Early Help Offer

Early Help for Children and Families Wolverley CE Secondary School (WCESS) EARLY HELP OFFER

At Wolverley Secondary School we recognise the challenges that families face in bringing up children. There may be times when you need extra help and support. If this is the case please come and talk to us.

There are many ways in which we can help as outlined in this offer of early help. In order to support in the right way, we work with you to identify what you are worried about, what is working well and what needs to happen. The information you share with us we will use to form a ‘family plan’, this will help us to easily identify what other agencies and professionals will be able to support you and your child appropriately.

We also liaise with other agencies and people within the local community, click here to see some of the National organisations that can support Children, Young people and their Families

Early Help is a pathway to supporting your child and you during challenging times.

This diagram shows the range of needs at different levels. We use this graduated approach to make sure we provide the best support for different families’ individual situations.

Providing early help to our pupils and families at WCESS means we can change a child's developmental path and improve outcomes for children, families, and communities, providing support as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life, from the foundation years through to teenage years.

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 makes it clear that ALL staff should be aware of their local early help process and understand their role in it. In addition, this statutory document makes it clear that any child may benefit from early help, but all school and college staff should be particularly alert to the potential need for early help for a child who:

• Is disabled and has specific additional needs
• Has special educational needs (whether or not they have a statutory education, health care plan)
• Is a young carer
• Is showing signs of being drawn in to anti-social or criminal behaviour, including gang involvement and association with organised crime groups
• Is frequently missing/goes missing from care or from home
• Is misusing drugs or alcohol themselves
• Is at risk of modern slavery, trafficking or exploitation
• Is in a family circumstance that presents challenges for the child; such as substance abuse, adult mental health problems or domestic abuse;
• Has returned home to their family from care
• Is showing early signs of abuse and/or neglect
• Is at risk of being radicalised or exploited
• Is a privately fostered child

Everyone needs help at some time in their lives and therefore an ethos of early help is important for any school.

WCESS offer of Early Help is outlined in the table below. Providing early help is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting later.

Effective early help relies upon local organisations and agencies working together therefore we liaise with other agencies and people within the local community. In the table below are some National and local organisations that can support children, young people and their families.

PREVENT TRAINING – Radicalisation. All staff complete an annual update regarding PREVENT and are able to identify the signs of radicalisation.

Child Sexual Exploitation Mr Knott and Mrs Clipson have completed the WCF “Get Safe” training and this includes how to recognise the signs of CSE

Female Genital Mutilation All staff have received training on FGM. Teachers know how to identify if a child may be at risk. They know the signs to look for and most importantly how to refer, following the schools safeguarding procedures.

At WCESS we meet the needs of our children through a variety of ways: Pupil Voice – 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.

ATTENDANCE Mr Benham is the lead on attendance and works closely with Mrs Dawes, the schools Attendance Officer. Attendance is monitored weekly and our attendance policy is used to support pupils and families with attendance below 90%. The aim is to offer help and solutions to any problems. The school operates a first day response system.

SAFEGUARDING

• All teachers and staff know precisely how to identify and report concerns, via CPOMS.
• Child protection files are kept by the DSL and managed by a safeguarding administrator.
• ATTENDANCE team follow missing from education guidance.
• All new staff complete safeguarding inductions.
• We have a designated teacher for Looked after Children.

Annually, we record that that all staff have read Keeping Children Safe in Education.

Pastoral Support Our Pastoral team works with students and families to support their needs whilst also signposting them to relevant agencies. With families consent, we can refer families for further family support.

SENCO Mrs Boles works with children and families with additional needs and can signpost parents to many different agencies.

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) The DSL (Mr Knott) ensures rigorous and robust systems are in place within the school to ensure the safety of all our students.

Wolverley CE Secondary School will refer to appropriate agencies when help is required to support children, young people or families or to prevent harm.