Spa Camberwell Family Support
At Spa Camberwell we recognise the particular challenges faced by parents raising children with autism, and we aim to provide whatever practicable support we can. It is important that we work in close partnership with parents and families in the interests of our pupils. We employ a Family Support Worker specifically for this purpose.
The range of activities and services we can provide includes training for parents, support in accessing quality services for children, groups on particular issues such as health information or managing behaviour, and individual support for children and their parents through one to one work, home visits or signposting to specialist services.
We aim to provide a range of services that are responsive to the needs of individual families.
At Spa Camberwell we:
- work in partnership with parents and carers
- recognise, value and respect the uniqueness of each family and their differing needs
- work from a child-centred perspective
- provide autism-specific help and advice
- meet statutory expectations and policies regarding confidentiality
- provide a range of family support services which families can access at different times depending on need
- record, monitor and evaluate all the work we do so that we can learn from our experiences and improve future services
- draw on the expertise of a range of professionals in order to provide a holistic service
We recognise that:
- raising and caring for a child with autism can be particularly challenging
- parents and carers should be able to ask for help without feeling guilty or embarrassed or feeling that they have failed
- parents and carers know their children best
- supporting families will help us to support and teach the child
We support parents and families through:
- involving parents in decisions
- having good understanding of different cultures and religions
- keeping accurate and clear records which families have access to
- ensuring that we keep abreast of developments in the field of family support by enabling our Family Support Worker and other relevant staff to attend training courses and have access to relevant professional journals and other literature
- keep appointments and let families know if we need to cancel
- liaise with other professionals when undertaking work with families where they have some involvement
- regular coffee mornings and other support groups
- the provision of a family centre in the school
Please contact our Family Support Worker – Farzana Umarji on 020 3434 5210 or by email at fumarji@spa-education.org
