Early Help is about supporting children and young people when there is a challenge in their lives, or that of their families, as soon as possible. It can be required at any stage In life, from pre-birth to adulthood, and applies to any problem or need that the family can’t deal with alone.

• Challenging home circumstances
• Behaviour, rules and routines
• Accessing community services

Early Help is what our school can offer to help you and your family. There are many reasons why a family may benefit from Early Help support. We are not here to judge you or tell you what to do. Early Help is an approach we use and not a service

Designated safeguarding lead: Mrs Bowen and a team of Deputy DSLs at each centre

What is Early Help?

Our primary aim is to identify needs early and to make sure that appropriate support is put into place. ALL staff recognise their role in always ensuring safeguarding practices to ALL children. We believe that information sharing, and timely effective support, can ensure that ALL children and families get a good start in life. Families need support from a wide range of agencies. We recognise that other agencies will be able to support families based on their specialised work.

Therefore, our role is often to signpost families to the resources that will best support their needs. The Linden Centre understands our responsibilities and as a school we will carry out our duties in ensuring the effectiveness of Early Help Services for pupils in accordance with the requirements of the Children Act 2004 and within the statutory guidance “Working Together 2015”. In summary, these are to:

• Identify children and their families who would benefit from Early Help utilising the Telford and Wrekin thresholds
• Undertake an assessment of the need for Early Help using the approved Early Help assessment where this is appropriate
• Ensure signposting of targeted Early Help services to address the assessed needs of a child and family which focuses on activity to significantly improve the outcomes for the child.
• Share information on that provision which is consistent with the child’s welfare and with due regard to confidentiality.

Staff have daily contact with children and their families throughout term time. All staff recognise their role in identifying needs of vulnerable children and their families need for early help. Where appropriate the Safeguarding leads will assess the needs of a family, and this may identify that an early help assessment is required.

Our Early Help Approach

Hearing what children have to say and using the voice of the child: The school can provide a neutral place where the child feels it is safe to talk. Sensitivity to the child’s conversation is vital. Staff listen carefully to what the child is saying, attune themselves (take on board how the child is feeling), validate that feeling (being alert to the child’s lived experience), contain their feeling (making their distress a survivable experience), and soothing and calming them until they can regulate their own emotions. We treat what the children share with us seriously, and value what they say.

Hearing what parents/carers have to say and signposting support agencies: Remember being a parent is hard work and there are no instructions. Sometimes you or your children may need extra support. This may be before your children are born, when they are very young, or throughout their school years. There is nothing to be ashamed of in asking for help. The school may be able to help you or signpost you and your family to other partner agencies such as BeeU (Child and adult mental health service), PCSOs (police community support officers), school health etc.

Using the Early Help Assessment: This starts with an Early Help conversation. As a parent or carer, you will chat with the Headteacher or a member of the school staff about what’s going well and what’s not going well for you and your family, and they will let you know what sort of help is available. This conversation might lead to an Early Help Assessment (EHA) which will be carried out by our Early Help Lead: Mrs Harvey. This is how we get a full picture about the whole family. We use it to help you see what is working well and identify the areas you could do with a bit of extra support. It‘s your choice to take part in the assessment and you can choose who else should be involved. Here is a copy of the “Family circle” which is used to focus discussions and help identify areas of need.

Every person and family is different, but an Early Help Assessment (EHA) will:

• Help you see what’s going well and not so well for your family
• Help you and others to see what support you might need
• Create a picture of your family’s circumstances, which can be shared with your permission, so you don’t have to repeat yourself to different workers
• Help you to be part of a team of people working together on the same plan to get things going well again.

What happens after the Early Help Assessment? With your permission, people from different organisations working with your family will share information and work together to help support you and your children. This could be school, Strengthening Families support practitioners, health visitors, nursery staff, school health, etc. This may then be followed by a ‘Team Around the Family’ meeting. You need to give your consent as your personal information belongs to you. Agencies can’t share your information unless you agree because your information is protected by law under the Data Protection Regulations. For more information about strengthening families, please click here.

What is an Early Help Support plan? The family and workers involved come together to make a support plan. This is reviewed at regular intervals to ensure that progress is being made for your family and that the right support is in place. At these meetings a ‘lead worker’ is selected- it may be the person the family see most frequently, the one most involved or the most approachable. The lead worker arranges the review meetings and is someone you can speak to at any point about concerns or issues you or your family are facing.

Identifying risks at the earliest opportunity: All staff are aware of the risks which may indicate the need for early help – this includes children who:

• Are disabled or have a specific additional need/needs.
• Have SEND.
• Are young carers.
• Are showing signs of being drawn into anti-social or criminal behaviour, including gang involvement and association with organised crime groups.
• Are frequently missing or go missing from care or from home.
• Are at risk of modern slavery, trafficking or exploitation. · Are at risk of being radicalised or exploited.
• Are in a family circumstance presenting challenges for the child, such as drug and alcohol misuse, adult mental health issues and domestic abuse.
• Are misusing drugs or alcohol themselves.
• Are privately fostered. · Have returned home to their family from care.