Early Help Offer

At Claydon High School we recognise the importance of early help to offer support to meet the needs of students.

Early Help is everyone’s responsibility: together we will make sure that children, young people and their families are safe, happy and ready for school, work and life’s challenges.

Early Help means better outcomes for children and families. Effective Early Help will resolve problems before they become overwhelming and require reactive services. Early Help enables children to be ready for school and more likely to achieve their full potential. Claydon High School offers comprehensive support and guidance, to ensure that the personal wellbeing of our students is catered for, and that barriers to learning can be removed.

We recognise the importance of working with families in supporting young people and the importance of listening to the voice of the child in all that we do.

Early Help Intervention	Year group / Target group	Summary of intervention
Form Tutor	All years	All students have an allocated form tutor who they see on a daily basis. This is their first point of contact for any issues. Parents/carers are encouraged to liaise with their child’s form tutor as regularly as required. Tutors are responsible for overseeing the pastoral wellbeing of their group, and liaising with other staff within the school as required to ensure that the appropriate support is in place as soon as a need is identified.
Head of Year	All years	All students have a Head of Year who can work with them on their learning and ensuring that provision is in place to make the best academic progress. This includes supporting students to how to access pastoral and wellbeing resources and other help, if needed.
Virtual Tutor/Learning Mentor/Peer Mentor	All years	Individual 1:1 mentoring support is available to support any student identified as potentially benefitting from this service.
School Counsellor	All years	The school employs an independent counsellor one day a week to support students in need. Referrals are made via the Student Support Team.
School Nursing Team	All years	School nurses are available on a weekly basis (currently on Tuesdays) with both referrals and drop-in appointments to see students with medical or wellbeing needs who either self-refer or are referred by the Student Support Team.
Chat Health	All years	Chat Health is a confidential text service provided by the school nursing team during term time: Monday to Friday 9.00am-4.30pm for help on a range of issues. Text a school nurse on 07507 333 356.
SES (Specialist Education Services)	All years	SES (Specialist Education Services) support students who have difficulties in: Cognition & Learning; Communication & Interaction; Sensory & Physical; Social, Emotional and Mental Health. They work to support schools and children with SEND across Suffolk in a variety of different ways.
Personalised Timetable	All years	Students who have particular medical needs, whether this is linked to physical or mental health, may be offered a bespoke timetable in conjunction with advice from their medical team or professional case workers. This may be on a temporary, permanent or case-by-case basis.
Suffolk Children & Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing Hub	All years	Suffolk Wellbeing is an online wellbeing service, run in partnership with the NHS, and students can be referred to access support either here or through a medical professional.
Emotional Wellbeing Gateway	All years	The Emotional Wellbeing Gateway website provides families with practical advice and guidance on common mental health issues, such as anxiety, stress, depression, eating disorders and self-harm. Visit www.emotionalwellbeinggateway.org.uk
Lunch Club in the LRC or quiet room	All years	A safe place where students can come to have their lunch away from main areas; some of the students that attend benefit from social interaction and also being able to complete homework when they are unable to do so at home.
Young Carer Support	All years	Working in partnership with Suffolk Young Carers we offer a monthly drop-in with Mrs Steele and Ms Byam and our Young Carers’ advisor and a lunch time club on this day where students can enjoy a relaxed social environment. They can bring a friend and enjoy games and refreshments. The school was awarded the Platinum Young Carers Award in recognition of dedication in supporting our young carers.
Homework Club	All years	Homework support Monday – Thursday in the LRC until 4.00pm. Staff are on hand to support with guidance and resources.
The Source	All years	The Source website is aimed at supporting all students. This website covers just about any issue a young person growing up could encounter and offers information and guidance as well as equipping them with the tools to manage their own wellbeing. An online 4YP counsellor “Ask the Expert” is also available Monday – Wednesday 5.00pm-7.00pm www.thesource.me.uk/wellbeing.
External Agency Support	All years	The school work closely with external agencies to access additional support where appropriate, for example, behaviour support, CAF/TAC, family support workers, social workers, Triple P Parenting Programme, local police and PCSO, and Diversion Programme.
Student Management Team	All years	All students are able to ask to see our student management team who are a key part of our pastoral team and are safeguarding trained. They help to manage behaviour, support with incidents and issues and mentor students.
Emotional Schools Based Avoidance Pilot	All Years	The school has signed up to work with a pilot to support students who are struggling to attend school. Referrals are made through the Attendance Welfare Officer.

We have further resources on our Mental Health and Wellbeing page.