Warwickshire Direct
Warwickshire's Family Information Service
- What is the Family Information Service (FIS)?
- What sort of information does the FIS provide to Warwickshire families?
- FIS leaflets and factsheets
- Family Matters
- Further help - Accessing FIS information
- FIS - Information in other languages
- Contact details for other local Family Information Services
- Feedback - How can we improve our service?
What is the Warwickshire Family Information Service?
The Family Information Service (FIS) is for Warwickshire families with children and young people aged between 0 and 20 years of age.
We also provide information for professionals working with Warwickshire children, young people and families.
What sort of information does the FIS provide to Warwickshire families?
We give free information and advice to parents and carers on a wide-range of issues affecting every day family life including:
- Choosing childcare - Everything you need to know about choosing childcare in Warwickshire including, different types of childcare explained, questions to ask providers and help with paying for childcare.
- Financial help for families - Information on family finances, benefits you may be entitled to, financial help when bringing up children, help with childcare costs and much, much more.
- Parenting support - Support, information and advice for mums, dads, lone parents, new parents and parents to be and how you can develop your parenting skills.
- Employment rights for working parents - Information on maternity rights and pay, paternity leave and pay, flexible working and work / life balance, parental leave, time off for dependents and adoption leave and pay.
- Disability support - Financial support, information and local and national support services details for families living with disability.
- Dealing with bullying - Information on what bullying is, what you can do and where you can get help if your child is being bullied, including details of our Anti-bullying helpline.
- Warwickshire Directory of Services for the Community - Here you can find information about local organisations, groups and agencies that provide activities, advice, services and support available to you.
- Legal advice and support for families - Gives details of where you can get information, advice and guidance on legal issues that can affect family life and any relevant support services.
If we can't provide the answer to your enquiry, we can put you in touch with experts who can, so please do not hesitate to call us.
FIS leaflets and factsheets
As well as stocking a number of approved leaflets from different organisations and services on a wide range of family - related issues, the Family Information Service also produces a number of leaflets and factsheets to help you and your family.
Each leaflet is full of practical tips and advice on that particular subject. Each leaflet and factsheet has been carefully and extensively researched to ensure that the information included is accurate and up to date. By using clear and simple language even the most complex and difficult issues are made easy to understand.
If you have Adobe Acrobat on your computer, you can download any of these leaflets and factsheets from the list below. If you would prefer to have a copy of any fact sheet or leaflet sent to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
FIS leaflets:
Choosing Childcare and Early Education (pdf, 330Kb)
Dealing with Bullying - A Parent's Guide (pdf, 480Kb)
Dealing with Discrimination - A Parent's Guide (pdf, 297Kb)
Dealing with Separation and Divorce (pdf, 316Kb)
Encouraging Good Behaviour (pdf, 349Kb)
Life with a Teenager (pdf, 121Kb)
Moving on to Secondary School (pdf, 279Kb)
Surfing Safely - Your Family's Guide to Internet Safety (pdf, 193Kb)
Tackling Homework and Revision (pdf, 99Kb)
Talking to Your Children about Relationships and Sex (pdf, 408Kb)
Your Child's Learning - Getting Involved (pdf, 150Kb)
FIS factsheets (general):
Dealing with Bullying: Writing a letter of complaint to your child's school (pdf, 248Kb)
Your Rights at Work (pdf, 67Kb)
Family Information Direct - Organisations offering Support for Parents (pdf, 284Kb)
Disability and Special Educational Needs Contacts (pdf, 170Kb)
Revision Techniques for Young People (pdf, 448Kb)
Education - Learning Opportunities in Warwickshire (pdf, 139Kb)
Ofsted Inspection Reports on Childminders (pdf, 130Kb)
What do I need to know about childcare contracts? (pdf, 136Kb)
What do I do if I am unhappy with the childcare my child is getting? (pdf, 172Kb)
FIS factsheets (financial):
Financial Support for Parents & Lone Parents (pdf, 287Kb)
Financial Support for Families - general summary
Financial Help for Parents / Carers affected by Bereavement (pdf, 259Kb)
Financial Help for Carers (pdf, 273Kb)
Financial Help for Families affected by Disability (pdf, 288Kb)
Financial Help for Parents / Carers in Work and on Low Pay (pdf, 278Kb)
Financial Support if you are Expecting a Baby (pdf, 301Kb)
Financial Help for Parents / Carers affected by Serious Illness (pdf, 288Kb)
Financial Help for Parents / Carers affected by Unemployment (pdf, 294Kb)
Family Matters
Family Matters is the newsletter for Warwickshire families with children and young people aged 0 - 20.
The Family Information Service created this publication to help you find out more about local services and support available to you.
The Government's Every Child Matters: Change for Children agenda influences the content of the magazine and each issue focuses on one of the five outcomes identified by children and young people as being important to them providing information on how local services help Warwickshire families to achieve these outcomes.
If you have Adobe Acrobat on your computer, you can download any of the most recent issues of Family Matters from the list below. If you are interested in accessing earlier issues of Family Matters, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Issue 14: Family Matters March 2012 - Be Healthy
Issue 13: Family Matters - December 2011 (pdf, 500Kb)
Issue 12: Family Matters - September 2011 (pdf, 906Kb)
Issue 11: Making a Positive Contribution - May 2011 (pdf, 867Kb)
Issue 10: Enjoy and Achieve - Jan 2011 (pdf, 1.0Mb)
Issue 9: Achieve Economic Wellbeing - Oct 2010 (pdf, 708Kb)
Further help - Accessing FIS information
We want to ensure that the services and information that we provide is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility on the Warwickshire website gives you advice on how to make our information more accessible to you, including information on:
- How to install Browsealoud
- How to change font size
- How to view text only
- How to use text alternatives
FIS information in other languages
We also provide information about the Warwickshire Family Information Service in a number of our community's other languages. Simply click on the relevant document below to find out more.
Contact details for other local Family Information Services
The Warwickshire Family Information Service (FIS) can only hold the details of service providers based within Warwickshire. If you live or work on the Warwickshire border you may need to contact one of our neighbouring Family Information Services to get the full picture of services including childcare providers and activities in your area.
Contact details for other local Family Information Services (pdf, 25Kb)
Feedback - How can we improve our service?
If you have any suggestions on how we can improve our service, we would really like to hear from you. Your views are really important to us as it helps us to develop and improve the service that we can offer to our customers in the future.
If you have any queries, comments or suggestions about the Warwickshire Family Information Service, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Alternatively, you can share your views about our service by completing our FIS Online Feedback Form.
