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NOA School Readiness Transition (With subtitles)

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Separation Anxiety Getting Organised Your Own Feelings Out of School & After School Care Starting school can feel like a big milestone for your child and for you. Even if your child has been used to nursery or preschool, some children will find it hard to make the change.

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Sometimes this support comes from specialist services and the professionals and volunteers who work for them. This can be important but in the long run we know that most of us get the best support from the people who care about us most; our friends, families and the community we live in.

This is our Family Network.

Why Do We Need Family Networking?

Family Networking is about the strengths and resources in your network of family and friends. This means involving the people who know and care about you and your children best, when you need help in family life.

Sometimes it can be hard to let friends and family know when we are struggling and need help.

Family networking can help us talk about things that are hard to deal with and find answers together.

Everyone has different strengths. You and your network of family and friends will all bring different strengths to your family life.

Relationships are all about give and take, it might be you who needs a bit of extra help right now. Further down the line it might be you who is offering support to another person in your network.

The Benefits

Getting together the people who care about you and working out how to get the support you need can be a big relief.

Your family and friends network know you and your child better than any paid support workers.

They understand your family background, your beliefs, what works best for your family. They know the strengths, knowledge and skills that each family members brings.

Family, friends and members of your community may well already support you and your children. You probably have people you call on in emergencies or just enjoy being with.

Your network is around you and your child 24/7, whereas a paid worker is not usually available after 5:30pm or at weekends.

You can plan with your network, how you will deal with problems and manage the challenges you face with their help. This will help you all feel better and more positive about the future.

Can Children be Involved?

Children really benefit when those that care about them work together;

It will help your child feel safe and cared for. They will know the family network they can depend on.

When children have one person to turn to it is great but they will benefit from a wider circle of support.

They will learn it is good to ask for help when you need it, and to help others when you can.

They can make the most of the different strengths of those who care about you. 'Grandad is great at calming me down' or 'Sheila is good at helping me with homework.'

Seeing the adults who care for them work together on any problems and difficulties helps children learn to problem solve and develop resilience and personal strengths themselves.

Research tells us that when children are strongly connected to their family and / or wider network they are most likely to feel safe, happy and reach their potential.

Am I In A Family Network?

It takes a village to raise a child, you are included in that village! Be part of a stronger community, look out for your neighbour and network and help-out where you can. It's great for parents to know someone has got their back when times are tricky.

What does it mean to be part of someone's network?

This will depend on what can you offer and what your skills and strengths are as well as what the family needs.

Your help and support can seem small but could make a huge difference to the family that needs it. You can play a part in children feeling safe and loved. You don't know how helpful your support can be until you offer a helping hand and talk about it.

If you are important to the family, the parents or carers, or the children, and have their best interests at heart you are well placed to be part of the network. What you can offer will depend on your skills, the time you have available, how close you live and your other commitments. You don't have to live near-by to offer support, this can be physical, emotional, practical, virtual or on the end of a phone. Even the smallest of tasks are incredibly valuable to a parent struggling to remember or get to an appointment, or a young person who needs a break from the house or a chat with a friendly face and someone they trust.

Could you be available for your grandchild, niece, or younger sibling when they are having a hard time and need someone to talk to, maybe take them out for a walk, snack or play a game? Could you join a virtual call and help with homework?

It is important to be realistic about what you can offer and any restrictions such as work hours or other commitments. Perhaps you can have the neighbours' children round for tea once a week, take them to school when mum isn't able to, collect a prescription or pop to the shop. Being in someone's network doesn't have to be a huge commitment and helps keep children safe and well.

Networks make all the difference

Having trusted and connected people around the family, offering positive relationships and expanding their network is beneficial for children and parents. Think beyond blood relatives and extend the idea of family to include significant people in the community who can play a positive role in children's lives.

We can keep ourselves to ourselves and not like to bother other people, even though we could do with some practical or emotional support. It can be hard to ask, and we can assume people won't want to or be able to help.

If you notice a neighbour, friend or family member could do with a helping hand, can you open-up the conversation, check in, ask if everything is ok and offer to help.

Through family networking, the whole 'family' can be involved and included in planning to help-out where needed and meet the needs of children.

Family Network Meetings

Family meetings set aside time with your network of family and friends, to focus and talk openly about any difficulties happening in your life and the life of your children. This focused discussion is different to the more general conversations we have in our normal day to day lives because it is about making a plan together to make things better.

The reasons for holding the meeting will be different for everyone but might be because of;

Struggles with your relationship with your child and how you are parenting or caring for them.

Finding the practicalities of running a home hard - like managing money, cooking and cleaning or getting the kids to school on time.

Your own health problems and how that impacts on your ability to be an active and involved parent.

Everyone finds things hard at times. You shouldn't feel bad about asking for help. Getting support in place is an important first step to things getting better. A family network meeting can help you plan how you will get back on track. The meeting gives everyone time to properly understand what is going on for you and your child, and talk through and agree what support they will offer.

Feedback From Families
'I think meeting with my network has involved more family members especially my brother and how he can now support the children. My network now knows what they can do to help me and the children.' 'This got things moving and there was something for everyone to do that they had said they would. We worked together and my neighbours and friends check in on me to see that I have done what I said I would do which was helpful.' 'We talked about how we could all work together to make sure the young one attends their medical appointments, and we agreed things the parents or carers wouldn't talk about in front of the children.' 'By talking with my network, we were able to come up with ideas that led to a successful plan, which has ways we can all work together for the children. It was good to have open and honest conversations about the difficulties we were having.' 'It was nice to be included in the plan. Even though I'm only around at the weekends, it's good to know I can help the family next door.' 'Our plan is still working, all our children have better relationships with people in our network, me and my wife feel we know who to turn to for support. It has all been really helpful.' 'Learning to cook Asian food via video link with my uncle in Singapore while my mum looks after the baby has been great. I've got to know him and enjoyed eating the food'

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family networking how can family and friends help support network community i need help from people norfolk county council ncc

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Sometimes this support comes from specialist services and the professionals and volunteers who work for them. This can be important but in the long run we know that most of us get the best support from the people who care about us most; our friends, families and the community we live in.

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Tiny Happy People - activities for 4-5 year olds

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Tiny Happy People - activities for 4-5 year olds

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A collection of activities and things to do with children aged 4-5 years old. Your child may be able to take turns in conversations, use more complicated language, and enjoy playing with friends.

Activities for 4-5 year olds: Playtime games

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Activities for 4-5 year olds - BBC Tiny Happy People

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A collection of fun learning activities and things to do with children 4-5 years. Our collection of fun and creative games for preschoolers will help develop their language and communication skills. Help them learn and have loads of fun while you do.

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How does Boris get on with starting school?

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How does Boris get on with starting school?

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BORIS STARTS SCHOOL | Carrie Weston & Tim Warnes | Read aloud 🥰 #storyoftheweek

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Spydus Mobile is a free app which lets you access library services and manage your membership, any time. Use the app to search for books, reserve items, download e-books and e-audio books, keep track of your library account and manage the items you've got out on loan.

You can also use Spydus Mobile to scan barcodes on books, CDs, DVDs or other items while you're out and about, and then search for available copies at your local library - even if you're not a member yet.

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Find out how Norfolk Library Service supports families in the local community and the children's services they provide at Just One Norfolk