Northumberland’s Family Hubs have launched a new free app to help parents give their child the best start in life.  
 

The Family Hub Northumberland app features top tips and ideas for fun everyday activities, such as songs to sing and games to play, that can support children’s early learning and development, preparing them to be ready for school.  
 

Developed together with Northumberland County Council’s Early Years Team, parents and carers, it also gives easy access to the full offer of Family Hub support – including links to the popular what’s on activity guides, DadPad and free online parenting and relationship advice.   
 

Parents can add the name and age of their child and receive tailored tips and support. They can also find and register with their nearest family hub so they can keep up to date with the latest services available.    
 

The app has been designed by the same team that launched the Northumberland School Readiness Passport, which is used by early years settings in Northumberland and shared with schools when a child starts reception and means teachers have as much information as possible about the children in their class. 
 

Unique to Northumberland, the passport helps practitioners to identify children who may not be on track to be ready for school and who may need additional support. 
 

Rosy Dickinson, Early Years Consultant with the council’s Early Years team, said: “Parents and carers are the first and most important educator in their child’s life.  
 

“As a parent or carer, your baby or child will already be learning so much from you, as you chat, play, sing, cuddle, and do all your usual day-to-day activities.  
 

“Research shows that these things that you do together have a big impact on how children's brains develop in these early years, and how they get on at school and in later life.   
 

“The Family Hub App brings together age-related tips and fun activities to meet your child's early learning and developmental needs. This will help them to be ready for school when they are due to start their reception year. 
 

“The cornerstone of each activity in the app is playing and spending quality time with your child and all activities can easily be fitted into your daily routine. 
 

“We also know that parenting brings its challenges and that’s why the app links to all the wider support available – such as the Hub what’s on guides to activities where you can meet other parents, our new family wellbeing service that offers mental health support or our Dad’s Pad that are specially designed for fathers.”  
 

Northumberland County Council is one of just 14 local authorities selected to be part of the Family Hub trailblazer programme.  
 

 The county’s established children’s centres have grown and expanded to become Family Hubs, offering support to families with children of all ages from 0-19 and 25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). 
 

As well as a network of 11 Family Hubs and seven outreach bases across the county, the Northumberland Family Hub website offers a range of online and virtual services too, so that support can be as accessible as possible. 
 

Audrey Kingham, Executive Director of Children, Young People and Education, said: “We want all our children in Northumberland to get the best start in life. 
 

“This innovative new app is another tool for families that we hope will support them on their own parenting journeys. 
 

“It’s fantastic to welcome more and more families to our hubs and we’d love for all families in Northumberland to register with us, so that they can take full advantage of all the support available.” 
 

First to test out the app were members of Family Hub Family Panels – a group of volunteers who help make sure the project is delivering services that families want and need.  
 

Family Panel member Caroline from Longhoughton said the app is “simple and user friendly.” 
 

Parent Anja with two children under five said “I like the app. I think it’s helpful with the added explanations attached to the different play and activity ideas. 
 

“It’s simple to use and has already given me so many different things to do.”