Stoughton Infant and Nursery School
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Home School Link Worker
Our Home School Link Worker is Claire Marrow
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What can a Home School Link Worker Do?
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Support and encourage families and carers
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Enable parents and children to discuss concerns or worries in a safe and secure environment
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Help families and children to access services, resources and local community information
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Promote positive behaviour
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Improve attendance and punctuality
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Social interaction and friendship concerns
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Offer individual guidance and parenting support
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Support parents/carers to attend school meetings
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Improve communication between families and schools
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Provide a flexible approach to support families and carers.
During term time be available to work together with parents/carers, schools and any other agencies to support families, aiming to reduce current issues and prevent future difficulties.
What help can we provide?
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One to one support and advice
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Improve awareness of other agencies and support services
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Information on support groups for parents/carers
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A flexible and open minded approach
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Parenting courses and support with behaviour issues
Who can we help?
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Children who are withdrawn, anxious or angry and violent
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Looked after children
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Parents/carers whose children are not attending school or who struggle to get in on time
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Parents/carers and children who are reacting to change, such as parental separation or bereavement
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Parents/carers who may need support on a wide range of issues impacting on their family life e.g. illness, domestic violence, addictions, housing problems, benefits
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Should you or your child need any extra support, I will try to help you find the best way forward as soon as possible, by everyone working together and helping you to help your child
How it works:
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Should you have an emotional, social or educational concern regarding a child, a referral can be made via your school
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Careful thought will be given by the school as to whether an issue which has been raised should be referred to the HSLW
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The HSLW will contact you directly to arrange an initial meeting once parental/carer consent has been obtained. This could be at a suitable location of your choice
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The welfare of the child is my priority and I will work within a confidential framework.
For parents:
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To enhance the relationship between home and school
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To provide support for parents regarding children’s behavioural problems at home
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To provide support and signposting for parents who may experience difficulties at home
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To provide support for parents regarding attendance
For children:
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To provide 1:1 support for children who have problems with the expression of emotions e.g. anger
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To provide 1:1 support for children who have suffered bereavement
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To provide 1:1 support for children who experience difficulties at home
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To provide group support for children who struggle in social situations
For School Staff
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To nurture links between home and school
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To facilitate communication between home and school
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To facilitate communication between school staff and outside agencies
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To provide individual support for children who have emotional difficulties at school
In Partnership with outside Agencies
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To facilitate communication between school staff, parents and outside agencies
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To represent individual children when outside agencies are involved
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To refer to appropriate outside agencies when further support, advice or specialist knowledge is required
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To ensure individual children’s best interests are served through involvement with outside agencies
Every Child Matters
S Stay Safe
H Be Healthy
E Enjoy and Achieve
E Achieve Economic Well Being
P Make a Positive Contribution
Our aim is to ensure that all children enjoy school and are happy, safe and secure
What can I expect?
HSLW are able to offer a confidential service regarding personal issues. Someone to listen, who has time to talk and understands the ups and downs of family life. Someone who will offer guidance
Confidentiality
As a rule all information discussed during our meetings will be completely confidential. If necessary we would seek your permission to share the information with staff at the school or with other agencies. However, should a Child Protection issue be identified we are legally bound to follow Government Guidelines.
How do I contact the Home School Link Worker?
Parents/carers, schools and children can ask us to become involved. With your consent we will explore the difficulties your child is experiencing and try to identify the best way forward.
Cookery Classes run by our HSLW
This project began as it was something parents had requested they would like to do as many of them lived off fast food, microwave meals and takeaways and did not know how to cook.
These parents wanted to learn how to provide their children with cheap, nutritious meals and develop new skills and confidence themselves. The classes have been a resounding success with 6 parents/carers attending a half termly session. The classes run for just over an hour every Friday morning in term time for 6 to 7 weeks depending on the length of the half term and a crèche is provided for those with small children.
The parents then make a main dish and pudding during the class which they take home with them and have all the ingredients to repeat that dinner so they can recreate it at home. It quickly became apparent that most of these families did not have the means to cook at home because their kitchens lacked the equipment and store cupboard items that ours might have. So throughout the course we have been providing a huge range of equipment from blenders, mixers, scales to baking trays, cooling racks, utensils and also basic store cupboard items, herbs and spices, salt and pepper, flour, oil, baking items, sugar, sauces etc.
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Most of these families have not been brought up in an environment that has taught them how to cook and so this has been a hugely successful course where they have learnt a huge range of new skills, built their self-esteem and confidence and made friendships as well.
There have been so many positive comments and feedback from them. One parent had never held a carrot before let alone peeled and cooked with one. Another mum said “I feel like a proper mum now and my kids love all the dishes I am making and I have the confidence to cook now which I would never have tried”. For another mum who rarely came out of the house due to anxiety she said “it has boosted my self-confidence and as well as learning to cook I have also made some really good friends and feel so much better about myself”. Another mum said “I was scared to cook before as I didn’t know what I was doing and I was worried I would do something wrong and make my children poorly.”
Every person that has attended the class it has had a huge impact on and changed the way they live their day to day lives. Not only has it given them confidence, new skills and friendships but it is helping them save money and feel in control of what they give their children to eat which is a huge thing as many of these adults feel they have very little control over the way they live their lives.
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Christmas and Harvest Hampers
The school makes a collection of donated food items from parents and children twice a year and then our HSLW works with Emmanuel Church to make up and distribute to vulnerable families in our area.
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