Paving the Way is Cognus’ early intervention service. It provides a menu of support for children and young people, parents and carers, and schools. These difficulties cause barriers to engagement in learning and social interaction. This can impact on achieving their full potential.
The criteria for referral are:
- Attention and concentration difficulties
- Social communication difficulties
- Anxiety difficulties
Support for children and young people
Paving the Way provides one-to-one and tailored support. We work with children aged 5-11 attending a school in Sutton. Targeted support includes individual sessions working towards agreed results for the child. Other support may include group sessions and screenings as necessary. There may be a need for additional services, and signposting information and resources.
Paving the Way Warriors
The Paving the Way team are delighted to share information about our new group for children open to Paving the Way:
The Warriors is a small group of children from Sutton Primary Schools in years 4-6 that meet up every Wednesday after school to share their experiences and develop friendships in a safe space.
The group focuses on challenges such as friendship, self-esteem, attention and concentration and communication and each group is tailored to suit the needs of the children attending.
This in turn, enables the staff to gain a valuable insight into the children, their personalities, challenges and possible neurodivergence which enable the team to provide detailed observations reports and strategies for their individual journeys moving forward.
The group runs for six weeks and children are allocated to the group via their PTW caseworker based on consideration of best intervention i.e. one to one or group.
Feedback we have received so far:
‘My child looks forward to going and it is her safe space. She enjoys the company of the other children. I think she likes the fact it is not to pressured like school and she can be herself’ Parent
‘Built confidence to try new things. Developed strategies when things go wrong, supported him to respond to his emotions’ Parent
‘By helping with her anxiety. By listening to her. Teaching her different ways to deal with things. The personalised emails to M were so helpful and made her feel better and aware of what she was going to be doing’ Parent
‘E has really enjoyed the group, from the first day he wrote on his calendar ‘fun club’ to show when warriors is on. Its helped him with his confidence, helped him understand terms like confidence, anxiousness. The two leaders were fab.’ Parent
‘They helped me calm my mind’ Warrior
‘I feel happy at group, I like making things’ Warrior
‘They made me feel a bit less nervous about new things.’ Warrior
‘They helped when I got sad’ Warrior
‘I can cope with my feelings and thoughts that can possibly make me unhappy sad scared or worried and I can focus more.’ Warrior
Support for parents and carers
We offer a range of support for parents/carers. Support includes themed parent child holiday workshops, parent coffee mornings and individualised support. Individualised support may include advice and signposting to additional services.
Family Support Group
The Paving the Way team are delighted to share information about the Family Support Group which is co-run by PTW and Limes College.
The Family Support group runs every term and is open to PTW parents and all parents in the London Borough of Sutton with a primary aged child.
The group runs for 8 weeks and covers a variety of topics.
We hope to offer parents a safe space to meet other parents in a similar situation to learn more about different topics, explore new ideas that will support children’s social emotional growth and development.
Our aim is that parents will:
· Feel more empowered and confident to trust their judgements when supporting their children
· Build self-esteem and confidence as a parent
· Share ideas and tips with each other
Whilst we know that some parents may not be able to attend every session, we do encourage parents to attend as many sessions as possible. As the group develops with each session, trust and relationships will build and parents will hopefully feel more supported by each other and grow in confidence.
You can sign up for the group by contacting the facilitators (nibby.withers@cognus.org.uk) and if the group is oversubscribed parents will be allocated a place on the next group
Feedback from parents:
“I got lots of helpful advice that I have started to implement at home. It made me realise that I’m not alone”
“I feel more confident about dealing with my children”
“I will not react straight away. Try to get some space first”
“Being more patient and realising that all behaviour is communication”
“Implementing ideas shared by other parents, being calmer and more patient”
“The group has given me very good ideas to use around anger issues and how to calm”
“To stop raising my voice so much”
“I got lots of helpful advice that I has started to implement at home.“
There is lots of support for professionals, parents/carers and children on the website:
Links and factsheets to support:
Government advice – Mental health resources for children, students, parents, carers and school/college staff
Sutton Uplift – Talking therapy for adults: https://www.suttonuplift.co.uk/
Off the Record – Free counselling service for children for young people aged between 11-18 years: https://www.talkofftherecord.org/sutton/counselling/
JigSaw4U – A charity that provides a wide variety of services across the London Boroughs of Sutton and Merton: https://www.jigsaw4u.org.uk/
Sutton Parents and Carers Forum – A group for parents and carers with children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND): https://www.suttonparentsforum.org.uk/
If you have a safeguarding concern about a child, you should contact the designated safeguarding lead, or Headteacher at your child’s place of education in the first instance.
Please note: The referral form should be completed by a professional with signed parental consent. Additional information should be given where appropriate