In their words
The staff team at the centre work with a wide range of children supporting their individual needs. The following case study highlights some of the needs of children that are met at the centre.
Case Study of a young girl using Akwaaba's services
R is a two year old girl of white British descent. R joined us a day after her second birthday, as I had made a priority day care referral to Lewisham Early Years due to my concerns about difficulties within the family and R's slow development (communication) which I had become aware of through my contact with her mother K (as B, an elder child was attending the service).
K is a young mother who had suffered a great deal of domestic violence from her partner, who is R’s father. The father had recently been released from prison (due to drug offences) and the family were again in a very volatile situation. Child Protection concerns were shared with Social Services, following K’s attempted suicide and her involvement with drug abuse, strategy meetings were convened and a social worker allocated for few months.
Following the case being closed our student social worker “S” started to support K. S attended a conference on domestic violence and researched a local programme that worked from an inclusive perspective, involving both the perpetrator and the partner. S worked hard with K to explain the benefits, unfortunately her partner refused to engage at the time. However it is an option that is still open to them both to consider some time in the future if they wish to.
R has been supported by individual sessions to promote her speech and language development and a referral has been made for speech therapy. A further referral has been made for a developmental assessment at the child development centre.
Akwaaba provides R with a safe, stimulating and caring environment that will extend her development. Akwaaba staff also provide support and a “listening ear” for K as and when she needs it and referrals are made for other resources to be accessed as appropriate to current needs. For example K was supported in leaving her abusive partner and was found a refuge to move to out of London, after which she was successfully rehoused and has been working on rebuilding her life.
Feedback from parents and children at Akwaaba
Parents or carers and children’s views and needs are always of great concern to the staff team at Akwaaba, and we encourage both positive and constructive critical feedback so that we are continually aiming to improve and deliver the kind of service that the adults and children who access our services require. The following are some of the feedback we have received in the past year.
'My daughter enjoys school . I feel safe in the school and the staff make me feel welcome. My daughter is making progress, many thanks.'
Barnardo’s offers a good service. Staff are always very friendly and welcoming to the children.'
'The staff at the nursery are very supportive and nice.'
