At Garstang Community Academy, we pride ourselves on ensuring that all our pupils receive a high level of quality pastoral care. We expect all our pupils to look smart, be punctual, be organised and ready to learn. It is our aim that all our children have all they need to be an asset to the school and wider community. All children are expected to meet the high standards of behaviour no child has the right to disrespect the learning of others.
The pastoral team within school ensure that all pupils are able to report concerns about themselves and others that will be taken seriously and always dealt with effectively in a professional manner with the child being at the centre of every decision. We will communicate with all head of Years and share relevant necessary information.
We will provide support, advice and information to the families within our school community. We can help you with any worries you may have about your child’s education and wellbeing. We can meet you at home or in school at a time that suits you. Any advice and support that we offer will always be confidential, although concerns relating to the safeguarding of children will always be dealt with in accordance to our Safeguarding procedures. We may not have all the answers, but we will be able to point you in the direction of appropriate people to help.
- Providing information and signposting to other services in our local area.
- Communication with external services e.g. Housing and Children Social Care.
- Attendance and support at school.
- Help to complete paperwork and forms e.g. housing, school letters, grant applications and benefits.
- Advice and support to promote good attendance.
- Referrals to outside agencies e.g. Continence service, Paediatric team and Speech and Language Therapists.
- Emotional support for parents and your children.
- Lead on Early Help Assessment (EHA) referrals and Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings.
- Financial aid and food aid
We will always try our very best to help you.
Early Help- Early Help is key to support you and your child/children.
What is early help?
Early help is your choice and we all understand that every family goes through challenging times at some point. Early help means working with you and your family so that small problems don’t become big problems. To offer you a network of support for families to succeed and thrive. Early help is there to make a difference!
Early help is for everybody, for families with children and young people of any age.
Why would I want early help?
There are lots of reasons why people look for early help and it’s important to remember that this can happen at any moment and time to anyone. 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 affecting your family. Maybe your child or family is affected by domestic abuse, drugs, alcohol, or crime. It may be due to a bereavement in your family and you feel a further support is needed.
Where can I get early help?
Us! The pastoral team in school
If you feel you and your family might need support to solve some problems, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our pastoral team.
What will happen when I ask for early help?
We will give you a call to arrange a meeting to come into school and we will talk about the problems you’re experiencing. If you are not comfortable with this then don’t worry, we can always discuss things initially over the phone. We will ask what help and support you think you might need. This is called an early help assessment.
Early help is 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.
We 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.
The next steps following on from our initial meeting will be different for every family. If an Early Help assessment is carried out and actions are identified. This will then lead to a Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings. Again, this is nothing to be worried about and it allows all professionals involved to ensure the correct decisions and actions are taken. You have control over what happens next in the plan and can always withdraw consent if you wish.
There may be times when the person you talked to in the meeting has to share information. This includes:
- if they think a child is at risk of harm
- if they think an adult is at risk of harm
- if they think the information could help prevent or lead to crime.
Children Social Care won’t get involved unless one of these things happens, or unless the circumstances in your family change and become more serious.
Remember, it’s your choice to have Early Help. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Pastoral Team