EWS - School Aged Mothers & Children Looked After

School Age Mothers Programme (SAM) provides schools, families and other interested parties with guidance and support to ensure young women who wish to continue their education at school, whilst pregnant or having had a baby can do so.

The SAM programme provides young women with advice and support that will help them to make informed decisions about how they want to continue their education.  Some of the support provided by the programme may be provided through individual contact or through group work sessions with other young women in the same situation. 

The service can also assist young women to find out about:

• Assistance with childcare to enable them to continue their education
• Antenatal & postnatal care
• Healthcare
• Benefits advice
• Personal and social development
• Careers advice
• Parenting skills and childcare.
• Transport: Transport may be available to support you with getting your child to the childcare provider and then onto your education placement. 
• Childcare Costs: Funding may be available to help with childcare costs.

The role of the SAM Coordinator is to assist young people in partnership with schools and other services to achieve their full potential.  The SAM Coordinator will:

• provide individual support for each young woman referred to the service;
• provide group support as appropriate;
• ensure that information is disseminated to local groups involved directly with young parents;
• support young women access childcare and transport costs which are funded by the Department of Education;
• liaise with schools and young women to develop Individual Education Support Plans to meet the needs of young women; and
• support young women access tuition where appropriate.

The EA SAM Coordinators are Lisa Grimley, Elaine Connell and Deboragh Gormley.

The service is open to all young women attending school who are pregnant or have a baby and live in Northern Ireland. Young women can be referred to the programme when they find out they are pregnant or if they already have a baby.

• A request for support can be made by a young person, their parent, their school, social worker or Health professional using the form below.
• The SAMS Team will get back to you within five working days.

If you have any queries, please email SAMS Team at email: [email protected]

‘Children Looked After’ are those in the care of a Health & Social Care Trust or who are provided with accommodation by a Health & Social Care Trust. They may be living in residential homes or schools, with foster carers, or with a family relative or friend.

Education Welfare Service referrals for Children Looked After are allocated to EWO’s who liaise with the relevant Health & Social Care Trust staff, school staff, parents and/or foster parents and other agencies to ensure the needs of the child are addressed and that the child has access to appropriate education provision and support.

The EA Children Looked After Advisory Service offers advice to primary schools across Northern Ireland. The focus of this service is to improve the socioemotional wellbeing of Children Looked After and to improve levels of attainment for Children Looked After in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.