Introduction
As part of the Education for Life Strategy and Connect Somerset, we are refreshing the Team Around the School model.
We would like to include contact details for each member of the team around the school – including headteachers, DSLs, SENCOs, Mental Health Leads and PFSAs. Please use the Microsoft form to complete contact details, and most importantly phone numbers.
Information will be held securely on Transform.
Schools are critically important to pupils, their families and local communities. We are refreshing the Team Around the School model to improve access to support from partners, and how this help is wrapped around families when they need it.
About Team Around the School
A Team Around the School is about the named professionals that connect to the school and each other, making it easy to pick up the phone and have a discussion about a family or get some coaching and support.
Because we’re working more closely together, the needs of pupils and families are addressed more quickly to improve the stability of the family home, leading to improved attendance and attainment. And if we can be more efficient, then the overall pressure we feel across all our services should reduce in time.
We will use Transform – a joined up data system – to securely store and access professionals’ contact details for the Team Around the School – with some clever tech to enable quick and easy communication.
Transform will continue to be used to identify support that pupils and their families are receiving from other agencies – most schools now have access to Transform and introductory sessions are available. If you don’t have access, please contact Transform@somerset.gov.uk to book an induction session.
The team for each school will be different and might include the Family Intervention Service Manager, Inclusion Manager, Relationship Manager, Mental Health Support Team, other partners, and local voluntary and community groups.
New ways of doing things
We are moving away from meetings as the ‘driver’ for the Team Around the School, and shifting to relational practice with named professionals – because we think this will be more responsive for pupils and schools.
Connect Somerset Area Champions will help to make sure the team is working effectively and help schools to connect to local community resources. In time, we want more schools to be anchors in their community as well as connecting to the resources that can help them.
As a teacher or support staff member, if you have a pupil you are worried about, we want you to be able to pick up the phone and access advice and support quickly from someone you know in the team.
We would like to include contact details for PFSAs. Please use the Microsoft form to complete contact details for your school, and most importantly phone numbers. Information will be held securely on Transform.