Barnardo's Edinburgh Community Support Services

The Edinburgh Community Support Services (BECSS) is a joint initiative between Barnardo’s and City of Edinburgh Council and is an integral part of the Early Intervention Strategy.

BECSS is a team of multi-disciplinary professionals who work with primary aged children at risk of losing their mainstream school place because of severe emotional and behavioural difficulties. The team works in two primary school clusters in South West and North Edinburgh.

Aim and objectives of BECSS

To ensure that as many primary aged children with emotional and behavioural problems as possible can remain in their own schools and families wherever safe and appropriate.

Objectives of BECSS

• to provide a community based multi-disciplinary assessment of children and their families, and recommended appropriate services to meet assessed needs
• to assist teachers of children with behavioural difficulties in their own school
• to provide assistance to parents/carers of children with behavioural difficulties at home, which enables them to gain confidence and promotes their parental responsibilities
• to promote whole class and whole school approaches, working with others, towards including the child positively in school
• to work collaboratively with external agencies, promoting a multi-disciplinary/multi-agency approach
• to offer a range of help to parents through groupwork, family therapy, counselling, parenting skills, time-limited focused work and relationship therapy
• to help individual children through a range of interventions including play therapy, groupwork, anger management and relationship therapy
• to offer support to families out of school e.g. play schemes, individual work with children, after-school clubs etc.

The team has been fully operational since February 1999, and consists of a manager, a senior practitioner, education support co-ordinators, qualified project workers, support workers and a volunteer co-ordinator.

The team's role with families is crucial in working closely with teachers and parents to ensure consistency between school and home, and to enable parents to improve relationships and meet their children’s developmental needs. A strong multi-disciplinary approach greatly enhances the service received by the family and school. Community support workers are experienced in work within the school setting and also providing support in the community.

From the beginning of their involvement with schools and families, the team has monitored their work by asking parents, teachers, children and keyworkers to complete brief questionnaires. The evaluation sheets seek the individuals’ views on the work done, and provide different perspectives on whether there have been any measurable improvements for the child at school and at home.