Welfare Team & Early Help

Welfare Team

Our Welfare Team consists of a number of specialist staff working within our school - Pastoral Officer, Attendance Officer, Mental Health Lead, Designated Safeguarding Lead and Behaviour Lead.

The team share a common goal, to influence the academic performance of children through pastoral support. The Welfare Team also run the Early Help Offer, and meet fortnightly to discuss any children in the school who are raising concerns on any level, such as attendance, safeguarding, barriers to learning or special educational needs. We call these meetings 'Joined Up Care Meetings' - they help the team to assess each pupil on an individual basis and identify a pathway of support beneficial to the child, in order for them to succeed.

This support includes one to one and group sessions for children experiencing a range of behavioural issues, emotional and social coaching, life skills, anger management, bereavement therapy, relaxation and meditation and confidence and resilience building.

Welfare Team members carry out playground observations each week and are available outside the school gates to welcome children and chat to parents between 8.30am and 9.00am each day.

The team offers a wide range of other support, including National Lottery funded warm space evenings for members of the community struggling with energy costs, and a school shop providing free new shoes, uniform items, toiletries, gloves, hats and nappies to families in need.

Also available are monthly coffee mornings for parents and carers, during which parents can get advice on various topics - from the cost of living crisis, through to surviving the summer holidays.

Early Help

Early Help offer at Evelyn Street Primary Academy

Sometimes children and their families might need some extra help, this might come from a range of different organisations, all working together. You might need help in one or more of the following areas:

• School, education or training
• Home and life relationships
• Health and emotional well-being
• Work, finances or housing
• Domestic violence or abuse
• Crime or anti-social behaviour

If you have worries about your family, then ask a professional who's working with you or your children for an Early Help Assessment. A professional connected to your family who has concerns may suggest to you that together you do an Early Help Assessment to see how your family can be supported.

An Early Help Assessment is a way of noting down what is going well in your family, what the worries are and what needs to happen to help things improve. Together you will then agree the best way to make this happen; this will be written into a Family Plan.

Listed below are some of the services that the Welfare Team offer (this list is not intended to be exhaustive):

• Availability to speak with parents/carers each morning on the playground to discuss any concerns regarding behaviour, learning or any other support you may require
• Support to complete forms and other paperwork for example high school admission forms
• Referrals to outside agencies such as the Family Outreach Team, parenting courses, School Health Advisor, St Joseph's Family Centre, play/art therapy and local children's centres
• Completion of an Early Help Assessment (EHA) which involves listening to families to find out what help is needed and discussing what is working well at home. Based on what is raised, a plan is put together so that the professionals can work together to ensure that families get the right help.