St George's CE Primary School

  1. Parents/Carers
  2. Early Help

Early Help

Early Help

What is Early Help in school?

Early Help is a way of getting extra support when your family needs it. With a view to getting help as soon as difficulties start rather than waiting until things get worse. Help can come from all kinds of services and organisations who work together to support your family. 

Staff in school will listen to your thoughts and concerns, and work with you to signpost relevant support services, complete targeted work and sometimes undertake intensive work with an aim to meet positive outcomes for both pupils and their carers.

Jane Finlayson is our Family Liaison Worker. She will be working with families to support with a variety of concerns. These may include help and support with health, housing, finance, domestic violence, and attendance. She can support families with other practical and emotional concerns at times of difficulty. Jane may visit you in your home with your permission and advise you of other agencies that can support you and your family. This may include carrying out an Early Help Assessment, which identifies need and then the support to be offered. She may also undertake some direct work with your child in school, for example, a child recently estranged from a parent. 

Jane is in school on Mondays and Tuesdays. To arrange to meet with Jane please contact school or Jane directly by emailing her at jane.finlayson@st-georges.derbyshire.sch.uk.

 

Though effective use and deployment of Early Help, the following objectives can be achieved:

  • Children achieve good attendance and are engaged in their learning
  • Children are kept safe from abuse, neglect and exploitation
  • Families are supported to be physically and emotionally healthy
  • Families are knowledgeable on where to seek support
  • Carers are well informed about how best to support their children.
  • Children's long-term outcomes are improved

 

How will Early Help support be offered?

Support will be given via telephone, email or face to face. A family Support worker will communicate regularly with you.

With parent/carers permission an Early Help Assessment (EHA) may be completed, which will allow the school and family to identify concerns, and plan / coordinate timely solutions.

Our school recognises that we are stronger together, and therefore Early Help Assessments will consider the strengths and needs of children, their carers and their wider support network as part of a whole family approach.

An EHA will identify risks and stressors as well as positive resources and protective factors. Often ‘Team around the family’ (TAF) meetings will be arranged; where relevant support agencies and the family can come together to discuss developments and ensure that the right support is in place.

We will work together, openly and honestly, and this may include having challenging conversations at times. Children’s needs will always take priority, therefore if a practitioner identifies a risk, which the family may or may not agree with, appropriate action will be taken to keep the child safe.

If parents or carers have any concerns around our delivery of Early Help, these can be addressed by following the schools complaints procedure.

 If you are concerned about the safety of a child or you require urgent help or advice, you can phone Call Derbyshire on 01629 533190.

 

Attachment & Relationships Aware School

We are proud to be an Attachment & Relationships Aware School. This is a Derbyshire County Council initiative and is led by Derbyshire's Virtual School. 

The programme was conceived and devised by Lizzie Watt, Assistant Headteacher and Dr Paul Kelly, Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist within the Virtual School in Derbyshire. 

The attachment aware schools programme was designed to:

  • improve the teaching and learning conditions for children in care and all vulnerable learners in schools and settings
  • help to reduce the need for exclusions in school
  • develop a supportive network of Derbyshire schools that have innovative and excellent practice around vulnerable learners
  • produce a portfolio of good practice examples and other resources to share across the whole of Derbyshire’s school community and beyond
  • raise awareness of the issues and needs around attachment and trauma
  • consolidate good working relations between the newly formed Virtual School and all Derbyshire schools
  • bring about a new community of schools working with action research as their driver for school development

 

 

Mental Health & Wellbeing

We know that the most effective learners are happy learners, therefore from the start of your child's journey with us through to the end of their time at St George's CE Primary School, we aim to make sure they feel supported, encouraged and motivated to learn.

We know that each of our young people will face different challenges as they grow up, be that academically, socially, emotionally or developmentally, therefore we want to do everything we can to help them through whatever life throws their way. Here at St George's, mental health and wellbeing is a high priority for us and we promote and support the social, emotional and mental wellbeing of children and families in many way such as through our curriculum, Positive Play, one-to-one support and engagement with external agencies. 

St George's MHWB Provision Map

Below you can find a range of signposts and resources for support for you and your family. Please contact us in confidence if you will like us to help you access any support.

Parental Anxiety

Wellbeing Policy

Children's Wellbeing Policy

 

Free, safe and anonymous online support for young people

Advice, support, resources and shared personal experiences around being LGBT+

Support for anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts

Burton Cruse offers free information, advice and support to anyone experiencing bereavement by death. Trained and qualified volunteers receive professional supervision. The service is delivered by telephone, face to face either in clients home or at the Cruse counselling room and through a mutual support bereavement group.

Relate offers counselling services for every type of relationship nationwide. They provide advice on marriage, LGBT issues, divorce and parenting.

Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, often through their telephone helpline.