Early Help

Meet the Team

Safeguarding Team and Early Help Team

Early Help refers to the offer of any information, advice or support to children, young people and their families as soon as possible in their lives, or when issues emerge, to help prevent problems from escalating.

Listed below are some of the services the school can offer you:-

• One of the team are available to talk to parents/carers to discuss any concerns you may have regarding behaviour, learning or any other support you require.
• Support to complete forms and other paperwork such as high school admissions.
• Meetings with class teachers are available to meet with parents/carers to discuss any concerns you may have regarding your child’s behaviour or learning.
• Referrals to outside agencies such as: the Family Outreach Team, parenting courses, our School Health Advisor, St Joseph’s Family Centre, Play/Art Therapy and local children’s centres.
• Common Assessment Framework (CAF) which involves listening to you to find out what help you need and talking about what is working well in your life. Based on what you say and what help you would like, a plan is put together so that professionals can work together to make sure you get the right sort of help.
• Our Safeguarding Team meet on a regular basis to identify any children and families who would benefit from early help. It allows them to access services in the school and beyond to support identified vulnerable pupils.

In Warrington, we know that children, young people and their families have different types of needs and sometimes they may require extra support. One way this extra support can be provided is through an Early Help Assessment.

An Early Help Assessment can be completed by any professional, from any service, who is working with a child, young person or family.

The Early Help Support Team's role is to provide information, guidance and support to professionals who are working with children, young people and their families.

An Early Help Assessment benefits a child, young person or family because it:

• helps to identify needs at an early stage;
• is strengths- and evidence-based;
• is personalised and;
• is multi-agency in its approach.

An Early Help Review/Closure Plan complements the assessment by ensuring the correct level of support is provided for an individual/family at the right time. This allows for service provision to be regularly reviewed to ensure it continues to meet need and prevents needs escalating.