Aim of the service

The aim of the Family Intervention, Resources and Support Team (FIRST) is to provide information, workshops and training around sleep, anxiety and behaviour. The team comprises of two qualified Sleep Practitioners, one Behaviour Practitioner (trained in advanced Team Teach) and one Family Support Worker, who can help families with implementing the strategies where this is require. Our range of courses and workshops now include:

Sleep Support

Waking Up to Healthy Sleep

We have continued to deliver this five-week course virtually and have had positive feedback from parents. Moving forward, it has been agreed that the course will be condensed into three weeks, which will make it easier for parents to attend.

Eligibility criteria – Parents and carers who live in Wokingham borough who have a child with a disability.

Sleep Matters

This is a new workshop we have developed as an introduction to sleep hygiene. We are planning on delivering this to a wider audience of parents who live in Wokingham borough whose children have a EHCP but attend mainstream school.

Sleep & Anxiety

We are currently in the process of finalising the content of this 2-hour workshop. Parents are required to attend

the Waking Up to Sleep Course before accessing this workshop. We recognise that many of the children and young people we support have high levels of anxiety. This workshop looks at the different types of presenting anxiety and offers strategies and resources to help support distressed behaviour. It should be noted that we are not replacing or replicating the CAHMS offer and do not cover CBT techniques. We are offering very simple and practical ideas that parents can use within the home environment. We are also compiling a range of handouts to complement the workshop. We plan to start delivering this workshop after October half-term.

Eligibility criteria – Parents and carers who live in Wokingham borough who have a child with a disability who have previously attended the Waking Up to Healthy Sleep course.

Workshop for children and young people with disabilities.

We are also in the early stages of developing a workshop that we will deliver directly to young people. Addington School have expressed an interest in being part of the pilot session. We are confident that by involving the young people, they will be more likely to buy into the suggested strategies, as the workshop will offer them the facts around the science of sleep, rather than them having to do something just because their parents told them to!

Behaviour Support:

Changing Behaviour, Changes Behaviour

We have delivered this three-week course to parents of children with disabilities with encouraging feedback.

The content of the course has been revamped and handouts compiled to accompany the course.

Eligibility criteria – Parents and carers who live in Wokingham borough who have a child with a disability.

Supporting Behaviour

We have been developing this workshop, which will be an introduction to supporting children and young people who display distressed behaviour. It will be delivered to parents and professionals and will cover the triggers, causes and waves of behaviour. As this is an introduction to supporting behaviour, it does not cover strategies and resources, and parents will need to attend the Changing Behaviour, Changes Behaviour course for more detailed and comprehensive support. We plan on delivering this course after October half term.

Eligibility criteria – Parents and carers who live in Wokingham borough who have a child with a disability.

Direct Work

We have provided 1:1 support to families that have attended the Changing Behaviour, Changes Behaviour course, where it has been recognised additional support was required. Following a detailed assessment, we write a Positive Behaviour Plan with parents, which outlines triggers and strategies to implement and the response that parents should deliver. This ensures consistency of care and empowers parents to be confident in applying the suggested strategies across a variety of situations.

We recognise that delivering training via Teams has been very successful and for some families is more accessible than a classroom-based learning. Going forward, we plan to deliver courses both face to face and virtually across the daytime and evening, to optimise accessibility for parents.

Parents can download the self-referral form here: FIRST referral form

For details on the next course dates, please contact us on first@okingham.gov.uk

Family Intervention Resources and Strategies Team (FIRST)

Children's Services

Wokingham Borough Council

0118 974 6000