Early Help | hempstedplaygroup

Hempsted Playgroup and Toddlers

Early help for children, young people and families

Early help is about children, young people and families getting the right help at the right time, before issues get worse.

All children receive Universal Services however some children will need extra support in order to be healthy, safe and to achieve their potential.

Early help is about providing the right support to potentially vulnerable children, young people and their families as soon as problems emerge or when it is very likely that there will be problems in the future. It is also about providing support at all stages of a child's life; pre-birth, during pregnancy, childhood or adolescence.

The purpose of early help is to prevent issues and problems becoming serious and harmful to the child, young person, family and community. When families need this extra support, they need it quickly.

To achieve this, we are working with partners to develop our early help approach.

Early help in Gloucestershire

In Gloucestershire, we believe that families are best supported by those who are already working with them, with additional support from local partners arranged as needed.

When children and families need additional support, a coordinated multi-disciplinary approach is usually best.

When families -and professionals who are helping them - need more support, this can be requested from Early Help Partnerships.

The Early Help practitioners include:

Early Help Co-ordinators who provide support for practitioners who are working with children and families to meet their needs through the Graduated Pathway
Community Social Workers work with organisations to provide a social work perspective on families they are supporting. This supports practitioners to ensure families receive the right level of support and act as a link between Children’s Social Care and the community
Early Help Partnership Managers support partnership work between organisations in communities to support the development of resources available to children and families. They attend District Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) to make sure there is a focus on Early Help for vulnerable families alongside wider community safety concerns.

We follow the Early Help Graduated Pathway (Graduated Pathway flowcharts | Gloucestershire County Council) which has four different levels of intervention. The four levels of intervention are as follows:

Level 1- Universal- A child with no identified additional needs or needs that can be met by a single agency.
Level 2- Additional- The child’s needs can be met through your agency working jointly with another agency.
Level 3- Intensive- The child’s needs are more complex and require an assessment to understand the range, depth or significance of the needs which may require a more intensive response.
Level 4- Specialist- The child’s needs are complex and enduring and a statutory response is required.

At each level involvement form services vary. Who can help at each level:

Level 1- Glosfamilies directory of services, Local Offer, Family Information Service, Early Years Team, Health Services for example Health Visitors.
Level 2- As Level 1 plus Early Help Co-ordinator Practitioner Advice Line, Early Help Advisor (Early Years), Outcomes Coordinator, Education Inclusion Service.
Level 3- As level 1 and 2 plus Early Help Co-ordinator direct support, Community Social Worker, Education Services, for example, Education Psychology, Advisory Teacher Service.
Level 4-As Level 1, 2 and 3 plus Social Worker, SEND Casework Team

Support and Advice

FIS -Family Information Service

FIS provides a wide range of advice on family support, education, childcare and activities for families, children and young people from 0-19 years of age or up to 25 years for young people with SEND. They have a directory website for local services and national support agency information. The local offer is a source of information on services for children and young people between the age of 0-25 with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families.

W: www.glosfamiliesdirectory.org.uk
T : 01452 427 362
E : familyinfo@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Information link: Family Information Service (FIS) | Gloucestershire County Council

Targeted Support

Many families will face difficulties at some point and some families will have multiple and complex needs. The belief is for the family’s capacity to succeed the right support and motivation is needed to achieve positive sustainable change.

Families first

Families first can help with keeping your family safe and well, parenting, education, difficult life events, moving towards employment, creating new opportunities, housing, antisocial behaviours, and crime. They use a flexible approach to suit the needs of each family as an individual. They aim to help families with in a 6-12 week cycle to make and sustain improvements. Family first use a whole family approach identifying things impacting on the family environment and using strengths to build a stronger family unit.

If you are a parent/carer and would like to request support for your family from Families First, please contact the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 01452 426565.

If you are a professional working with a family, and you would like to seek additional support on their behalf, you will need to complete a Request for Support form, along with a signed consent form, which can be accessed on the Glosfamilies Directory. All completed Request for Support forms need to be submitted to MASH via email at childrenshelpdesk@gloucestershire.gov.uk.

Family Meeting Service (formally known as Family Group Conferencing -FGC)

Families sometimes need help when things are difficult, people who are important to you may be able to help. A family group conference gives you a chance to get together with close family and friends to come up with a plan to make things better with plans for the care, protection and support of a child/young person in your family. This is a voluntary meeting; a meeting of your choice and you can choose to have the meeting at any time. An independent co-ordinator will visit you at home and explain how the Family Group Conference process is organised. If you decide to go ahead the co-ordinator will work with you to plan the meeting and decide who to invite. A lead professional will need to make a referral to the FGC team

Telephone number 01452 532353 or email fms@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Information Link: Glosfamilies Directory | Family Meeting Service

Triple P

Triple P – positive parenting program suggest simple routines and small changes that can make a difference to your family. It helps you understand the way your family works and uses the things you already say, think, feel and do in ways to create a stable supportive family, encouraging behaviours you like, build positive relations, plan ahead and avoid or manage potentially difficult situations, deal with teenagers emotional behaviour and take care of yourself as a parent.

Telephone 01452427362

Email: earlyhelp@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Or register on the website www.triplep-parenting.uk.net

Triple P - positive parenting program | Gloucestershire County Council

Early Years Service Offer Advice Line- A telephone line and email address for use by Early Years Providers, parents, practitioners in Health, Education, Social Care, Early Help and any other interested parties.

Email enquiries: EYSadviceline@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Phone enquiries: 01452 425959

Early Help request for support:

Glosfamilies Directory | Early Help Request for Support

Completed Request email: childrenshelpdesk@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Locality Telephone:

Cheltenham 01452 328160

Cotswolds 01452 328101

Forest of Dean 01452 328048

Gloucester 01452 328076

Stroud 01452 328130

Tewkesbury 01452 328250

The graduated pathway SEND – Please see Hempsted Playgroup and Toddlers Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Policy. You can also find information on:

https://www.glosfamiliesdirectory.org.uk

Special Educational Needs and Disability Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) Gloucestershire

SENDIASS Gloucestershire provides information, advice and support on matters relating to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Who to contact: Telephone 01452 389345

E-mail sendiass@carersgloucestershire.org.uk

www.sendiassglos.org.uk

Facebook – Sendiass Gloucestershire

The Disabled Children’s Team

The Disabled Children’s Team provides Specialist Early Help and Social Work support for disabled children, young people and their families. They have a range of support to meet assessed needs. Support is intended to enable disabled children to have the same range of opportunities as non-disabled children by supporting disabled children and young people to be fully participating and included in their families and communities, developing the skills and experiences needed to live as independently as possible.

Information link: Glosfamilies Directory | The Disabled Children's Team

Contact: Gloucestershire Children’s Social Care 01452 426565

Email: Childrenshelpdesk@gloucestershire.gov.uk

Advisory Teaching Service

Provide specialist support for children and young people with SEN, disabilities and additional needs.

Information Link: Advisory teaching service

Reviewed August 2025