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This website is only one part of the Local Offer; we also have a directory which you can visit at 1space.eastsussex.gov.uk/localoffer

Early Help Service 0-19 (including Family Hubs and Health Visiting)

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Early Help Service 0–19

The Early Help Service 0–19 can help support your family from pregnancy until your child is 19.

The service consists of East Sussex County Council and NHS professionals. They can offer a wide range of support at your home, from a Family Hub or a Youth Hub.

They can offer help and support through:

The Early Help Service 0-19 helps to identify and support early years Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Please note, accessing keywork support depends on your child's level of need. Please contact the Early Help Service 0-19 to find out more. The main East Sussex County Council provides more information on this service:

Health Visiting

The Health Visiting Team provide all families with five developmental reviews. This starts from pregnancy to when your child is 2 ½ years old, as well as extra support when needed. This is called the Healthy Child Programme. The health visiting team includes health visitors, staff nurses and community nursery nurses. 

They will talk with you about:

They can provide direct support to you. They can also access a wide range of services from the rest of the Early Help Team.

Health visitors are often the first professionals involved in the assessment and support of young children with SEND.

When your child has SEND, or a suspected developmental need, your health visitor can:

The NHS has web pages that provide more information on services covered in this section:

Portage Service

The Portage Service is a home visiting educational service for pre-school children.

They offer advice and support to families of children with profound or severe learning disabilities. These children may have other additional needs such as:

Parents, carers or professionals can make referrals. Following this, The Portage Service meets with each family and child to discuss whether the service is right for you. Once a service is agreed, they work with you to build a partnership. This will be specific to your child to meet their needs.

Families will receive a visit every 2 weeks with a Portage trained home visitor. These last approximately 1 hour.

There are 3 key elements to every home visit:

Glyne Gap School provide more information on the Portage Service:

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Early Communication Support Workers (ECSW)

ECSWs can help with early speech, language and communication development. The ECSWs are not Speech and Language Therapists but they do have a special focus on speech and language.

The ECSWs run Toddler Talk sessions across East Sussex. Toddler Talk support families who have concerns about their child’s speech, language and communication.

The ECSWs help improve parents understanding of their child’s speech and language development. This includes:

You can contact an Early Communication Support Worker through your Health Visiting team:

Small Beginnings

Small Beginnings is a parent/carer and child stay, play and learn session. It's aimed at those concerned about the development of their pre-school child.

These sessions offer a chance to enjoy time with your child and to learn how to support their play, communication and interaction. There will be opportunities to meet other parents and to work alongside Early Years Professionals.

To attend Small Beginnings, you should talk to your Health Visitor. You can also speak to someone at your local Family Hub:

Crèches in Family Hubs

Early Years Practitioners provide crèches for children aged from 12 weeks to 5 years. These crèches aim to help parents and carers access appointments, groups and classes. The crèches are suitable for children with SEND. They also support the development of key skills such as language learning.

Contact your local Family Hub for more information:

1 to 1 Support and Intervention Groups

Early Years Providers (EYPs) can provide 1 to 1 support sessions with families. This can include supporting play with a child and making assessments of their development. This is helpful for children whose development is falling behind other children of a similar age. The 1 to 1 support is usually received when a professional such as a health visitor, makes a referral.

The EYPs will also run small intervention groups. These groups are for families to attend with other families to learn and play together.

To access 1 to 1 support from an EYP, talk to your Health Visitor or speak to someone at your local Family Hub.

Additional Help and Support

Amaze SENDIASS

Amaze SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service) are a local charity. They offer free, independent, and impartial advice for all matters relating to SEND. Contact Amaze SENDIASS by:

Visit the Amaze SENDIASS web page.

East Sussex Local Offer directory of services

You can visit our SEND-specific online directory, hosted on East Sussex 1Space. The directory lists many different services both throughout the county and online. Services cover many topics, including:

Visit the East Sussex Local Offer directory.

NHS - Health A to Z

The East Sussex Local Offer aims to provide as much information as possible. There may be some conditions that aren't covered in thorough detail. The NHS website has pages that list all conditions. These pages provide information and advice on how to get extra support:

Visit the NHS Health A to Z web page.

Open for Parents

Open for Parents is a website managed by the Early Help Service. The website advises parents on different aspects of parenting. It includes tips for parenting all ages of children, but it does not have SEND specific tips. It also provides information on how to access the Parenting Team. This team can provide information and support for parents who need it:

Visit the Open for Parents website.

Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms

We explain some of the terms used on this website on our page, Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms.

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