"I felt left out at centre"

I have been taking my child to the local surestart centre for sessions - we have been to bouncing babies and now are in the toddler group.

When I joined the baby group, the staff were welcoming and friendly, but after a few weeks of going, there was a lack of support and lack of communication, you could go the majority of the session without even knowing the staff were there. They were always with a certain group of ladies and left the rest of us out. As a parent with my first baby, it was not nice for me to feel like I was back at School. Wasnt helped that the group they always were with hogged the baby corner and treated it like a cafe with bringing doughnuts and hot drinks! - they were finally spoken to about the food and drinks but was more like to little too late - would have been better to have been done sooner and then the group could have felt like a whole and we could have got to know each other.

Toddler group is slightly better, the staff do go around to us all and it seems more like a group of parents there for the children. Again the favouritism is there with that group, but its no where near as bad.

On a positive note, the centre has been a major part of mine and my childs life the past year plus and has been so nice to meet other Mums and gain more friendships both me and my child. The feeling of a community is lovely and the staff at the centre have always been nice - even the receptionists always welcome you with a smile and interact with the children.