Early Help Offer

The Trust Early Help Service provides Early Help support across Staffordshire and  Derbyshire to children, young people and their families who require additional support . The service has been providing support to our academies along with multiple schools/academies based in South Derbyshire. 

Every family has its ups and downs. Being a parent/carer is hard work and there are no instructions. Sometimes, children/young people and their families may need extra support. Often these parents/carers turn to schools/academies for support. Early Help aids children/young people and their families recognise what’s going well for them, where they may benefit from extra help and who is the best person to support the family to make this happen. This may be through an Early Help Assessment (EHA). Affinity Learning Partnership's Early Help service provides targeted support for children/young people and their families with proven results. The service could support your school/academy in delivering high quality Early Help family support that benefits the family and community along with your school/academy.

The team has the following objectives:

• To provide a high quality service to the families and service users, developing an effective and integrated workforce to respond quickly and to work proactively
• To reduce duplication and bureaucracy
• To provide flexible services
• To enable more effective early intervention and preventative approaches

The service started in September 2019 and is now well established with a highly experienced team of Early Help Practitioners, and we have over 20 schools/academies within the service.

The type of services or help that The Trust Early Help service offer depends on what is needed for either the school/academy or the child/young person and their family. The service would provide support through the completion of an Early Help assessment followed by an action plan to support either the school/academy or child/young person and their family. 

Types of support include: 

We have made links with several voluntary services throughout Staffordshire and South Derbyshire, which a large majority of the families access for additional support. We work closely with CAMHS and Social Care to provide the right level of support targeted at the needs of the families.  We have also developed close links with the Community Paediatrician, Clinical Psychologist, school nurses, GP surgeries, Neuro Developmental Nurse and Speech and Language Therapist, along with other organisations and charities.

Please contact Mark Hurst, Trust Early Help Manager, for further information: mhurst@affinitylp.co.uk