Welcome to the latest edition of the Early Help Newsletter. In this edition you can find information on how to book onto a Child neglect summit taking place next month, our early help Meet and Chat SEND events, as well as the Early help coffee and chat events happening across Shropshire, and the summer term Understanding your child/teen groups. There’s also a very powerful video from Women’s Aid called The Monster who came to tea – highlighting the impact of domestic abuse on children.

If you have information on your service area you would like to share in the next early help newsletter, please email Kate.Bentham@shropshire.gov.uk  or if you know of a colleague who would also like to receive this newsletter they can also email Kate to be added to the distribution list.  

‘By treating our children and young people with respect, love and trust and with the right amount of encouragement we can inspire them to dream big, build relationships and connections that matter and together with kindness and a sense of belonging we can do great things.’

Shropshire Council’s Children and Young People’s vision statement

Call to Action – Spotlight on Childhood Neglect:  Neglect changes childhoods. Any child can suffer neglect, but some children and young people are more at risk than others, and the effects can be long-term.

Shropshire Safeguarding Community Partnership are hosting a Neglect Summit and inviting professionals and stakeholders from partnerships, services and settings across the county to attend.

This is an open invitation for all professionals to book on to the Neglect Summit using this link Booking link - Childhood Neglect Summit - 9th April 9.00-13.30 Ellesmere College

Parenthood can be extremely rewarding and enjoyable. It can also be demanding, frustrating and exhausting. In Shropshire the Parenting Team offer workshops and groups for parents which provide easy to implement, proven parenting solutions.

There are also two SEND groups are for parents/carers of children who might have special educational needs and disabilities, no formal diagnosis is needed to attend the groups.

The groups encourage parents and carers to identify the most important issues in their relationship with their child and to reflect on why things sometimes go well and sometimes do not. It is about looking at what you are already doing well and building on that to make it even better. It is then easier for you as a parent to identify how to work together with your child.

You will explore issues like:

• Having Fun Together
• Behaviour Difficulties
• Sleep
• Communication
• Development Needs
• Parenting Styles

The group aims to:

• Promote understanding of children’s behaviour within the context of how a child develops
• Promote the development of parent/child relationship
• Increase confidence and self-esteem in both parents and children
• Give parents a strategy for repair when things go wrong
• Promote reflective, sensitive and effective parenting.

Groups are aimed at parents of children and young people and are free to attend. 

To find out the dates and times, please visit the Shropshire Family Information Directory

To book a place please contact the Parenting Team on 01743 250950 or email Parenting.team@shropshire.gov.uk

This 5 week workshop aims to support parents and carers to make positive changes to their child’s sleep patterns. Life can be difficult when children have sleep issues. Our aim is to support families to get a better night’s sleep by using a behavioural approach to sleep and work in partnership with families, as we know that they are the expert on their children.

Workshops provide parents and carers with the opportunity to meet other families in similar situations and to gain tips on how to support a better night’s sleep for them and their child.

Quotes from parents who have been on the course

"Absolutely fabulous workshop. Should be offered to first time parents when their babies are old enough for the skills learned to be applied. I have a disabled daughter and naively thought that the workshop wouldn't apply to her needs, well I was wrong, I believe it applies to most children and every parent can take massive positives away from this workshop! Awesome!"

"I have learnt a lot! I was interested to learn about the science behind sleep, melatonin production, sleepy foods. It has been good to know that I'm not alone and to learn things from some of the other Mum's who were on the course. It was helpful to hear their suggestions!"

June Group - Monday 16th June 2025 from 9.15am to 11.15am.

SEND workshops - June Group - Monday 9th June 2025 from 12.45pm to 2.45pm.

Workshop runs for 5 weeks from the start date excluding the School Holidays

To find out more or to book a place please contact the Parenting Team on 01743 250950

Or email Parenting.team@shropshire.gov.uk

It’s fair to say that all parents from time to time need some help and support with issues that impact on family life. There is help and support available in Shropshire through our Early Help coffee and chat drop ins – some of which are also stay and play sessions.

You can get free Information, advice and support on all aspects of family life, at our Family Drop-Ins.  You can chat, have a cuppa and see how we can help you with:

• Family life
• Parenting support
• Domestic abuse support
• Money worries
• Housing support
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
• and much more

To find your local drop in please visit the Family Information Directory

Worried about your relationship or feel you’re arguing too much? Not all arguing between parents is harmful but when it’s intense or happens a lot of the time, there can be a negative impact on the children.

If your relationship is going through a difficult phase, you can find ways to argue ‘better’, resolve disputes and reduce conflict at home with our range of free courses, resources and apps. Getting on better | Shropshire Council

Following a robust procurement process for the provision of universal autism support, Shropshire Council welcomes national charity Kids to the county, to support Shropshire families with autistic children, at any stage of diagnosis. 

Shropshire Council is committed to providing a service which enhances the wellbeing, resilience, and confidence of parent-carers through accessible, strengths-based assessments, practical support plans, and strong community networks.

This includes early engagement with families on waiting lists, preventative interventions for children & young people and tailored support for parents and families that meets the varied needs of children and young people. 

Kids will be supporting children & young people up the age of 19, signalling an increase in age range for accessing the service, to support the transition from children’s to adults’ services through the council’s adults’ autism hub. 

Kids will be offering the following support to families om Shropshire:

• The ‘Healthy Parent Carer’ programme, designed to reinforce parent carers’ resilience
• Riding the Rapids programme to support parent carers’ understanding of behaviour and implement support strategies
• Coffee mornings and drop-in sessions
• One-to-one support
• Child/young person Understanding me group sessions.

Bespoke workshops that cover:

• ASD Vs ADHD (3 hours)
• Neurodiversity (Specifically Autism, ADHD and Demand Avoidance)
• Girls and the Autistic Spectrum
• Demand Avoidance
• Sleep
• EBSA

Please have a look at their web site for further details and how to refer into the service:

https://www.kids.org.uk/services/shropshire-universal-autism-support-service/

If you are supporting any parents claiming the Working Parent Entitlement childcare funding for children aged 9 months to 4 years or Tax-Free Childcare they need to log into their childcare account and reconfirm their details to still receive the funding.

It's crucial parents do this every 3 month to be able to still claim their 15 or 30 hours funded childcare.

Parents signing up to receive funded childcare in April must have applied for their Childcare Choices code before the 31st March 2025. Please note that late codes can no longer be accepted

Full details about the support available please visit Homepage | Childcare Choices

Women’s Aid has unveiled a bedtime story with a sobering twist. ‘The Monster Who Came to Tea’ begins as a seemingly light-hearted and whimsical tale but soon takes a darker turn, shedding light on the harsh reality of domestic abuse faced by women and children. 

The animated film raises awareness around the impact of domestic abuse on women and children.

Please watch this 2 minute film: The monster who came to tea  

See also on NSPCC Learning  Protecting children from domestic abuse

Shropshire Safeguarding and Community Partnership (SSCP) invite you to a 90 minute interactive webinar that is free to attend

 SSCP will be sharing the learning from case reviews in Shropshire where there has been significant harm or death. The focus will be hearing the voice of the person. The aim is to identify and share good practice when the adult or child's voice has been heard, and what we can do differently when we haven’t heard their voices.

Webinar dates/times

• 08 Apr 2025    10:00-11:30   Online - webinar
• 18 Jun 2025    10:00-11:30    Online - webinar

CLICK HERE to book for Safeguarding: Learning from Case Reviews webinar information and booking

There’s a new monthly sexual health drop in for people over the age of 13 starting in Ludlow.

The clinic will be held at Ludlow Youth Centre. The next clinic is Wednesday 26^th March. No bookings needed, just drop in.

Shropshire has a new EHE Policy which is now live in preparation for the new Childrens Bill. Elective Home Education (EHE) is a key area of focus for colleagues, including across safeguarding, education, early help, health and social care.

This 45 minute briefing session provides an opportunity to build on existing professional expertise and curiosity in this field, including time for questions.

Webinar will be delivered by Head of the Virtual School and Access to Education, with the Lead Education Officer for the Inclusion team which supports families with elective home education.

Please book on to a 45 minute interactive webinar on 23^rd April from 15:30 to 16:45

Booking for New Elective Home Education (EHE) Policy 45 minute Webinar 23rd April 2025

The Parenting Help and Support Line are here for parents with a friendly listening ear and practical advice on everything from behaviours that challenge to sleep issues. No judgment, just support.

Call 01743 250950 Monday - Thursday, 9.30am - 4.30pm or Friday, 9.30am - 3.30pm or email: parenting.team@shropshire.gov.uk

Information on the open access clinics run throughout Shropshire by Health Visitors has been updated. You can find out where they are and when they run by clicking on the Shropshire Family Information Directory.

They offer parents the chance to get their baby weighed but also to access information, advice and support on a range of topics, including:

• Infant feeding and breastfeeding advice
• Child development
• Emotional health and wellbeing
• Parenting and local support groups
• Behaviour
• Sleep

Please promote these great clinics to parents who may benefit from attending. Parents who would like support but are unable to get to a session, can also get help by calling 0333 358 3654 or texting the team on 07520 635212.

Hill Stories is a FREE outdoor digital media and arts project for young people, working with award-winning filmmakers, local artists and experts, and South Shropshire Youth Forum.

It is for young people age 11-18, interested in exploring local places, wildlife and heritage. And experimenting creatively with images, words and sound. Join to develop your skills and capture and broadcast your ideas and experiences.

The project is running from Tuesday 22 - Thursday 24 April 2025, 10.30am-3.30pm and will be based in the Long Mynd area. Young people need to be able to attend all three days. Booking is essential. Book your place here.

Please email workshops@pieceofstringmedia.co.uk  for further info.

We are delighted to announce that bookings for the Spring/Easter Shropshire HAF Programme are now open.

During 14^th to 25^th April 2025, HAF eligible children and young people are invited to take part in a range of fun free activities, happening at holiday clubs from across the county.

There is something on offer for everyone including sports, arts, cooking, forest schools and other exciting opportunities. Free nutritious meals will be provided at each session, as well as information to benefit the whole family.

There are free places available on the HAF programme for:

• Children and young people aged 4 (reception class age) to 16, who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals. These children and young people will receive a HAF code to use when booking onto a club direct from their school.
• There are also a limited number of free places available for children and young people living in areas of high deprivation (top two tiers of deprivation, based on indices of deprivation/income) and/or from low-income households, who are not in receipt of benefits related free school meals. These children and young people can be referred onto the programme by a professional by completing a referral form.
• Places are also available for Ukrainian families, currently staying in Shropshire with host families.

Holiday clubs with places available for children and young people with SEND have been highlighted in the What’s On Guide. These places are at holiday clubs offering mainstream activities with a range of children and young people.

Before booking onto any activity, please contact the provider to discuss the child/s needs.  

For more information including The Spring What’s On Guide, online holiday club listing and how to make a referral, please visit Shropshire HAF or email HAF.programme@shropshire.gov.uk

All bookings are made directly with the organisations running the holiday clubs, using a spring HAF 2025 code.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has published a report looking at key issues facing boys and young men in the UK and the divergence in boys’ and girls’ outcomes and attitudes.

The report explores issues around: employment; education; families and fathers; crime; and technology, including online pornography. 

Read the report: Lost boys 

NSPCC Learning has published a Why language matters blog and a Learning from case reviews briefing on the use of the term ‘disguised compliance’ and the implications for practice.

The blog explores why the term can be misleading, unhelpful and blaming. It highlights how professionals should more clearly describe caregiver behaviour, build relationships with families and assess caregiver capacity to change.  

The Learning from case reviews briefing is based on a sample of reviews published between 2022 and 2023 where ‘disguised compliance’ was mentioned as a factor. It highlights that: ‘disguised compliance’ is used by professionals to describe a range of caregiver behaviours; concerns about caregiver engagement can divert attention away from the child’s wellbeing; and professionals should work together to better understand a family’s situation.

Read the blog: Why language matters: how using the term ‘disguised compliance’ can be problematic‘ Read the briefing: 'Disguised compliance’: learning from case reviews

Internet Matters has published findings from its fourth digital wellbeing survey, an annual study looking at how children are affected by their experiences online.

The survey of over 1,000 families looked at the positive and negative impact of digital technology on physical, emotional, social and developmental wellbeing.

Key findings include an increasingly polarised online landscape in which the Internet is becoming more essential but also more distressing for children, although the positive impacts continue to outweigh the negatives.

While the majority of children reported feeling safe online (77%), this is lower than the previous year (81%) with vulnerable children less likely to feel safe than their peers.

Read the news story: Children experiencing harm online in the UK remains ‘stubbornly high’   Read the report: Children’s wellbeing in a digital world 2025  

Internet Matters has published a blog post looking at tech-facilitated abuse in teenage relationships. This includes the use of digital tools to harass, monitor, threaten or control someone.

The blog sets out signs of this type of abuse and explores how it can impact teenagers. It also contains tips to share with parents and carers around protecting and supporting young people in relation to online abuse and harassment.

Read the blog: What tech-facilitated abuse looks like in teenage relationships  

See also on NSPCC Learning  > Protecting children from domestic abuse

The Department for Education (DfE) has published a new report as part of its serious violence research programme looking at how systems of support impact young people.

The latest report focuses on the role of key workers in supporting children and young people affected by serious youth violence. It is based on a review of existing evidence and interviews with key workers, managers, and children and young people.

Key findings include: a trusted relationship between young people and their key worker is the cornerstone to effective delivery of the key worker model; and successful key workers sit within and act as a bridge between young people and systems of support, including education, youth justice, health, community, third sector and social care.  

Read the report: The role of key workers in supporting children and young people with experience of serious youth violence 

For Baby’s Sake has published new data on children’s social care referrals and domestic abuse in England, looking specifically at babies and young children aged 0 to 2-years-old.

The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to break cycles of domestic abuse, to protect babies from harm and reduce the financial burden on public services.

Read the press release: New data reveals almost 50,000 babies are referred to children’s social care each year with domestic abuse as a factor  

Read the Channel 4 news story: Exclusive: Nearly 50,000 babies referred to social services every year due to domestic abuse  

See also on NSPCC Learning  > Protecting children from domestic abuse

We’ve received some fantastic feedback for the Shropshire Council Early Help team

Reflections from a School

Last week Tim Davies from St. Martins School took the time to contact Andy Haller in our Youth Team to reflect on the Below the Belt work Andy and his colleagues have delivered in the school, after watching Steven Grahams new drama ‘Adolescence’. If you haven’t seen it, as Tim says, it’s a very powerful drama and is currently on Netflix.

Hi Andy,

Hope this note finds you fit and well.

Just a quick note to see if you have watched Steven Grahams new drama “Adolescence”. Very powerful and whilst terribly sad it is a reflection on today’s “man trap” to some extent or another.

It so perfectly depicts what you are trying to help schools and society cope within today’s modern malaise.

A super powerful drama which I am sure you would agree.

I think your work is even more vital now as I am seeing on a daily basis the change in perspectives within school.

Just thought I would drop you a note in any event just in case you haven’t managed to see or hear about the drama yet.

As always you do a brilliant and pointed course of what we as a society really need to heed and adhere to.

Be safe Andy.

Regards

Tim Davies: St Martins school

Feedback from a Mother for Jodie Barrett, Family Support Worker in the North.

Early help support from Jodie has been amazing. From first meeting her she was easy to talk to and a friendly face. I felt like I was talking to a friend and was at total ease.

She has supported me and the girls for a short time but in that time has been supportive and communicated with me regularly which has been reassuring along the way. The girls have always enjoyed meeting and seeing her too! We will miss out appointments and chats together. Thank you for all your help

Feedback for Donna Jones, Family Support Worker in the north

It has been really lovely knowing I have Donna for support and I will come in to the hub to see her for support in the future. She always reminds me of the good things that have happened and told me what a good job I am doing.

Compliment for Ann Moore – EHAST Domestic Abuse Engagement Lead

“Ann went above and beyond to ensure one of our families in EHAST, we were supporting, received a little stars parcel, after the FSW fell ill, Ann collected the parcel and dropped it off to the family the same day to prevent delay. Thank you Ann”

Compliment for Nicky Harvey, Family Support Worker in the South

It has helped with reassurance which has given me the confidence to proceed to my original plans of home education.

Nicky you have supported me with being honest and not judging me, you have helped me in meetings and the support with meetings really helped me.

I know you would give me honest opinions and not just agree with me!

I wouldn't want to work with anyone else - well I wouldn't anyway if I came back in, I would ask for Nicky!