Shropshire Council
Using Thrive to deliver trauma-responsive support for children and families
Children's experiences can shape how they engage with learning, build relationships and respond to everyday challenges. Through its Early Help service, Shropshire Council is using Thrive to better understand children's social and emotional development needs, provide targeted support and measure the impact of interventions.
For Parenting Strategy Manager Nadine Last and her team of Play Practitioners, Thrive has become a valuable framework for supporting children and families facing a range of complex challenges.
The Context
Shropshire Council's Parenting Team works with children and families referred through targeted Early Help services.
Many of the children they support are experiencing difficulties with emotional wellbeing, relationships, behaviour or engagement in learning. Some have experienced adversity or disruption in their lives, while others require additional support to develop key social and emotional skills.
While the team already had extensive experience supporting families, they wanted an approach that would provide a clear framework for understanding need, planning interventions and evidencing progress.
Why Thrive?
After adopting Thrive, practitioners began using Thrive-Online assessments to gain a deeper understanding of each child's social and emotional development. The assessments help identify specific areas of need and inform tailored action plans that can be reviewed throughout an intervention.
"Thrive gave us a great framework to use when working with families and children," explains Nadine. "Alongside the practical tools, it provides measurable data that helps us track progress and identify specific areas of need."
The approach has given practitioners a shared language and structure for their work, while Thrive's ongoing professional development opportunities support reflection and continuous learning.
"Our practitioners were already highly skilled and experienced," says Nadine. "What Thrive provided was a tangible framework that helped them structure their work and follow specific guidance with confidence."
The team also works closely with schools where possible, encouraging collaboration around assessments and action plans to provide consistent support for children across home and school environments.
Supporting children to feel safe, connected and ready to learn
One child supported through the service was a seven-year-old boy who had experienced a number of significant changes and challenges in his early life, including family disruption, changes in living arrangements and a move to a new school and community.
When he was referred to the service, he was experiencing severe separation anxiety and regularly became distressed at school drop-off, affecting both attendance and learning.
A Thrive assessment helped the Play Practitioner, who had trained as a Thrive Licensed Practitioner, gain a clearer understanding of his social and emotional development needs. It highlighted areas where additional support could help him build a stronger sense of safety, security and connection.
Working closely with his family and school, the Play Practitioner developed a tailored programme of support using activities recommended through his Thrive action plan.
Through regular sessions focused on building trusting relationships, supporting emotional development and helping him understand and communicate his feelings, the child gradually became more confident and settled in school. As his confidence grew, he developed stronger relationships with trusted adults and peers and became better able to manage feelings of anxiety.
By the end of the intervention:
- Attendance had significantly improved
- He was able to manage feelings of anxiety more effectively
- Relationships with peers and trusted adults had strengthened
- Academic progress had improved
- He felt settled, secure and positive about school
For the team, this is just one example of how Thrive helps practitioners understand children's needs more deeply, look beyond behaviour and provide support that creates meaningful and lasting change.
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Looking ahead
Nadine believes there is significant potential to expand the impact of Thrive across the county.
"I'd love to see more schools in Shropshire adopting the Thrive Approach and having at least one trained member of staff," she says. "Earlier intervention in schools would strengthen our Early Help offer enormously and help children access support before difficulties escalate."
By combining skilled practitioners with a structured, evidence-based approach, Shropshire Council is demonstrating how local authorities can use Thrive to deliver targeted early intervention, strengthen relationships and improve outcomes for children and families.
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