Family Support - Getting Help
Mrs Appleby is our Pastoral Manager. She will be at school on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Mrs Appleby works in partnership with parents/carers/guardians, along with a variety of other agencies and services, to ensure the wellbeing and the safeguarding of pupils at Gainsborough.
If you would like any help, support or advice from our School Pastoral Manager, contact the school directly via telephone or email or you could stop for a chat at the school gate where you will find Mrs Appleby in the morning (Mon, Wed, Thu and Fri).
Our Pastoral Manager can help with:
Attendance
Alongside the Attendance Team, Mrs Appleby works hard to make sure every Gainsborough child has good attendance and punctuality. We can support with a range of situations, for example, If you are struggling to get your child to school on time or your child is worried about something at school or they have time off school for medical reasons/illness.
Counselling Services and The Mental Health Team
Are you worried about your child’s emotional well-being? Most first step techniques are daily self-help – for example ensuring your child has a time slot to relax or do something they enjoy (e.g. walking, reading a book, listening to calm music, painting, knitting, gardening). A positive, nurturing environment at school and at home is also an essential step to positive and healthy well-being.
You could have a look on these websites for advice first…
If parents feels they need further support beyond self-help techniques and think that their child would benefit from speaking to a counsellor, we could make a referral to organisations such as CLASP, Dove, The Mental Health Team, Visyon, CaMHs.
Please speak to Mrs Appleby about your child’s emotional well-being if you have concerns.
Loss and Bereavement
Please let us know if there has been a loss in your family. As well as ensuring your child is given the appropriate level of care in school, we could make a referral for loss and bereavement counselling if they are struggling after a loss of a family member, close friend or pet.
Food Parcels/ Financial Aid
If you need some support towards food for your children, please contact Mrs Appleby who will be able to discuss some options. Perhaps you could give St. Paul’s Food Pantry a follow on Facebook, or CHANCE social supermarket. St. Paul’s Pantry, who are based in Crewe, can also fund school shoes to families who need them.
School Nurse
A referral can be made to the school nurse to support a range of health concerns including healthy eating, toileting, developmental concerns, puberty concerns and emotional well-being. Following a referral, a school nurse would normally make a phone call to parents to discuss their worries.
Parent Groups and Courses
123 Magic, Triple P parenting, Wishing Well, Heart to Heart with Family Ties are all local groups for parents to learn tips and tricks to help with children’s routines/behaviour/relationships at home. If you would like to discuss a parenting course, please contact Mrs Appleby.
Early Help (see leaflet below for more information)
Some families may benefit from having a support and advice from a group of professionals. Families may be directed to the Early Help Team for a number of reasons, including; support with behaviour, improving attendance, parent child relationships, domestic abuse or other low-level safeguarding worries. This level of support usually includes other professionals such as Family Service Workers, Health, SENDCo and/or Attendance Officers. Many of our families who have received this type of support have found it really helpful.
Safeguarding Concerns
All staff at Gainsborough are trained to identify any safeguarding concerns including neglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse. In most cases, the Pastoral Manager will contact parents if there are any safeguarding concerns or worries. Parents will usually be invited into school for a meeting with Mrs Appleby or Mrs Nurse to discuss the concern so that your children’s safety can be considered. If there is a significant safeguarding concern, this will be referred onto ChECS; parents can also call ChECS themselves if they have a concern about a child 0300 123 5012.
Social Care Involvement
If your child has been assigned a social worker, Mrs Appleby will attend any meetings that are held for your family and will be able to give an update report as to how they are getting on in school. They will also liaise with other professionals to coordinate any support needed in school.
Domestic Abuse
We are fortunate to have a number of services available in Crewe for supporting individuals and their families who have been affected by domestic abuse. If you are experiencing domestic abuse and are concerned about its impact on your child/children at Gainsborough, please book an appointment to speak to Mrs Appleby.