A charity is working in York schools to help bridge the gap between parents, teachers and pupils and tackling a raft of issues that would otherwise tie up teaching time. HAYDN LEWIS investigates.

For youngsters struggling with issues like bullying, bereavement and family breakdown, knowing who to turn to once they get to school can be a problem.

But as we found out when we dropped in at Westfield Primary School in Acomb, there is a charity working in York schools specifically designed to help kids and parents tackle a wide range of issues.

School-Home Support (SHS) currently works in eight schools - both primary and secondary - namely Westfield, All Saints RC Primary, Burnholme College, Oaklands, Clifton Green, Tang Hall Primary, New Earswick and Selby Abbey, and is soon to get a worker at Yearsley Grove.

London-based charity SHS has its York offices at Westfield, and the school's designated worker, Carol Ashby, has been there for a year.

So, what does she feel she has achieved in that time?

"We aim to be a link between the school and parents and we can deal with anything that stops the kids from being focused in school.

"At primary school level it can be anything from peer pressure to feeling like nobody is your friend - the school-home support worker is there to talk to.

"I do quite a bit of anger management with boys in school in particular, and also home visits.

"The idea is to get the whole family involved, because at the end of the day we aim to make a positive impact on the whole family.

"Quite often teachers and schools see a symptom of bad behaviour, but just don't have the time or resources to deal with it. We can get under that and try and find out where the problem lies."

The most common problems SHS deals with are the affects of poverty and long-term unemployment, family breakdowns, bereavement, bullying, crime, teenage pregnancy, poor housing and homelessness.

We spoke to youngsters from the school council to see if they think the system is working.

Georgina Rowbotham, 11, is one of a group of about a dozen youngsters from Years 4, 5 and 6 at the school who are part of the Childline Befrienders scheme, who act as a first point of call in the playground.

"People can come up to me if they are sad or have a problem, and I ask them what's wrong and talk to them about it, but if I don't feel I can help I'd ask an adult."

Megan Meek, seven, said: "If someone fell off the climbing frame and hurt themselves you'd get the teacher or a dinner lady, and Miss Ashby is also there to help with other things as well."

Of the Befrienders, only two are boys. Jordan Church, 11, and nine-year-old Haydn Cooper put that down to the fact that they wanted to play football.

But Jordan thought that football had itself contributed to problems at school, saying: "Football causes a lot of arguing in the playground - the referee's decisions cause a lot of arguing and it has had to be banned before."

Head teacher Mark Barnett said, from his point of view, having Miss Ashby on the staff meant there was a dedicated, trained professional on hand to deal with problems, freeing up his time.

He said: "It's freed up

about 20 per cent of my time having Carol on board I was dealing with many complex issues on behalf of families and was really pleased to do so, but having her here means families have an independent worker to liaise with myself and other teaching staff."

The service is completely confidential and Carol has her own phone line separate to the school's main switchboard that parents can call her on if they have any concerns.

Updated: 10:58 Wednesday, June 01, 2005