What Jigsaw Family Support Do
Our Vision
Our vision is for every child to feel happy and secure within their own selves, realise their own potential, feel confident in their ability to succeed and build their own brighter future.
Role and Responsibilities
Our role is to support children, young people and their families to re-engage with Education. Each child or young person referred to our services has encountered their own individual issues or concerns with their educational provision. They often find themselves in situations where they are struggling to engage with education or have become dis-engaged - with education providers and parents/carers feeling 'stuck' with how to break through such barriers. We provide bespoke, individualised support packages; building trusting relationships and placing the child or young person at the centre of our approach.
Some children or young people we work with may have experienced a breakdown in relationships with both professionals and parents/ carers and so we take small, consistent steps to establish and maintain trusting relationships.
Jigsaw Family Support removes some of the pressure felt by parents/ carers when their child or young person is not attending education. We equally invest as much time in building positive and trusting relationships with parents/ carers and significant family members and can often act as the communication conduit to other key agencies and involved professionals on their behalf.
90% of the Children and Young People we support have been excluded from school or are struggling to attend due to a breakdown in the mainstream school system. ,This could be due to a range of issues such as bullying, anxiety, masking and children and young people who struggle to communicate such issues with those who are best placed to alleviate their concerns. We work with all young people who are experiencing difficulties with engaging in their educational provision and support them to have a voice, advocating for possible reasonable adjustments to support their re-engagement with education.
We work with children, young people and families both short term and longer term, those who are at risk of disengagement and those who have been out of education for a long period of time. Whilst we recognise that early intervention is a key component for resetting a declining educational path back on to a more positive trajectory, sadly for some the situation has escalated by the time our services are commissioned. Jigsaw Family Support works with all children and young people who need it - implementing a bespoke approach depending on the individual level of need.
We can provide tutoring services for children and young people who may be ready to re-engage with a small step back in to education, as well as providing vocational, hands on learning accredited via ASDAN.
What to expect from us
Initial contact is made with parents/ carers to discuss the current situation, identify needs and to introduce the Jigsaw Family Support worker who will be working with you.
A home visit will follow - with parent/carers only - in order to spend some time getting to know each other prior to meeting the child or young person. It is important to us at Jigsaw Family Support that parents/ carers feel happy and confident with their assigned worker, prior to any introductions with the child or young person. At this stage, the Family Support Worker invests time in getting to know parents/ carers - family routines, set up, what works and doesn't work, history of the child or young person's educational career to date as well as the parent/carer's views on the current difficulties and needs. Whilst this sounds like quite an assessment, please be reassured that it isn't.......We invest time in you as parents/ carers as well as the child or young person referred to us!
When the parent/ carer feels happy, the Family Support Worker will meet with the child or young person (with them present), where an introduction to both Jigsaw Family Support and the work that we do is explored.
From hereon in, we take the next steps at the child or young person's pace - focussing on building a relationship both within the home or out in the community. Again, small steps, using the child or young person's interests and hobbies. As the relationship develops, activities can take place away from the home - building the child or young person' confidence and resilience. A routine is established and consistency is key, with the number of visits and the focus towards educational re-engagement considered at the child or young person's pace.
Throughout our journey together, we work towards the intended outcomes, identified by the commissioners and agreed with the parents/carers as well as the child or young person. We communicate regularly with all involved professionals and agencies, providing updates and attending meetings where required.
This is the part where we would love to write a definitive outcome for you - to give you the end result..... however we are unable to do so! This is because each pathway is individual to each child, young person and their families. What we can tell you with certainty is that we have a 100% success rate in achieving positive outcomes for children and young people to re-engage with education. Along the way, outcomes may have changed, ie the educational provision changes in accordance with the child or young person's needs, however we work hard to achieve the outcomes - working with passion, grit and determination to ensure that each child or young person re-engages - and begins to build their brighter future.
