Norfolk Portage service

Portage is a free home-visiting educational service for pre-school children with additional needs and their families. It is a recognised world-wide intervention.

Portage is an intensive and sustained therapy. It works with parents/carers as their child's best first educator to help support their children to enjoy better outcomes.

'We believe that all children have the right to be happy, healthy and safe; to be loved, valued and respected and to have high aspirations for their future, no matter what their diagnosis or need.'

Norfolk Portage Service offers a holistic approach to your child's development. They work alongside other professionals involved with your child.

Who is it for?

• Families with children aged 0-5, who have a significant development delay of six months or more, in at least two areas of Early Years Foundation Stage development. Once those children are settled into an early years setting, Portage will support the transition and then the service will reduce and cease.
• Children may have a complex physical disability, significant learning or developmental difficulties or another need

What you can expect

• Once a referral is received, you will be contacted by a Senior Portage Practitioner. They will make an appointment to visit you and your child at home
• The Initial Assessment visit will take place following triage of the official referral. This could take several weeks, depending on the number of referrals at that time. The initial assessment visit will last for approximately an hour to an hour and a half. During this time they will gather information about your child's needs and decide if Portage is an appropriate service for you
• If the service is appropriate, you will be assigned a Portage Practitioner. They will visit you weekly, fortnightly or monthly, for approximately one hour. They may carry out a block of visits.
• There is often a waiting list. Your child's name will be placed on that list, until a Practitioner becomes available
• As a parent/carer, you can stop Portage at any time if you feel it is not for your family. Visits will begin to reduce in frequency when a child begins to access more sessions out of the home
• They will look at the skills your child has and build on those skills, to help meet their developmental milestones. They work in partnership with you. They are mindful that parents/carers are the child's main educators and set achievable long-term goals to work towards
• The Portage Practitioner will ask you to repeat activities during the week until the next visit. This is to develop the identified skill
• Your Portage Practitioner will be an early year's professional. They will be fully trained in the Portage ethos of Small Steps to Learning, a recognised intervention by the National Portage Association
• Your home visits will cover the elements of family focus, child led play and structured teaching. You will have activity and play plans to refer to throughout the week. You may have diaries to record and evidence progress
• If your child is going into nursery or pre-school, they have a key role in the smooth transition from home intervention into a setting

How to make a referral

• Referrals can be made by any professional working with your child
• Parents can self-refer. Email portage.service@norfolk.gov.uk

For further information visit Norfolk's Portage Service website.