Early Help Offer

Offer of Early Help

We are a caring, nurturing school and fully understand that family life does not always run smoothly. We recognise that from time to time you may need a little extra support or help.

We are committed to the safeguarding of all our children. The purpose of our Early Help Offer is to provide the right kind of support for families at the right time, to achieve change that lasts. We can help you to identify any problems quickly and work with you to prevent the problem reaching crisis point.

There are many ways in which we can support you so, if ever things are not right at home, do come and talk to us. We aim to provide support that considers the needs of the whole family.

What does our Early Help Offer include?

FOR PARENTS:

• Support and advice during difficult periods i.e., illness, bereavement, financial worries, and domestic abuse.
• Completing referrals for additional family support
• Support for parents in multi-agency meetings.
• Assistance in completing paperwork and forms e.g., Disability Living Allowance, housing, and benefits.
• Pre-loved uniform
• Support getting your child into school.
• Breakfast provision for pupils
• Adult Education and Family Learning courses.
• Attendance monitoring with regular meetings. These aim to improve attendance and punctuality.
• Signposting to other services in the local area/community.

All support given is confidential, however, any concerns relating to the safeguarding of children will be dealt with in accordance with the school’s Safeguarding Policy. Click here to view a copy of the policy.

ELSA

We aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and
 to provide a reflective space where they are able to share honestly their thoughts and
 feelings. Sessions are fun, we use a range of activities such as: games,
 role-play with puppets or arts and craft. ELSA sessions take place in our very own
 ‘Nurture Room’ which provides a calm, safe space for the child to feel supported and
 nurtured. 

Sarah Carter is our ELSA

Young Minds Matter (supported by the Trailblazer programme): This intervention connects that services of school with NHS support. It is intended to provide early intervention on some mental health and emotional wellbeing issues, such as mild to moderate anxiety.

Other interventions include:

• After-school clubs with a variety of activities offered.
• Young Carers.
• Educational Psychology Service referrals.
• Intervention support to meet ‘My Plan’ targets.
• Speech Therapy.
• School nurse.

What should I do if I am worried or have a problem?

Please contact us if you have any problems affecting your child(ren). Below you also find contact details for various agencies who may also be able to help.

At Chesterton Primary School we meet the needs of our children through a variety of ways:

Pupil Voice

Our children are actively encouraged to speak about any concerns they have to a member of staff. In lessons, children are taught to speak openly about their emotions. Our children know our staff take all their concerns very seriously. Every child has a safe and trusted person; however, they know they can speak to anyone or add comments to our worry monsters, each class having their own.

• At the start of the year, each child completes a pupil information sheet (profile sheets), these can be used to identify and issues very early.
• Pupil voice is monitored every term.
• Children’s questionnaires ascertain if they feel happy and safe at school – children who comment negatively on this have 1:1 briefings.
• Children complete E-Safety questionnaires, these identify any issues. Parents are informed and training is offered.
• E-safety is taught through computing sessions and E-safety week. There is an annual online training session to inform parents of E-safety and annual staff training.
• Our local PCSO conducts assemblies for E-Safety and stranger danger.
• We use both In the Net, PCSO and SchoolBeat officers.
• When we conduct pupil voice for any subject or learning walk, we always ask children: Are you happy? Do you feel safe?
• The pupil governors have a strong voice, they have regular meetings, lead assemblies, meet with the Head Teacher and report to governors at their meetings.
• The school has signed up for GHLL.

ATTENDANCE

Every child whose attendance is below 90% the previous year receives a home visit or meeting from the attendance team. The aim is to offer help and solutions to any problems. Parents receive regular communication which informs them of their current attendance.

The school keeps case studies of attendance. The school operates a first-day response system.

SAFEGUARDING

• All teachers and staff know precisely how to identify and report concerns – our mantra is: “It will happen in our school and it will happen regularly, we need to be vigilant at all times.”
• The school uses CPOMs effectively to track and monitor safeguarding and behaviour across the whole school.
• ATTENDANCE team follow missing from education guidance, however, our school will conduct a home visit after 2 days of no contact. 1 day if the child is on a CPP.
• All new staff complete safeguarding inductions.
• We have a designated teacher for children in care.
• The head teacher has signed up for GSCP alerts.
• We have weekly staff meetings which highlight any issues or safeguarding concerns which all members of staff need to be aware of.

We have evidence of annual recording that staff have read:

• Keeping children safe in education – section 1 and section 5
• Safer working practice
• Whistle blowing policy
• SEND Policy
• AUP
• Completed Channel training for PREVENT

At Chesterton Primary School early assessments help identify the specific needs of our children and families, so that they can be assigned to the correct interventions for their educational, social and emotional needs;

We believe that quality first teaching is far more powerful than children being removed from class for different interventions, although in some cases they do play a part in targeting specific needs.

At the point interventions on the day. There are also a wide range of interventions which support children in not only their academic learning such as reading, maths, spelling etc, but also for any SEMH needs that may arise in

We also liaise with other agencies and people within the local community;

The following are a variety of agencies and webs pages that outline the different types of early help that may be required:

Family Information Service

Family Information Service (FIS) advisors give impartial information on a range of issues including childcare, finances, parenting and education.

Gloucestershire Family Information Service (FIS) advisors give impartial information on childcare, finances, parenting and education. FIS are a useful source of information for parents and professionals. They support families, children and young people aged 0-19 years of age (25 for young people with additional needs) and professionals working with these families. They can help link parents up with other organisations that might be able to help or provide the information themselves e.g. parents could ask them about holiday clubs for your children across Gloucestershire.

If you can’t find an answer to your question on our website and need more help, please contact the Family Information Service via email familyinfo@gloucestershire.gov.uk or telephone 0800 542 02 02 or 01452 427362.

CCP – Caring for Communities and People

CCP exists to improve the lives of children, young people, families and vulnerable adults with multiple and complex needs. Our priority is to people who have serious and immediate need, equipping them to meet the demands of an ever-evolving society.

Telephone: 01242 228999 Email: reception@ccp.org.uk

Domestic Violence

Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Service (GDASS) is a county-wide service designed to reduce the level of domestic abuse and improve the safety of victims and their families. They operate in all districts offering a variety of support programmes for women and men over 16 years old experiencing domestic abuse.

GDASS offers a Helpdesk service that operates Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm. It is managed by support workers who are able to offer immediate support and advice and take referrals for the GDASS support packages.

Phone: 01452 726570 or Email: support@gdass.org.uk

Purpose of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC)

The MARAC is a best practice model, rolled out nationally, to respond to high risk victims of domestic abuse. It is a process that facilitates the sharing of multi-agency information and a collaborative assessment of risk and action planning to reduce serious harm to victims of domestic abuse.

The role of the MARAC is to facilitate, monitor and evaluate the effective information sharing to enable appropriate actions to be taken to increase public safety. The responsibility to take appropriate action therefore rests with individual participating agencies; it is not transferred to the MARAC. The MARAC is a process, not a formal body that holds risk.

The process is open to all partner agencies, both statutory and voluntary, who are engaged with the safeguarding of victims and their families from domestic abuse. The key aims of the MARAC are:

• To share information to increase the safety, health and wellbeing of victims and their children/dependants.
• To jointly construct and implement a risk management plan that provides professional support to all those at risk and increase safety.
• To reduce repeat victimisation.
• To improve agency accountability.
• To improve support for staff involved in high risk cases.
• To work in partnership, where necessary, to safeguard children and adults.
• To determine whether the perpetrator poses significant risk to any particular individual or to the general community (linking when necessary to the MAPPA process).

The heart of the MARAC is based on the principle that no single agency or individual knows the complete picture of the life of a victim, but all may have insights that are crucial to their safety and that of their children.

MARAC guide and Operating Protocol is available at www.glostakeastand.com and MARAC queries can be sent to: MARAC@gloucestershire.pnn.police.uk

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass is a new innovative project in which schools in Gloucestershire will be participating, and which is run in partnership with Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Board and Gloucestershire Police.

Operation Encompass aims to support children and young people who are affected by domestic abuse. Witnessing or experiencing domestic abuse is really distressing for a child or young person, who may see the abuse, hear it from another room, see a parent’s injuries or distress afterwards, or can be physically hurt by trying to stop the abuse.

As a result, following any domestic abuse incident being reported to the police, the Police will make contact with one of the Education Researchers within the Gloucestershire MASH, who will then on behalf of the police communicate relevant, necessary and proportionate information to nominated school staff. This will ensure that the school is made aware at the earliest possible opportunity and can subsequently provide support to children in a way that means they feel safe and listened to. Our nominated person is Mrs Pringle.

The Gloucestershire Children’s Safeguarding Executive (GCSE)

https://www.gscb.org.uk/ – Safeguarding Children in Gloucestershire

The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

If you are worried or concerned about anyone under 18 who you think is being abused or neglected, or that a child and their family need help and support, please contact the MASH team.

Opening hours: 9am – 5pm Tel: 01452 42 6565

childrenshelpdesk@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Out of office hours: Outside of office hours, you should contact the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) or, if you have concerns about the immediate safety of the child or you believe a serious criminal offence has been committed please contact the Police at any time on 101.

Tel: 01452 61 4194 or 101

To report a concern about a professional working with children (Allegations Management)

Nigel Hatten, LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer)
nigel.hatten@gloucestershire.gov.uk
Tel: 01452 42 6994

Safeguarding Training

For questions about Multi-agency & single-agency training courses contact the Adult Education Team
Tel: 01452 58 3863

adedsafeguardingcourses@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Telephone Contacts

Community Social Workers Cheltenham 01452 328246

Cotswold 01452 328101

Forest of Dean 01452 328048

Gloucester 01452 328076

Stroud 01452 328130

Tewkesbury 01452 328250

Family Information Service 0800 542 0202

The MASH Team 01452 426565