What is Early Help?

The Early Help Assessment is a way of working with children and young people. It involves listening to you and your child to find out your child’s needs, and what is working well in your child’s life. An action plan, agreed with you and your child, is also put in place to make sure your child gets the right sort of help. The Early Help Assessment is voluntary – you and your child can choose to be involved.

How can the Early Help process help?

The Early Help Assessment exists to help you support your child.

• It can lead to a quick solution or help to identify extra support if needed.
• The Early Help Assessment will ensure that everyone involved with your child – such as teachers and health visitors – works together to support your child.
• The Early Help Assessment will help your child receive the right support at an early stage before their needs increase which can be much more difficult to help you with.

As The Early Help Assessment is a shared assessment, you and your child will not have to repeat the same story to different workers

SEND in the Early Help Process

SEND support is embedded within the Early Help process. The Early Help Assessment will be essential for:

• SENCOs following the ‘Graduated Response’ outlined in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice (DfE 2015)
• recording evidence of high quality teaching and SEN support in schools and settings using the information and advice set out in Bands 1 and 2 of the Cumbria SEND Handbook

Please follow the links for more information: