Sam gets school-ready with support from family hubs

“From start to finish you supported us you were great with Sam as well. I feel like we are where we are now with schools and families and stuff because of you.” – Sam’s mum

Mum of 18-month-old Sam*, self-referred into her local family hub because she was concerned about Sam’s potential developmental delays and autism.

An early years practitioner agreed that support could be helpful and arranged six Let’s Play sessions, which offer parents low-cost and no-cost play and learning ideas to support their child’s development. She also made a referral for additional support from the schools and family specialist service, supported the parents to access childcare funding and helped them make an application for disability living allowance (DLA).

The practitioner provided guidance about the importance of using simple, slow, clear speech to support Sam’s language development and provided materials about signing and symbols (Makaton) to help with other forms of communication. 

All this support helped Sam’s parents to gain confidence to better support his development and build strategies and activities to use at home. Mum also felt more confident about asking for help when she needed it.

Through the family hub, a variety of multi-agency teams were able to support Sam’s needs and help his transition through to school age and beyond. Sam was given the opportunity to explore new social environments and now attends a Nottinghamshire special school.

Reflecting on the support the family received, Sam’s mum said:

“How amazing you were with him and us as a family. From start to finish you supported us and everything we were saying, and you were great with Sam as well. Even checked in after we finished with you, and I feel like we are where we are now with schools and families and stuff because of you. You really are amazing and fantastic at your job, keep doing you and thank you so much for everything. You will never know how grateful we are.”

*names have been changed