Early Help and Support for Families
Early Help Offer from Family Support Workers (FSW)
Caroline and Jenna are experienced in supporting families in a variety of circumstances and will be visiting school regularly for a 'Drop in' service once a month. All you need to do is drop me an email to say you'd like a chat. I don't need to know any details about why, that's not the aim of the email, it's just to make sure that they know how many are coming and can organise themselves.
Jenna and Caroline are supported by Mel Hagues who will supervise them in the in their support roles and offer further advice and help if appropriate. I have worked with Mel for many years prior to this role (she was part of the team working out of The Grange) and know she'll do a good job too.
This team is there to provide support, help, advice and point you in the direction of people you may not even know existed. We are blessed to have such a service at our disposal and I urge you to reach out if you have any difficulties and need some external and impartial advice
What is Early Help?
At Renishaw Primary School, we understand that from time to time family life can have its complications and sometimes families may need some extra help. To support and advise you at such times we have an Early Help Offer.
We believe that by working together we can better support children and families. Sometimes, families need support from a wide range of agencies or people, for example, health services, housing services, family support workers, social workers and local police. As a school, we may be able to signpost a range of services to support families beyond the educational setting.
Early Help services aim to both provide advice and/or intervene where there is evidence of emerging needs with the objective of preventing escalation to higher level services.
We have been allocated a small amount of Early Help funding from Derbyshire County Council to provide an integrated Early Help Service. Our primary aim is to identify support early, and to make sure that appropriate plans are put into place. This will require working with the school staff and other agencies if needed. We will also use existing interventions already in place within the school setting.
What support do we offer?
Simon Fuller is our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and is able to carry out Early Help Assessments at school. We also have our Cluster Early Help Team, who are employed through the Eckington Cluster of Schools, to provide additional support to our families.
With the direct support of our DSL, our team of very experienced Teaching Assistants are providing additional pastoral and nurture support where needed, through regular contact with our families; this allows parents/carers to share concerns and to maintain communication between school and home on a planned, regular basis if needed, ensuring that children and families are receiving the best support possible.
We can offer advice on a range of concerns or can signpost parents to other sources of information, help and support.
What sort of concerns might parents share with us?
A wide range of issues such as behaviour management, domestic abuse, mental health issues, housing concerns, financial worries and debts, mobility difficulties, parents in prison, bereavement and loss, cyber bullying – in fact any concerns which you are worried might be having a negative impact on your children.
How will we know when Early Help is needed?
Parents, carers, children and staff may tell us that support is required, or practitioners may identify that there are emerging needs and services might be required, as there are concerns about a child.
We will assess the needs and this may identify that an Early Help Assessment is needed and the subsequent action that needs to be taken.
How will families be supported through our Early Help Offer?
Children and families will be supported and reviewed through the Early Help Assessment format, from our Eckington Cluster Early Help Team. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead can meet informally with parents/carers and children in the first instance and this can be followed by completing the Early Help Assessment. Following the assessment, families may be supported by a range of professionals from within and beyond school. Team Around the Family meetings may be held in school to identify what is working well, what needs to change and to agree actions to help and support families.
Gaining the views, wishes and feelings of the child is central to our safeguarding policy, and our team of staff in school, also carry out direct work with children, for example completing Voice of the Child.
The Early Help Assessment may be passed to Starting Point, the county’s single point access for safeguarding referrals, where there has been no improvement to the welfare of the child, and there are escalating concerns around the safety and well-being of a child. Where there are immediate safeguarding concerns, the case will be referred to Starting Point following consultation with the Designated Safeguarding Leads in School.
We also provide support for individual pupils through the Derbyshire Positive Play and Nurture programme. We work closely with other agencies who can provide more specialist support for our families, for example, CAMHS and Crossroads. We can also signpost support groups and parenting courses on offer in the local area.
When will Early Help be available through the school?
The Early Help offer provided by the school will be available during term time only. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead may attend prearranged meetings during school holidays if the need has been identified for open cases. In order to support families during holiday times, we will signpost agencies and activities who are available when school is closed.
Starting Point:
If you are concerned that a child is suffering or at risk of significant harm, please contact Starting Point:
01629 533190
Derbyshire County Council