Early Help Offer at St. John’s

At St. John’s Catholic Primary School, we recognise how challenging day to day family life can be. It is perfectly normal for all families to need a little extra help or advice from time to time. If you, as a family, are struggling or if you have any worries or concerns about your child, St. John’s Early Help offer can provide much needed support and advice. This may include concerns about behaviour, home circumstances, mental health or general well-being. Please come and talk to us.

Key personnel:

Miss Smith - Head teacher/ Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

Mrs Williams - Deputy DSL

Mrs Waine – SENCo

Mrs Harrison-Scott - Senior Mental Health lead and Mental Health First Aider

Contact the school office: 01704 893523 bursar@burscough.lancs.sch.uk or speak to us on the gates.

We are part of the Lancashire Family Hub Network

The Hub can find support for you and your family from local services both in person and online.

Support is available for all stages of family life, from pregnancy through to 19 years old or 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Families can access a wide range of services at Family Hubs, such as:

• midwife and health visitor appointments
• groups for expectant mums and dads
• counselling for families
• baby feeding advice
• SEND support groups and advice

The Hub work together with partner organisations like the NHS as well as school to provide you with the help you need, without having to repeat yourself to lots of different people

The Role of Schools

Day to Day Support

Most families, most of the time, can get on with their lives quite happily with little or no outside help. If they need help it is usually provided by universal services, such as schools.

Focused Pastoral Support

All families can have times, however, when difficulties arise and they either may not recognise it or may not know what to do next. Schools play a role in supporting families to address these difficulties through more focused pastoral support, which might include bringing in support via an external agency.

Early Help Assessment

For those children and families whose needs and circumstances make them more vulnerable, or where schools need the support of other agencies to meet the needs of the family, a coordinated multi-agency approach is usually best. In Lancashire, this is achieved through undertaking an Early Help Assessment and assigning a Lead Practitioner to work closely with the family to ensure they receive the support they require. Schools should be a key partner in any multi-agency work to support families.

How can we help?

We can offer:

• A listening ear
• Advice and strategies to support your family with challenging behaviour or attendance concerns
• Access to counselling from our in-house well-being coach (if appropriate)
• Signposting for clubs to help support mental and physical well-being
• Support in accessing free school meals
• Second-hand uniform
• Support with adult literacy needs
• Access to local food banks and charities who can support
• Advice regarding any SEND concerns that you may have
• An Early Help Assessment (see below) to identify areas where you may benefit from support.
• Referrals for parenting support such as Triple P
• Work with other agencies who can provide specialist help – the school nursing team, CAMHS, CANW, NEST
• Contact details of organisations who can support with housing, financial or mental health concerns.

To ensure your family will access the correct level of support at the right time, we use the principles set out in Working Well with Children and Families document.

What is Early Help?

Early Help means providing help for children, young people and families as soon as problems start to emerge or where it is likely that issues will impact negatively on children’s outcomes.

Early Help

• Is for children of all ages and not just the very young
• Can be very effective in supporting a child, young person and/or their family to step down from statutory services as well as preventing the escalation of issues
• Is important because there is clear evidence that it results in better outcomes for children.

Lancashire County Council recognises that Early Help is a term that describes much of the everyday work of schools. https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/practitioners/supporting-children-and-families/

Early Help in Lancashire:

The vision of all partner organisations working with children and families in Lancashire is to improve children’s lives by working in partnership to raise aspirations, build achievement and protect the most vulnerable.

This is based on the belief that:

• Children, young people and families develop resilience if there are protective factors in place such as: a positive relationship with an adult; good literacy and communication skills; good school attendance; and, parents in or actively seeking/ready for work
• Children’s needs are best met when help is offered in a universal setting within a socially mixed group and early on when problems start to emerge
• Children and young people’s needs are best met when addressed in the context of the whole family, meaning that parents/carers/siblings’ needs are addressed with consent as part of a holistic and integrated Early Help response.