What is the Portage service?
Portage workers are Early Years practitioners who have a good knowledge of child development and have special needs experience. We are part of the Disabled Children and Therapy Service. We provide support and guidance to enable parents to achieve the best outcomes for their child.
Read the Portage Service leafletChildren We Work With
- Referrals will be accepted for children from birth until the age of 28 months.
- Children who have, or are expected to have, a six-month delay in their development in two or more areas which may require specialist provision in the longer term. These areas include personal, social, and emotional development; communication skills; physical abilities; and cognitive development.
- Children where there are Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) scores of 15 or below in at least two developmental areas.
- Children who have a significant sensory loss (e.g., hearing, sight) in addition to a developmental delay, which may result in the need for specialist provision in the longer term.
What We Do
New requests for Portage services are made through the Early Help Hub. The Early Help Hub will triage the request and, if appropriate, send it to the Team Manager, who will then pass it onto the Portage team.
Portage works with the consent of the parent or carer and the child/young person.
The Portage Worker will contact the family within 5 working days of receiving the request for support.
The Portage Worker will arrange to meet the family within 10 working days and explain more about Portage Support and the Portage model. At this meeting, there will be an agreement between the Portage Worker and the family about whether support is needed and what this support will look like.
The Portage Worker will share information about the Portage groups.
The Portage Worker, along with the family, will complete a baseline assessment to identify the child’s strengths and areas for development.
Portage helps families to recognise their child’s progress and celebrate the child's success.
The Worker will agree Portage targets which they will support the child and family to achieve through playful, fun activities. The first set of targets will be written in six visits within a two-month period of the initial meeting.
Every four months, the family and the Portage Worker will review the child's progress and set new targets as appropriate.
This ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ process will support an application for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) needs assessment if required.
Support from Portage ends when:
Children have made significant progress in their development and no longer meet the 'who we work with' criteria for our services.
Two-year-olds who attend nursery using their government-funded nursery placements.
For parents who choose not to enrol their child in nursery, Portage services will end at the conclusion of the school term following the child's third birthday.
How can my child be referred?
To make a referral to the Portage Service please complete the Early Help Hub referral form.