What is the local school’s partnership?

Local Schools Partnerships (LSPs) in Hertfordshire play a vital role as collaborative,
family-focused, and needs-led organisations designed to improve outcomes for children and young people. They bridge the gap between schools and families, providing early intervention services to support students and families before difficulties escalate, particularly through School Family Workers. 

Key roles of local school partnerships in Hertfordshire include:

• Early Intervention and Family Support: LSPs offer confidential, one-to-one family support services on issues such as parenting strategies, managing behaviour, emotional difficulties, bereavement, and financial concerns.
• Removing Barriers to Learning: By supporting the whole family, the partnerships help children thrive at home and in school, removing obstacles to education.
• These partnerships often work closely with one of Hertfordshire’s nine DSPL areas, which are aimed at ensuring children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) receive support locally.
• Bridge Between Home and School: They facilitate communication between local schools and families, particularly to aid with school transitions, attendance, and engagement.
• Locality-Focused Support: Partnerships are tailored to specific geographical areas within Hertfordshire (e.g., Welwyn Garden City & Hatfield, Southwest Herts, North Herts), ensuring services meet local needs.
• Collaboration and Networking: They promote school-to-school cooperation to share expertise, training, and resources to boost educational standards. 

What does Southfield LSP offer?

Our School Family Workers support families in whichever way they need.  They have a wealth of knowledge regarding services available to support families and in addition SFWs can offer one to one support.

The School Family Worker team are employed by Southfield to support families from schools across 27 schools in Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and Hertsmere.

SFW’s support with a range of family challenges - No problem is too big or too small.

The help provided is dependent on need.  The service offers complete confidentiality (Safeguarding is the exception).

Our School Family Workers have a wealth of professional and personal knowledge to draw on to help families navigate the challenges posed by family life.

Support available for/with:

• Parenting strategies: e.g. managing challenging behaviour or sleep patterns /  SEND /  Transition /  Loss or bereavement /  Financial concerns /  Smoking, drugs and alcohol misuse /  Family breakdown /  Domestic abuse / Mental Health  / Emotional Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA) / Physical health

How does the LSP team support families?

One to one support / Home visits / Parent courses and workshops / Keyworker role for Early Help Module Family First Assessment / Student intervention group and one to one support – healthy relationships, protective behaviours, Step back in / Liaise with other professionals / Onward referrals to appropriate services / Support and advocate for families / Provision food bank vouchers / Support school staff teams / Twilight training staff training / School drop in / Coffee mornings / Attendance at parent consultation evenings

There is no time limit on the support offered to families – the team support and empower parents/carers until they feel able to navigate issues personally.