Early Help
Level One – Safeguarding for all
This support is available for all children in the academy
Level Two – Early Help
This support is accessed via our internal referral system
Level Three – External Support and Children’s Services
This support is accessed via a referral to external agencies
Solihull Local Safeguarding Partnership
Solihull Local Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) has information to help support parents, carers and other adults in safeguarding children and young people. The link below will take you to the parents and carers section of their website https://solihulllscp.co.uk/parents-carers.php
They also have sections to offer support on a variety of issues:
Domestic abuse: https://solihulllscp.co.uk/parents-carers/domestic-abuse-58.php
Child Criminal exploitation: https://solihulllscp.co.uk/parents-carers/child-sexual-exploitation-information-for-parents-carers-and-other-adults-67.php
E-safety: https://solihulllscp.co.uk/parents-carers/e-safety-and-bullying-60.php
Useful links for other concerns: https://solihulllscp.co.uk/parents-carers/help-support-64.php
Further links and publications: https://solihulllscp.co.uk/parents-carers/publications-and-useful-links-65.php
SOLAR
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Barnardo’s and Autism West Midlands work together to provide emotional wellbeing and mental health services for children and young people in Solihull. They provide multi-disciplinary assessment and treatment of children and young people with mental health or severe emotional and behavioural difficulties. The service currently accepts children and young people, until their 19th birthday, or have a Solihull GP.
SOLAR now accepts self-referrals from young people and parents/carers. Please click on the link below for more information:
https://www.bsmhft.nhs.uk/our-services/solar-youth-services/
Early help family support
The Early Help service provides integrated support to children, young people and their families. The service is there to offer practical advice, support and direct case work to prevent issues escalating and requiring statutory intervention. If you require this help you can call their duty line on 0121 709 7103 during working hours.
Please click on the link below to access their website for more information:
ESCOS (Education Service for Children out of School)
The ESCOS team support young people who are unable to access mainstream education due to medical illness. A medical professional is required to make a recommendation then the student’s SASM will make a subsequent referral for the service. Parents/carers will work with the Academy to support students in their transition to ESCOS and regular communication will be maintained throughout.
SIAS – Solihull Integrated Addiction Services
SIAS is a partnership of organisations that work closely together to offer easy access to appropriate support and treatment for individuals whose drug or alcohol use, or gambling has become problematic. They also offer support to their families and friends.
Please click on the link below to access their site: https://www.sias-solihull.org.uk/
Mentors
Our Achievement Support Team have a combination of various unique skills to offer, from SEMH to complex communication needs groups. The staff show great commitment in helping those often vulnerable students achieve and grow in character.
SEN Support
Our objective is to support and equip students with additional needs to fulfil their academic and personal potential, ensuring they are given equal opportunities, enabling and encouraging them to feel valued members of the Academy Community.
We encourage parents of ASD children to seek help through the following websites; https://www.autismlinks.co.uk/ https://www.aspie.org.uk/
Any parents that have children that may be suffering with their mental health are advised to gain advice from the following website; https://youngminds.org.uk/
Resilience Coach
We currently employ Christopher Spriggs, a resilience coach, one day a week.
Please click on the link below to access Christopher’s website. https://headsupnow.uk/
Referrals to Christopher are made through College Leaders, BSMs and SASMs
Counsellors
We currently employ 2 counsellors part time.
Pete English: please click on the link below to access Pete’s website. https://www.peteenglishcounsellor.com/
Caroline Dyson: please click on the link below to access Caroline’s website. http://managingminds.co.uk/
Referrals to Pete and Caroline are made through College Leaders and SASMs.
Be Confident
Be Confident is a course for young people who are in years 6 – 11 designed by Solihull Children’s Services. The delivery includes fun games which have been creatively designed to capture the young people’s interests and embed key messages.
Miss Fountain and Ms Perkins are qualified to deliver the Be Confident course, referrals are made by College Leaders and SASMs.
Thrive
Thrive helps us to check children’s readiness to learn, to identify any gaps and then plan to meet them. Through doing so, we will be able to make sure that all of our pupils have what they need to make the best possible progress in their learning
What does it take to develop healthy, happy, confident children who are ready and open to learning? Recent advances in neuroscience, attachment theory and child development have provided some of the answers to this question.
The Thrive Approach draws on insights from these fields to provide a powerful way of working with children and young people that supports optimal social and emotional development. In addition, the Approach can equip you to work in a targeted way with children and young people who may have struggled with difficult life events to help them re-engage with life and learning. Ms Hardy is our qualified Thrive practitioner.
CIC support
Each college has a designated College Intervention Co-ordinator (CIC). Part of the CIC’s role is to support students in a variety of ways through their educational journey and to provide pastoral care.
The CICs are:
- Brunel College – Mrs Sexton
- Edison College – Miss Hardy
- Da Vinci College – Mrs Payley
- Newton College – Miss Vanson
- Darwin College – Miss Maddocks
- Morse College – TBA
The CICs can be contacted via the school switchboard on 0121 705 5100 or the office email: office@solihull.tgacademy.org.uk
Tutor Support
All of our students are assigned a tutor when they arrive at the Academy. The form tutor is an essential link between school and home, and often the first port of call if a student or parent/carer has a query or concern. Tutors will support students with homework, uniform, equipment and organisation, as well as providing emotional support if they feel worried or overwhelmed.
Form tutors can be contacted via College Admin: 0121 705 5100 or via the school office: office@solihull.tgacademy.org.uk
CIC support
Each college has a designated College Intervention Co-ordinator (CIC). Part of the CIC’s role is to support students in a variety of ways through their educational journey and to provide pastoral care.
The CICs are:
- Brunel College – Mrs Sexton
- Edison College – Miss Hardy
- Da Vinci College – Mrs Payley
- Newton College – Miss Vanson
- Darwin College – Miss Maddocks
- Morse College – TBA
The CICs can be contacted via the school switchboard on 0121 705 5100 or the office email: office@solihull.tgacademy.org.uk
Kooth
Kooth is a free online service that offers emotional and mental health support for children and young people. When you sign up you can choose an avatar, which helps to keep you safe and anonymous. You can have a “drop-in” chat with a counsellor or therapist or book a one-to-one session.
Kooth’s counsellors and therapists are available until 10pm, 365 days a year. You can talk to other young people anonymously on the forums whenever you like, and keep an online journal. Subscribing to Kooth means you can read its online magazine and maybe even write for it. You can also use Kooth to set goals with your online counsellor or therapist and keep a record of how you are doing. Evidence suggests that Kooth can help children and young people with a range of emotional and psychological problems.
Kooth is suitable for children and young people aged 11 to 19 (25 in some areas). It can help with lots of different problems, including family problems, eating disorders, loneliness, bullying, anxiety and depression. If you’d like to sign up with Kooth go to www.kooth.com and enter a user name and password.
School Nurse
Solihull school nurses also have a Twitter page which includes information for both parents/carers and children and young people: @SolSchNurses
RSHE Programme
We have created a new curriculum for RSHE following guidance from the DfE. RSHE will focus on three core themes:
- Health and wellbeing
- Relationships
- Living in the wider world
We want our students to be happy, healthy and well-rounded and the changes to RSHE will support them on this journey.
Free online parenting courses
Parenting advice during COVID-19
UNICEF tips:
Please click the link below for tips on parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic:
https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/covid-19-parenting-tips
Public Health England advice:
Please click on the link below to access the advice: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak
A family of academies within the Midlands with a shared ethos, common values and collective goals. Our Academies have a simple priority, to deliver outstanding teaching and learning for all.