Safeguarding and Early Help
Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy Sept 2024.pdf
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024.pdf
Early Help
What is Early Help?
‘Early Help’ describes the work of many agencies engaged with children and families including health services, schools, learning providers, local authorities, the voluntary sector, children and family centres, police, housing providers and many others. We are all engaged in work that seeks to avert a problem developing and preventing difficulties from escalating or the deterioration of circumstances which could adversely affect children, young people and families.
Early Help is about focussing on how we can help empower families to build on their strengths and develop areas where they need support. If we can get this right early on, at the right time, we set families up for a better, healthier future.
Our offer of Early Help
ALL staff recognise their role in ensuring safeguarding is always prioritised for ALL children. We believe that information sharing and timely effective support can ensure that ALL children and families get targeted support that is fundamental for success.
Families can benefit from 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 Wye Forest Federation understands its responsibilities, and as schools, 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 2023” and “KCSIE”. In summary, these are to:
- Identify children and their families who would benefit from Early Help.
- Undertake an assessment of the need for Early Help, working closely with families.
- Ensure signposting of targeted Early Help services to address the needs of the child/ren and families.
We focus on support which significantly improves the outcomes for the child/ren. This involves the use of evidence-based interventions which are often led by our team in school. We regularly use the support of outside agencies such as Young Minds Matter (if you want to find out more about this support, please speak to Miss Wilson).
- 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. All reports of concern are logged on the school’s safeguarding software. A secure electronic record is maintained as a chronology of concerns.
Support for pupils includes:
- Promoting good attendance and punctuality
- Promoting self-esteem and confidence
- Promoting positive behaviour and positive attitudes to learning
- Providing personal, social and emotional support to children
Support for families includes:
- Attendance and support at school and multiagency agency meetings
- Liaising with a range of external services
- Providing information on services available in the local area
- signposting where appropriate.
- Being a listening post when things get hard, we all struggle at times.
Graduated Pathway
In Gloucestershire, we are committed to working together and in partnership with all agencies providing services to children, young people and their families. The Graduated Pathway of Early Help and Targeted Support is our Early Help assessment and planning process which provides an integrated and holistic framework to support all practitioners working with children, young people and families. This applies to the whole range of needs including:
- Educational.
- Social or emotional and/or disability.
- Wider family and environmental.
The Graduated Pathway supports a whole-family approach and is based on a simple Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle and has graduated responses.
Helplines and websites for your child and or young person
If your child or young person would like to speak to someone anonymously, they could try calling a helpline or visiting websites such as ChildLine and The Mix.
Shout provides free, confidential support, 24/7 via text for anyone at crisis anytime, anywhere.
You can:
· text SHOUT to 85258 in the UK to text with a trained Crisis Volunteer
· text with someone who is trained and will provide active listening and collaborative problem-solving
ChildLine provides a confidential telephone counselling service for any child with a problem. It comforts, advises and protects.
You can:
· call 0800 1111 any time for free
· have an online chat with a counsellor
· check out the message boards
The Mix provides a free confidential telephone helpline and online service that aims to find young people the best help, whatever the problem.
You can:
· call 0808 808 4994 for free – lines are open from 11am to 11pm every day
· access the online community
Thinkuknow: how to stay safe on your phone, tablet or computer.