Support for families
Everyone needs help at some time in their lives and therefore an ethos of support and nurture is important for all schools. At Cookley Sebright Primary School, we recognise the challenges that families face in bringing up children. There may be times when families need extra support and help. This document provides information for families and outlines our school procedures for providing support.
CSPS Key personnel and job roles
Safeguarding Lead & Headteacher | Deputy Safeguarding & Deputy headteacher & SENDCo | Deputy Safeguarding & Attendance lead | Mental health and wellbeing lead & THRIVE lead | THRIVE practitioner | WEST Wellbeing and Emotional Support Team (NHS) | Counsellor (RAFT) |
Mrs Crisp | Mr Terrado | Miss Allardice | Mrs Rees | Mrs Bakewell | Anastasia Hill | Jackie Anderson |
All of our key personnel are contactable through the school office 01562 850397 office@cookleyprimary.worcs.sch.uk
Our Support offer
Our ‘Support for families’ offer is a pathway to supporting you and your child as they grow up when you, or they, may need further support or guidance. Providing or facilitating this support early means we can often stop issues from escalating.
Support for families who might be struggling with the following:
Routines and family rules
Families or children who may not be eating a healthy range of foods (or unable to afford food)
Keeping to a healthy lifestyle
Caring for a family member that may be unwell or disabled
Children that may not want to attend school
Children that may have SEND Special Educational Needs
Children who may become involved in anti-social behaviour
Children or parents /carers misusing drugs and/or alcohol
Children who have parents that argue a lot (or hurt each other) whether they live together or not
Children that live in a household with parent/carer with mental health or other health issues (including bereavement)
A privately fostered child
Everyone needs help at some time in their lives and therefore an ethos of support is important for all schools. Our support offer is enhanced by local groups, people in the community and charities. CSPS’s offer is outlined here and shows how we utilise local organisations and charities to help support our families.
In school, we help meet the needs of our children through a variety of ways:
Assembly themes – Keeping Safe - Pupils are exposed to a variety of thought-provoking assemblies designed to help them to keep themselves safe.
Assembly themes - Values such as tolerance of others, valuing other cultures and religions.
Pupils are actively encouraged to speak about any concerns they have to a member of staff or to our pastoral team. In lessons children are taught to speak openly about their emotions. Pupils know the staff take all their concerns very seriously.
NSPCC Pants campaign for all year groups
Mindfulness activities and mindfulness club including our Wellbeing Warriors
Online awareness presentation offered to parents
Our local PCSO conducts class workshops for E-Safety and other relevant topics
Promoting pupil self-esteem and awarding house points and other rewards
Safety Week and curriculum links
This is our 'Universal and Preventative' offer. Essentially, all of our pupils benefit from the things listed above. Below we have listed some of the other areas of support that might be needed.
ATTENDANCE
Miss Allardice is our attendance lead. She regularly monitors the children's attendance and runs attendance clinics for families needing support. Our school attendance target is 96%. The school operates a first day response system for absences.
BEHAVIOUR
The school encourages and rewards pupils for hard work and good behaviour
Pupils are rewarded by end of term treats and other entitlements for meeting certain targets. Our school behaviour policy is followed for pupils displaying unwanted behaviours. Parents are informed if the behaviour is serious or persistent.
SENCO
Mr Terrado works with children and families with additional needs and can signpost parents to many different agencies.
DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEAD (DSL)
The DSL (Mrs Crisp) ensures rigorous and robust systems are in place within the school to ensure the safety of all of our children. We will refer to appropriate agencies when help is required to support children, young people or families or to prevent harm. At all times all staff consider if there is anything additional support needed in order to help a child thrive.
How do I access support? What happens if I raise a concern or if school contacts me?
We recognise that sometimes, our 'Universal & preventative' support (as outlined above) is not enough and more is needed to help our children thrive.
There are two ways that support/issues might be identified:
Through school (by school staff)
From home (alerted by parents or other services)
School issues and support
We have a very clear set of procedures and guidelines for identifying and supporting some of our pupils that might need extra support from time-to-time.
These start with the following four indicators:
Behaviour
Attendance
Attitude towards learning
Performance
Teachers meet regularly to discuss our pupils and we are always looking for changes in the four indicators listed above, things that might seem ‘out of character’ or different to their usual demeanor.
2. Home issues and support
Again, we have a very clear set of procedures to follow when arranging support for our pupils and/or families that may need support beyond what we are able to offer within the resources afforded to us or that are out of our control. For example, families that are dealing with a bereavement might benefit from specialist support through organisations such as Kemp. Or maybe, where a child is having sleeping issues or problems with food, support from Starting Well or the School Nursing Team would be the most appropriate support.
Our process and timeline is outlined below.
STEP 1 – Issue noticed/notified/concern raised
The first step to access support is to arrange a meeting (1). This may be school arranging with parents or at a parent's request. We complete a school referral form that helps us identify the main area/s of concern as well as talking about things that are going well.
STEP 2 – Issue discussed at triage
Next, the well-being triage team will meet and discuss the most appropriate support. Please note that all things discussed in these meetings are treated in the strictest of confidence. Parents will then be notified of the support outlined and a review will take place 6 weeks later. The triage team consists of Mrs Crisp, Mr Terrado, Miss Allardice and Mrs Rees.
STEP 3 – Parents notified of outcome and support signposted
At this stage, parents are notified (usually with a phonecall of face-to-face meeting) of the support identified at triage. This might be school-based support or could involve the work of outside agencies. We always gain consent from parents before sharing any information with outside organisations or charities.
Support is planned for a period of 6 weeks.
STEP 4 - Review
Following 6 weeks, a review meeting will be held. Depending on the outcome, it may be necessary to extend support, stop or seek an alternative.
Local organisations and charities that we work with:
HAF
HAF is a Department for Education (DfE) funded programme aimed at enabling children and young people in receipt of benefits-related free school meals (FSM) to attend school holiday activities and experiences during Easter, summer and Christmas.
Foodbank
Franche Community Church's main mission since 1999 has been an established Food Bank which provides a service to the wider community with emergency food packed with items for two to three days depending on people's circumstances.
https://www.franchecommunitychurch.co.uk/wyre-forest-food-bank/
Cookley Chill and Chat A local community run group Cookley Village Hall fortnightly on Fridays, 2pm-3:30pm
Health (including mental health and wellbeing)
Starting Well
Starting Well provides a range of health services which support both children and families experiencing a range of health issues.
If your child is under 5 years old and you need advice on issues such as feeding, behavior or toileting you can contact the Telephone Advisory Service on 03001239551 (Mon-Fri 9-3)
We provide a variety of services from our Family Hubs, including parenting courses and groups, community activities, health visiting clinics and vitamin collections. https://www.startingwellworcs.nhs.uk/brookside
Onside – social prescribers advocacy
ONSIDE is a charity established in 1993, stemming from a belief that everyone has the right to be a valued human being and to be treated in a just and fair manner.
We currently work across Worcestershire & Herefordshire, providing a wide range of support services to ensure fairness and equality for all members of our community who may be vulnerable, disadvantaged or discriminated against.
https://www.onside-advocacy.org.uk/
WEST
The Wellbeing and Emotional Support Teams (WEST) in schools service is designed to help children and young people ages 5-18 years access mental health and wellbeing support early on in educational settings.
It's all about ensuring children and young people can get access to the right help as early as possible.
Kooth
Your online mental wellbeing community. Free, safe and anonymous support
Reach 4 Wellbeing
The Reach4Wellbeing team supports and promotes the emotional wellbeing of young people and parent/carers through evidence based interactive online group programmes. We use a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) informed approach for the Anxiety and Low Mood Skills Groups and a Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) informed approach for the Brief Emotional Resilience Skills Groups.
https://camhs.hacw.nhs.uk/reach4wellbeing/
Papyrus UK
PAPYRUS is the national charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide.
PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide is the UK charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people.
Suicide is the biggest killer of people aged 35 and under in the UK. We believe that suicide is preventable.
Now We’re Talking for healthy minds
Local people struggling with their mental health are being urged to access the Now We’re Talking website for local advice, support and signposting.
The Now We’re Talking website – www.nowweretalking.nhs.uk – has been developed by local organisations and offers mental health support and information all in one place, helping you navigate to the right support as quickly as possible. This includes links to local community support, online courses which people can access for free straight away, and NHS services provided by the Health and Care NHS Trust. There are also more targeted resources to help manage symptoms such as stress, anxiety or low mood.
Winston’s Wish
We give hope to grieving children
Kemp Hospice
Our counsellors work with children on their own during sessions. Counselling for children facing or living with the loss of a parent, grandparent, or other loved one primarily uses creative therapeutic techniques and tools to help talk through grief, fix positive memories in place, and express challenging emotions.
https://www.kemphospice.org.uk/kempforkids
Online safety and bullying
Kidscape
Our vision is for all children to grow up in supportive communities safe from bullying and harm.
We provide practical support, training, and advice to challenge bullying and protect young lives.
Thinkuknow
Help your children get the most out of the internet
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/
NSPCC
Discover all about the work we do to prevent abuse, help rebuild children's lives and support families.
Relationships
Harmony at Home
Reducing Parental Conflict in partnership with organisations from our multi-agency reference group.
https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/virtual-family-hub/harmony-home
CRUSH
The CRUSH Project is a structured programme of group support and empowerment for young people in the age range of 13 – 19 that are at risk of, or affected by domestic abuse. The objective of the CRUSH programme is to provide children & young people with the knowledge and tools to enable them to avoid abusive relationships, exit an abusive relationship safely or better manage their exposure to domestic abuse in the home.
https://victimadviceline.org.uk/specialist-service/crush/
Women’s Aid
WMWA provides support to children and young people who have been affected by domestic abuse. Our work has a strong focus on self-esteem, self-care and on understanding healthy relationships. This includes support for young people who are themselves experiencing abuse in their teen relationships.
https://www.westmerciawomensaid.org/services/children-and-young-people-services/
Special Educational Needs
Mr Terrado, our SENCO, works with children and families with additional needs and can signpost parents to many different agencies if additional support is identified.
SEND local offer
Our Local Offer provides information about provision families can expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people who have Special Educational Need (SEN) or are disabled, including those who do not have Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. You can find out about resources, services, support, activities and events here.
https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/send-local-offer-0
SENDIASS
We are the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Information, Advice and Support Service (IASS) covering Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/sendiass
Finance, Housing, Employment and Learning for adults
Citizen’s Advice Bureau
https://www.wyreforestcab.org.uk/
Housing and finances Hub
HomeStart
Home-Start Wyre Forest is a Family Support Organisation delivering friendship and support to parents with young children in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire.
https://www.homestartwyreforest.org.uk/
Family learning
Family Learning enables pupils and their parents to learn together in our school with a Family Learning Tutor. Family Learning from Worcestershire County Council’s Learning Service is able to offer free Family Learning courses in our school for our parents/carers and helps us to engage with our families.
www.worcestershire.gov.uk/learningservices.
Family member in prison?
NICCO
The NICCO Directory of Resources provides details of the huge number of tools, activities, practice models and guidance that have been developed by agencies to support offenders and their children and families.
https://www.nicco.org.uk/directory-of-resources
Get Safe
Are you worried that your child is at risk of being tricked, forced or made to work in the criminal world? Ask to speak to a member of school staff and visit the website below for more information.
Information and resources to help you look out for signs of child exploitation.
https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/childrens-social-care/get-safe