Referrals can be made by any professional working with your child. They should be accompanied by an early help assessment or an early help plan.

Parents can also self-refer.

If you are unsure whether to make a referral you can contact the Portage Team to discuss on 01724 296679.

The completed referral form [DOC, 59Kb] must be signed by the parent or person with parental responsibility.

Please email your completed forms to nlportage@northlincs.gov.uk or post to:

The Portage Team
C/O Side By Side Children’s Centre
Enderby Road
Scunthorpe
DN17 2JL

Referrals will be discussed at the Early Years Triage meeting. A decision will be made by a multi-agency panel about which team / service will begin to support your child initially.

Once it has been agreed that Portage will work with your child, you will be contacted by letter. The letter will inform you that:

• the referral of your child has been accepted
• give the telephone number for you to be able to contact them, and
• state that you will be contacted by a member of the Portage Team as soon as possible

Initial contact will be either:

• an invite to a face-to-face session to meet the member of staff that will be supporting you
• a telephone call from them, or
• attendance to your Early Help meeting (if these are in place)

If following the initial contact, it is felt that our service is appropriate to support your child, you will be offered:

• regular face-to-face sessions at the Side by Side Children’s Centre
• telephone contact
• video calls, and
• visits to your child’s Nursery if they access one

The role of the Early Years Inclusion Team/Portage is to:

• assess your child’s development
• identify strengths
• identify areas of development to work on
• support transition into a nursery, preschool, or school-based nursery

Our team is skilled in breaking down learning into small achievable steps. We will work with parents and settings to demonstrate how this can be achieved with your child to enable them to reach their own individual potential.

If you are either looking for a suitable nursery placement, or your child already attends one, we will provide ongoing support to ensure they are settled and have supportive access to learning – also supporting any transition.

We work together with other professionals involved with your child. We are also able to support you in further appropriate referrals to additional agencies if required.