Early Help and Family Help
Early Help and Family Help
Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School works with families and partner agencies to provide Early Help and Family Help when additional support is needed. Support is offered at the earliest opportunity to help families address emerging needs and prevent difficulties from escalating. Where needs are more complex, families may receive support through Warrington's Family Help arrangements.
If you feel that you or your family would benefit from some additional support, please talk to us. At Sandy Lane Nursery and Forest School, we can work with you to access Early Help and Family Help at the right time and in a way that meets your family’s individual needs.
Early Help aims to provide support as soon as difficulties begin to emerge, helping families to build on their strengths, access the right services and prevent concerns from becoming more difficult to manage. Where families need more coordinated or ongoing support, Family Help may provide additional support through Warrington’s wider family support arrangements.
Support we can offer
- A listening ear: Kirsten Matthews is available to talk with parents and carers about any concerns or difficulties you may have, including behaviour, learning, development, attendance, family circumstances or any other support you may need.
- Help with forms and applications: We can support families to complete forms and access information about school admissions, funded childcare, 30 hours applications, 2-year-old funded early education and other services.
- Connecting families with other services: With your agreement, we can help you access appropriate services and organisations, such as family support services, Home-Start, parenting programmes, Speech and Language Therapy (SALT), Family Hubs and other local services.
- Early Help Assessment: Where additional support is needed, we can work with you to complete an Early Help Assessment. This is completed in partnership with the family and helps identify your family's strengths, what is working well, any concerns or worries, and what additional support may be helpful. Your views are central to the process. Where appropriate, a Team Around the Family (TAF) meeting can bring together the family and relevant professionals to agree how everyone can work together to provide the right support.
- Family Help: Where a family has more complex or ongoing needs, support may be provided through Warrington's Family Help arrangements. Family Help brings together professionals who can work alongside families to coordinate support and help children and families achieve positive outcomes.
- Safeguarding and Early Help: Our Safeguarding Team meets regularly to consider children and families who may benefit from additional support. This helps us identify needs at an early stage and, with the family's involvement and consent where appropriate, connect families with support within the nursery, through Family Hubs and other local services.
- Regular Safeguarding Team review: Our Safeguarding Team meets every fortnight to consider children and families who may benefit from additional Early Help or Family Help. This helps us identify needs at an early stage and, where appropriate, support families to access services within the nursery and through other agencies and community services. We work in partnership with parents and carers to ensure that the right support is identified and that families are helped to access it.
You do not have to wait until a problem becomes serious before asking for help. If you have a concern or simply feel that some additional support would be helpful, please speak to a member of the Sandy Lane team. We will listen, work alongside you and help you identify the right support. The following link will take you to the warrington.gov website which will provide further information: https://www.warrington.gov.uk/early-help
Links to Health and Wellbeing Support
Follow WBC’s link to its health and wellbeing support website for further information on Early Help – https://www.mylifewarrington.co.uk/kb5/warrington/directory/service.page?id=EWB_dvX6Mz4
- Citizens Advice Bureau
- Golden Gates Housing Trust
- https://warrington.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-money/
- https://www.changegrowlive.org/
- https://childbereavementuk.org/
Early Help and SEND services in Warrington have have their own Facebook profile.
With these being such trying times for families, the webpage has been created to promote access to information and advice to those who need it.
The link to the profile is: https://www.facebook.com/EarlyhelpSEND/?locale=en_GB
If you have any questions or if you would like to see our Safeguarding Policy please refer to the policies section of this website.
IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OR WELFARE OF YOUR CHILD OR A CHILD YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD ACT WITHOUT DELAY
You can ask for advice or report your concern to:
Childrens’ Social Care: 01925 443322
Police: 101 - non emergency or 999 if emergency/danger to life
Out of Hours Duty Team: 01925 443322
NSPCC Child Protection Helpline: 0808 800 5000 between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Friday, or by emailing [email protected] between 11am and 4pm, seven days a week.
Everyone’s responsibility
Many people worry that their suspicions might be wrong, or that they will be interfering unnecessarily. If you wish, you can telephone for advice without identifying the child. If the conversation confirms that you are right to be concerned you can then give the child’s details. You will be asked for you name and address too, but the agencies will take anonymous calls, so if you really do not want to say who you are, you do not have to. Remember, it is always better to be safe than sorry.