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Our School's Offer of Early Help

Our School's offer of Early Help for Families

The wellbeing of our children and their families is very important to us here at William Austin Infant School and is at the core of who we are.  We want you to feel part of our school and as the school's Family Worker I am here to support you with any issues/worries and anxieties that you may be experiencing.  By working in close partnership with families I aim to encourage and motivate you to improve the outcomes of your child/ren by providing a vital link between home and school.  We believe that early intervention and support is vital in identifying emerging needs and in turn can reduce the need to escalate certain circumstances to other agencies.

Parental Support

My role in school includes offering a variety of support strategies on a range of issues on things that are important to our families and children including:-

  • Providing one to one support to individual families – this support is tailored to the family’s individual needs to include parenting advice, strategies and signposting onto different learning courses as and when needed in order to accommodate those needs.
  • School attendance support.
  • Listening to parents/carers views and opinions by taking the time to meet with parents and to talk through issue that may be troubling you.  Whenever you need us we will be there for you even if it is just for you to sound off or to be listened to, acknowledged and more importantly for you to feel that your voice is heard.
  • 1:1 sessions for parents and their child/ren held in school with the Family Worker; which can involve helping with social skills and strategies for managing behaviour, bedtime routines, toilet training, eating issues.   Making phone calls to various organisations and service providers to help with the payment of bills, lettings and booking appointments.  
  • Referrals to the school nurse, children’s centres, food banks, charities & CHUMS bereavement trauma service can be made for those families that need specialist advice and help.
  • Signposting to different agencies (further support can be offered to make contact with those agencies).
  • Transition to new schools.
  • Home visits.
  • I can attend and support families when attending meetings/appointments with professional bodies (Council, medical, legal services).
  • Links to other external services such as the Family Partnership Team, Housing, Benefits and employment to support our children and families.
  • During the school day I support individual pupils throughout all year groups in different ways, such as nurture groups to incorporate social skills and emotional support; and 1:1 mentoring sessions.

I can also help you complete online application forms for Free School meals and Pupil Premium applications.  Alternatively, you can click on the link below:

 

Working with outside agencies

Where the needs of a child become more complex, and further support is necessary which does not meet threshold for the Family Partnership Team or Children’s Social Care but does require involvement from more than one agency; consideration will be given as to whether a Team around the Family (TAF) or a Team around the Child (TAC) meeting needs to take place. 

When considering what further support is needed for our families, discussions with parents/carers will be implemented to explain the reasons why these meetings need to take place.  During the meetings parents are invited to give updates and discuss how the family are moving forward to ensure that outcomes and expectations are completed in a timely manner. 

The timeframe for a family to be subject to a TAF or a TAC is usually for around a three month period with six weekly meetings, however if during this time, progress is limited then an escalation to the MASH/Family Partnership Team will be considered and an online referral form that goes directly to the MASH Team (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) is completed and assessed, this does require parental consent.  Parental consent is not required where there are significant safeguarding concerns but it is good practice to ensure that parents/carers are aware of the need for a referral.

There may be times where a child is at risk of significant harm and as such, advice is sought and on occasions a referral will be submitted to the MASH Team without the prior knowledge of parents.  Once a family is open to Children’s Social Care full support is given across all agencies who are involved to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved for children and families.

Contact details

Being a parent/carer is both a wonderful and challenging journey but at times, we may need additional support to help us face those challenges along the way.  These can take on many different forms as detailed above.  I am available throughout the school day so please call at the school office on 01582 595198 and ask to speak to me if you need help in any way, I look forward to working with you all.

Mrs Wright

Family Worker / Deputy Safeguarding Lead

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