

Like all parents and carers across the Borough, Cllr Martin Moran understands how important it is that your children get the best start at school and complexities surrounding these decisions.

Previously, choosing the right childcare and primary schools was extremely difficult. This is due to the sheer amount of data available from the Department for Education (DfE), Ofsted ratings and the difficulties in understanding how to interpret this information to make informed decisions.

Cllr Martin Moran questioned the Council on what they are doing to help guide parents/carers through this process and what more can be done to empower them. This isn’t about recommending one school over another but providing real advice and ensuring the Council endorses “parent power” so the right opportunities are provided to their children.

These important questions alongside the collaborative forces of Councillors and Borough officers have resulted in Bedford Borough Council entering the final stages of finalising its new ‘one-stop’ website which will offer advice to parents/carers for children under five.

The soon to be named ‘Best Start Bedford Borough’ will potentially go live this month. The site is tailored to offer as much information as possible about health, education and childcare so all carers can make the choices that are right for them.

Cllr Phillippa Martin-Moran-Bryant commented, “I am really pleased that officers have taken this up to help families across my ward and the Borough. Like all parents, making sure our children have the best start possible is incredibly important. It is vital parents have access to information to make informed decision that work for themselves and their children.”

The site itself can be functionally translated into every language that Google Translate is able to do which will ensure that no children and carers will be unable to access the information.

We will continue to work with our peers and council officers to ensure that the offering here can be continually improved and hope we can work towards creating a site that can be used throughout a child’s educational journey.