Early help offer.

At Crawley Green we want every child in our care to thrive. We put the child at the centre of everything we do to meet their needs and improve outcomes.  Our primary aim is to identify needs early and to make sure that appropriate support is put into place. We believe that information sharing and timely effective support can ensure that all children and families get a good start in life.

Things that we might help you with:

• Support and advice during difficult periods e.g. illness, bereavement, financial worries or domestic abuse.
• 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.
• Attendance monitoring with regular meetings to improve attendance and punctuality.

Families may require support from a wide range of agencies based on their specialised work. Therefore our role is often to signpost families to the resources that will best support their needs. 

This can include but is not limited to:

• School Nursing Team.    
• Health.
• CAMHS.
• Foodbank.
• Citizen Advice Bureau.
• Stepping Stones.
• Luton All Women’s Centre.
• Chums.
• Support groups for children and their families with disabilities and/or special educational needs such as Autism Bedfordshire.

Contact numbers for different agencies can be found on the Luton Borough Council website should you wish to contact them directly. Some agencies will require a referral from a professional body. If you are unsure please contact us.

Enabling children and their families to receive appropriate support in a timely way can lead to better outcomes for children, and potentially prevent further escalation.

There are early help services for parents, children or whole families. Early help could provide support at any stage in a child or young person’s life. Some are more likely to need this support than others, such as:

• Children in or leaving care.
• Children with disabilities.
• Mental health.
• Families facing abuse and conflict.
• Low-income families.
• Risk of modern slavery, trafficking or exploitation.
• Families where someone is a carer or young carer.
• Families with someone in prison.

Children and families can access early help services in their local area. These may be at school, health centres or through charities and voluntary organisations.

Staff follow statutory guidance including;

• Keeping Children Safe in Education.
• Working Together To Safeguard Children.

Local guidance:

• Working Effectively to safeguard children and young people.

This is in conjunction with school based policies:

• Safeguarding and child protection.                    
• Child on child abuse.
• Low level concerns.    
• Code of conduct.                  
• Online safety.
• Equality act 2010.
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Early help has lots of positive social, health and behavioural outcomes for children and families.

Please speak to our Designated Safeguarding Officer if you feel you would benefit from some support. We understand it can be difficult to ask for support so alternatively please speak to any member of staff you feel comfortable with.

For adults and children alike, the world seemed like a very strange, unchartered place for a while. As a school we are committed to supporting our families through challenging times. Below you will find a bank of resources which you may find helpful to dip in and out of with your child while at home.