Harpenden Matters

A Family Support Worker at Harpenden Children's Centre was the speaker at the May meeting of Harpenden Matters (formerly Harpenden Women's Prayer Lunch) held at Wesley's on 25th May.

The vision behind Children's Centres is to provide care and education services for children and their families. These services, which can all be accessed through the Centre, may include nursery education, baby clinic, special needs assessment, day care, toy library, parenting classes, baby massage, help for vulnerable adults, and many others. The Harpenden centre is located at Batford Nursery School.

The role of the support worker mostly involves working with families classified as 'vulnerable'. Families may be vulnerable for different reasons including poverty, lone or young parent, disabled parents, or disabled children. They can be referred to the centre by social services, health visitors, outreach workers, or can refer themselves. Some families may need support for a short time, for example if the mother is suffering from post natal depression. Others may need longer-term support, where difficulties can be traced back over several generations.

The role of the support worker and group within the centre is to provide a safe place where parents can be with their children often doing structured play which helps both adults and children express their feelings and work towards a solution. For example, playing with play dough enabled one child to express the stress she felt when the situation at home was difficult. Sometimes, parents do not know how to play with their children, having not experienced play with their own parents in childhood. Sometimes, through home visits, the support worker can identify ways in which other departments can help make a difference, for example through helping with home repairs or gardening.

To help us experience some of the structured play, we were all encouraged to take part in an activity such as jigsaws, craft, play dough, exploring treasure boxes, and playing with cornflour gloop. It was great fun and encouraged noisy discussion!

To find out more about the work of the Centre, visit the centre's website