What does the Leicestershire Portage Service offer?

When families join Leicestershire Portage Service they receive weekly visits from a Home Visitor. The Portage Home Visitors have wide experience of working with families, and children. They may, for example, be parents, teachers, health visitors, nursery nurses or social workers. Everyone involved in providing Portage has received a nationally accredited Training Course.

Initially, the child's current development is assessed over all developmental areas: social, language, self-help, cognitive and motor development. This information is used to inform appropriate teaching.

Parents, Home Visitor and Portage Manager decide on long term (approximately 6 months) teaching targets. These are then broken down into small step activities.

One or two of these activities are chosen each week and parents are given help and advice on ways of teaching. The parents keep a record of their child's progress.

Each programme is tailored to meet the needs of the individual child. The emphasis is on the positive – finding out and building on what a child can do. Activities are then designed to boost the child's development in those areas where help is needed – from very early motor skills to the more complex task of using language.

Portage is based on four main activities:

weekly home visits by trained home visitor
weekly written teaching activities designed for each individual child and parents
Teaching and recording carried out by the parents
Fortnightly supervision of the home visitor by the Portage Manager

There is also a Management Committee which has representatives from Education, Health and Social Services, as well as a parent representative. This Committee meets 3 times a year and oversees the general organisation of the service.

Who is Portage for?

What does the Leicestershire Portage Service offer?

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