Early Help Offer

Our school will work with children and families and we will

Focus on preventing problems before they occur and offer flexible, responsive support when and here it’s required.

Base all we do on evidence of both what is needed and of what works and be brave enough to stop things that are wrong.

Aim to:

Work to families’ strengths especially those of parents and carers and take time to understand their needs fully.

Build the resilience of parents, young people, children and communities to support each other.

If you would like our support around early help, this could be a conversation over the phone or a home visit, please complete one of the following referral forms. Please click on the link to access the form.

Parent/Carer/Young People Referral Form Professional Referral Form

We will know if our work in early help is successful if it delivers these outcomes:

Children And Young People	Parents And Carers
Are physically and emotionally healthy Are resilient and able to learn well Are supported by their families, their community, and - when necessary - professionals to thrive and be successful Live in environments that are safe and support their learning and development.	Are supporting one another in their communities Know where to get help if they need it Have trusted relationships with practitioners, neighbours and other parents Are well informed about how best to help their child develop, and motivated to make great choices.

Children Services team

Our offer is embedded in Brackenfield Special School, Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy, Early Help, and is part of a continuum of work in helping keep children safe. We also have a system to address any concerns in our delivery of the offer, and this is addressed in the schools complaints procedure.

The service is delivered by The Pastoral Team in school.

The point of contacts in school are Mick Gayle and Fiona Ross and you can make contact by emailing earlyhelp@brackenfield.derbyshire.sch.uk

Providing early help to our children and families of Brackenfield School means we promote effective support as early as possible. Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life, from early years through to teenage years.

Early Help Offer

Here at Brackenfield School, we understand just how complicated family life can be. From time to time there may be situations where you need extra help and support.

If things aren’t right at home, please come and talk to us. We have what we call an Offer of Early Help. There are many ways in which we can help.

At Brackenfield School we pride ourselves in knowing the children well: we are alert to the welfare of our children and are vigilant regarding any situation in which we can provide support.

We have a number of systems in place to identify unmet needs and we seek at all times to work in collaboration with families, with openness, integrity and understanding and with the needs of the child at the centre of all we do.

Early Help is everyone’s responsibility. As such, you can speak with any member of the school team who would be happy to pass your concerns on to one of our Children Services team.

In school, we have specialist trained staff who form part of our Children Services team:

Mick Gayle – Head of Pastoral Care - Designated Safeguarding Lead
Sophie Evitts – Deputy Head Teacher - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Helen Diggle – Inclusion and Guidance Manager
Fiona Ross – Family Support Worker
Eve Happie – Personal Health Care Manager

Safeguarding and Child Protection Procedures

The school has a clear and detailed Safeguarding (Child Protection Policy). Currently at school we have five staff members trained as Designated Safeguarding Leads, four of which are part of the Senior Leadership Team. We also have a Safeguarding Governor.

Trish Turner – Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mick Gayle – Designated Safeguarding Lead

Jessica Lacey – Deputy Safeguarding Lead

Sophie Evitts - Deputy Safeguarding Lead

Chloe Lawrence - Deputy Safeguarding Lead

Kimberley Hamblett– Safeguarding Governor

At Brackenfield School, we all work together to ensure that rigorous and robust systems are in place within the school to ensure the safety of all our children. At Brackenfield we always act in the interest of the child.

We meet the needs of our children through a variety of ways.

	Support offered
Open door policy	We are available to talk via telephone and face to face and provide time for our parents to communicate and work with us.
Vulnerable Education Needs Coordinator / Family Support Worker / Personal Health Care Manager	At Brackenfield, early help assessments help identify the specific needs of our children and family, so that they can be assigned to the correct interventions for their educational, social, physical and emotional needs. These interventions may include emotional literacy support, sleep practitioner, mental health first aid and positive behaviour support.
Pupil Voice	Our children are actively encouraged to speak about any concerns they have to a member of staff. They know our staff take all their concerns very seriously and they know they can speak to any responsible adult in school Pupil voice is captured in a variety of ways
Developing Key Skills	We have an effective PSHE and RSE curriculum which supports children and develop key skills, not only for school but for life.
Health/School Nurse	Referral to appropriate medical specalist Registering with appropriate medical support
Early Help Team	Supported by the transition team which includes Early Help advisiors and Project Officers at Derbyshire County Council
Signposting	We will signpost families and seek support from different external agencies. There are a number of support agencies who we can access or sign post you to if you are expericing diffciuites at home. Our Children Services Team will work with parents and children to identify and organise additional support. Support and sign posting could involve: Starting Point First Contact Team Single Point of Access referral Build Sound Minds Derby and Derbyshire Local Offer Derbyshire Child and Adolescent mental health via SPOE or CAMHS referral SV2 RELATE Trident Reach the Charity Health Visitors www.dchs.nhs.uk/healthvisiting School Nurses www.derbyshireschoolnurses.org.uk Derbyshire Austism Services Action for Children SEND South Derbyshire Community Update Newsletter - June July 2021