Early Help Offer

Support for you and your family

At Leyland Methodist Schools, we recognise the challenges that families face when bringing up children. Family life can be complicated and sometimes you may need some support. If you feel you and your family would benefit from some support, please get in touch – we can support you in lots of ways. 

What is early help?

Early help means providing support to our children and families as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life.

There are many ways in which we can help as outlined in our offer of early help below. Early Help services should support and strengthen families so that they can thrive.

Support for families may include: 

• Advice and support to promote good attendance
• Liaising with external services e.g. Housing and Children Social Care.
• Support during appointments and in meetings.
• Help to complete paperwork and forms, e.g. housing, school letters, grant applications and benefits.
• Referrals to outside agencies e.g. Paediatric Learning Disability Team and Speech and Language Therapists etc.
• Emotional support for parents
• SEND parent drop ins with Headteacher/SENDCo
• School nurse support
• Early Help Assessment which may involve support from external agencies
• Children and Family Wellbeing visits 
• Providing information and signposting to other services in your local area. 

Support for children whilst in school may include:

• Lunchtime games club
• Bespoke learning interventions
• Preloved uniform
• Additional transition support
• Extracurricular clubs
• School nurse support
• Pastoral Support
• Guidance and support with school uniform

Why would I request early help?

There are lots of reasons why people look for early help. It could be that you’re worried about your child’s health, development or behaviour, or how they’re doing at school. It may be that you’re worried about money or housing and how that is impacting on your family. Maybe your child or family is affected by domestic abuse, drugs, alcohol, or crime. Perhaps your child is a carer for their SEND sibling, or maybe you’ve had a bereavement in the family that’s made life a challenge.

Whatever the concern, it’s okay to ask for help.

Where can I get early help?

If you feel you and your family might need support to solve some problems, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Gardner (Pastoral Manager) via the school office.

egardner@lms.epworthtrust.org.uk

What will happen if I ask for early help?

Mrs Gardner will give you a call to either complete a home visit or you could come into school, you can talk about the problems/concerns you’re experiencing. She will ask what help and support you think you might need. This is called an early help assessment.

Early help assessment is nothing to be worried about. It’s just a conversation to work out how to help you determine what it is you feel you need support with and how this can be done.   You can talk about things that are going well and things that you’re proud of as well as things that you’re finding a challenge.

You will also discuss your child or children in your family to make sure they understand how they are feeling and anything they think they might want some help with. 

What happens next will be different for every family. If an Early Help assessment is carried out and actions are identified, we will then call Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings. Again, this is nothing to be worried about. It just ensures we have a regular meeting with all professionals involved to get the best outcome for the family.  You have control over what happens next and can say what you want. If at any point you feel you no longer need support, that’s fine too.

For more information on Early Help please click on the link below 

https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/practitioners/supporting-children-and-families/early-help-assessment/ 

Here are some links to local community services:

SOUTH RIBBLE HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES & FOOD SCHEME - HAF

To access the latest information for Lancashire County Council's Free Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF) please click on the link: https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/children-education-families/school-holiday-activities/

CHILDREN & FAMILY WELLBEING SERVICE (SOUTH RIBBLE FAMILY HUB)

Lancashire County Council Events

AUTISTIC SPECTRUM CONDITION SUPPORT 

Autism Central

https://www.autismcentral.org.uk/hubs/north-west-delivered-great-minds-together

FOOD BANK INFORMATION

• Leyland Foodbanks.pdf

St Mary's Food Bank

Opening Hours – Monday to Friday 10.00am till 11.30am.

• Leyland-Foodbank-Referral-Form-1-14-web.pdf

BOOT ROOM

The idea behind the boot room is that as children grow out of their sports shoes (football boots, running shoes, trainers etc) people can donate these to the Leyland Boot Room and we can rehome them completely free of charge. 

https://www.facebook.com/share/rDbFWEqNQXfFJjZi/?mibextid=K35XfP

Further contacts for Early Help in this area:

Bereavement

Disabilities/ SEND

Victim Support/ DA

Drugs/ Alcohol

Family Mediation

Health and wellbeing

Mental health

Victim Support

Youth Support