LOOKING out for the tell-tale signs of distress in a child at school is not always easy and knowing how to deal with a problem, once it's been identified, can be even more difficult.

But one charity is working at York schools to provide a vital role supporting both teachers and parents.

School-Home Support (SHS) is a London-based charity that has been transforming the lives of some of the most vulnerable and excluded children, young people and their families for more than 20 years.

By building a bridge between home and school, SHS helps children and young people make the most of their education.

SHS provides trained and experienced workers who become part of the school's pastoral care team, enabling teachers and school management teams to focus on managing core school business and delivering the curriculum.

The charity offers specialist support with things such as transition where a child moves from primary to secondary school; school attendance and punctuality and working with families, including reaching the most elusive parents.

In York, the charity has bases at Clifton Green Primary School, Hob Moor Community Primary School, New Earswick Primary School, Oaklands School, Tang Hall Primary School, Westfield Primary School, Yearsley Grove Primary School and All Saints' RC School. According to Mark Barnett, head teacher at Westfield in Acomb, he would "aim to have a school-home support worker in every primary and secondary school in the country to focus on the emotional wellbeing of children and their families".

Mr Barnett believes SHS has given him and his staff 20 per cent of the time back that they used to spend on trying to help troubled parents, leaving them to focus on running the school and on raising standards.

Westfield School has just under 700 pupils, it is also an extended school and is soon to be a designated children's centre.

Westfield has had an SHS worker, Carol Ashby, for three years. While the role of the SHS worker differs from school to school, at Westfield Ms Ashby's role is to: l Assist children and their families with social and emotional problems l Improve attendance rates and lateness if specifically related to the above targeted families l Help all children, regardless of income, sex, race or special needs, to make the best of their education.

Mr Barnett feels that Ms Ashby carries out the work that he used to do, "but could never fully see through".

In the last two academic years at least 20 families did not reach social services because of Ms Ashby's intervention and in the school year 2005-06, Ms Ashby's provided a service to 71 families with a total of 744 interventions involving pupils and families.

She said: "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 to find out where the problem lies."

Ms Ashby is also a member of the school inclusion team that meets weekly to look at how best to support children who are causing major worries for their respective teachers. Outside school she has accompanied parents to court, housing offices and benefit appointments.

As more families find their way to the SHS worker in school, Ms Ashby has had to make contact with more than two dozen agencies in order to provide the appropriate support.