Early Access Teams

Early Access Teams reduce preventable social, emotional and mental health difficulties within education settings through early identification and intervention.

What are our Early Access Teams?

Our Early Access Teams focus on the early identification and intervention of social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. Early identification and intervention reduces secondary difficulties and supports children and young people before their needs escalate. The aim of EHP's Early Access Teams is to reduce or stop the escalation of preventable SEMH difficulties among children and young people. We help individuals and groups with a range of social, emotional and mental health needs, including children and young people with identified special educational needs and those with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. Working together with education settings will increase the effectiveness of our service.

Our Early Access Teams are separated into the four main areas of need, as categorised around the SEND Code of Practice (2015):

Who are EHPs Early Access Teams for?

Our Early Access Teams provide education settings with immediate access to onsite social, emotional and mental health services. We work in a range of education settings including:

• Early years settings
• Primary schools
• Secondary schools
• Post-16 education settings
• PRUs
• SEND schools
• Correctional facilities

EHP's Early Access Teams can be commissioned for use in the above settings by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local authorities.

Early Access Teams have been created with the aim of reducing preventable SEMH difficulties, which is why they usually work with emerging SEMH difficulties, or low level needs. Our Early Access Teams are primarily for the early identification and intervention of SEMH needs, although we do work with individuals who are at risk of exclusion.

Who we work with

Our specialist services can be accessed by education, health and other professions working with children and young people.

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What do EHP's Early Access Teams do?

EHP's Early Access Teams help education settings promote positive mental health and reduce the escalation of SEMH needs. We achieve this through:

• Helping education settings identify children and young people with SEMH by using screening, assessments and data reviews
• Assessing children and young people with raising SEMH concerns
• Providing school-based interventions to children with SEMH needs
• Referring children or young people onwards to other professionals including GPs, child and adolescent mental health services, and other health services
• Facilitating early intervention through swift needs identification and intervention to reduce problems escalating
• Involving teachers, parents and carers to consider why the child may be presenting in a certain way
• Working directly with children and young people
• Working with parents and carers
• Providing bespoke training to suit all needs and requirements
• Reviewing and updating policies related to social, emotional and mental health

EHP's Early Access Teams are flexible and adaptable to the needs and requirements of each education setting, allowing them to effectively identify and support SEMH needs.

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How does EHP's Early Access Teams help schools identify children with SEMH needs?

EHP's Early Access Teams help schools to identify children with social, emotional and mental health needs through a combination of:

• Observations
• Screening tools
• Collecting and reviewing data
• SEMH audits
• Learning walks
• Assessments
• Consultations

It may be the case that multiple identification methods are used for one individual. Individual circumstances and situations determine the assessment method used.

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Do EHP's Early Access Teams provide interventions and training?

EHP's Early Access Teams provide interventions and training. Read more about the interventions and training by provided by our:

• Early Access Social, Emotional and Mental Health Team
• Early Access Social, Communication and Development Team
• Early Access Physical and Sensory Team
• Early Access Cognition and Learning Team

Interventions can be provided for individuals and groups.

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What are the benefits of using Early Access Teams?

There are many benefits to using our Early Access Teams. Our teams use evidence-based practice to deliver our services which enables a positive impact on:

• Motivation
• How children and young people approach learning
• Reducing stress, sickness and absence of pupils
• Staff wellbeing
• Improved ability to teach effectively
• Improved performance
• Improving pupil well-being and happiness
• Giving children and young people a sense of purpose, connectedness and meaning
• Developing resilience to promote learning, success, well-being and mental health, in school and throughout life
• Preventing and reducing mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and stress
• Improving behaviour
• Reducing bullying and exclusions
• Reducing risk taking behaviour
• Reducing alcohol and drug use

Early specialist input through needs identification and intervention prevents the escalation of preventable SEMH needs, creating an environment of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing.

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What do EHP's Early Access Teams do for the whole school?

All our Early Access Teams offer systemic work to facilitate a sustainable and positive approach to SEMH. Each of our Early Access Teams provide different input for the whole school level according to needs and requirements.

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How do our Early Access Teams work together?

Our Early Access Teams include professionals from different areas of expertise who work together to provide effective whole school services. Professionals working in our Early Access Teams work together during supervision sessions, team meetings and triage sessions to discuss casework confidentially.

Funding

Our services can be funded through a variety of ways.