Early support

Universal services in Harrow help families develop resilience to improve outcomes for children and young people. Harrow’s Early Help approach builds on this, offering universal and targeted consent-based support to families. This enables them to access evidence-based provision at any point in the their life. This includes prenatal stages up to and including the age of 25, for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Our approach responds to the needs of children and families collaboratively working with partner agencies to meet those needs.

The universal offer provides evidenced parenting strategies and the appropriate curriculum. This ensures the team is offering quality support, advice and guidance whilst identifying any needs as early as possible.

The parenting offer is made up of:

• Group based parenting & development opportunities (universal groups)
• Targeted groups – eg, TALK Focus & Special Play times
• 1:1 advice appointments
• 4 to 6-week blocks of 1:1 parenting including direct role modelling of strategies
• Workshops on key development & parenting topics eg, Behaviour - Alternatives to physical chastisement, sleep, routines, feeding & oral health
• Lunch time workshops for working parents
• Bespoke 4-week blocks of parenting support (tailored to key topics related to the cohort of families attending)
• Full parenting course, e.g. Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities & Triple P

Targeted work

RPC: Reducing parental conflict: Fathers/male carers group and one plus one online learning

Co-parenting advice and guidance: For families where there is no conflict but they'd like support on co-parenting more effectively, including the whole family. Group work as well as 1:1 support is available.

Domestic abuse community group: For mothers and their children who need DA recovery and emotional support. This is offered as a 12-week face to face programme.

Healing together; Trauma informed: Providing a trauma informed programme to support children with angry feelings. The service is delivered though 1:1 and small group work to in-house and within link schools for ages 6-10 years and 11+. The work focusses on anxiety providing space for young people to regulate their feelings in a calm environment.

Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities (SFSC):  A 13-week programme for parents who have children aged 5-11. The service looks at cultural influencers, alternate methods of managing behaviour, offering parenting tools to support the parenting journey

Talk Focus: Support for families with a child with speech, language and communication challenges from 18 months to 4 years. This service is not in an education setting.

Let’s Play Together: A structured play group for 4 weeks. The service is for children aged 0-4 in need of a more intensive support. It focusses on playing together, reading time together, managing routines and behaviour

Triple P:  Building parents skills to help them raise confident, healthy, happy children and teenagers. The work encourages stronger family relationships, and create protective safe environments.

Special Play Times: An evidence-based parenting session for those: being diagnosed, just diagnosed, or with concerns of emerging SEND. The team offers advice and strategies to help parenting a child with challenging behaviours, advice around home learning and environments

Parents As First Teachers (PAFT): Qualified PAFT practitioners provide evidenced based activities focussing on the neuroscience behind your babies' development. The team has a clear focus on you as parents being your child’s first and most influential teacher. The service encourages:

• exploration of your attachment
• the babies' development
• fun ideas around how to support your baby to learn and grow.

The group has a different focus each week and explores a range of great home learning ideas. It is also an opportunity to meet and make friends with other families.

Fathers Group: Focussed on engaging working dads in the universal offer. We provide evidenced based parenting strategies and developmental advice. There is also an opportunity for fathers to build a network within the community.

Weaning Workshop & Parties (including specialist): To support families’ who are introducing healthy solid foods alongside breast or bottle feeding.

Our licensed external programmes

• One Plus One: Strengthening positive relationships training course.
• Own my life:  12-week online or in-person course to help women who have suffered abuse, to regain ownership of their lives.
• Brilliant Parents: A range of workshops for families on key parenting topics, such as building teenager survival skills.
• Learn Harrow: Providing a range of baby massage, first aid and ante-natal courses.
• Hope Harrow: Helping families live and learn together
• CAAS: Providing evidenced-based parenting support to those on the journey to or with a diagnosis of ADHD or ASD

Key Partnerships for parenting support

• Special Needs Community: Peer support, advice & advocacy for parents of children on the journey to or with a diagnosis of SEND.
• Harrow Parent Carer Forum: Harrow Parent Carer Forum, is made up of a group of parents of disabled children. We represent the voices of families of SEN/disabled children from birth to 25 years living in the London Borough of Harrow.

Evidence based universal offer

Parents As First Teachers (PAFT), Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS): Health advice is signed off via Public health team. The workshops are provided face to face or virtual, in groups or 1:1.

Birth to 4, and 5 to 10 years out of term time: Designed to meet the emerging needs of local communities. We use business intelligence, parents feedback, use of the EYFS / KS Curriculum, and evidence-based parenting programmes PAFT & SFSC

Youth offer 9-19 (up to 25 SEND offer)

Homestart weekly stay and play where referrals to their organisation takes place

Perinatal Mental health support: The service is for those who require support with their mental health, including referrals, baby massage and 1:1 appointments. It is for parents who are pregnant and up to the 1st year after the birth. 

Support for parents with breastfeeding and formal feeding. Feeding support is facilitated by feeding lead and trained parent volunteers.