Parenting support

Involving parents in their children’s education can help remove barriers to learning, improve attitudes and behaviour, and raise attainment. Parenting support aims to equip parents and carers with the skills to support their child’s education and to deal effectively with issues that could affect their family’s well-being. Schools will need to provide:

• local services, tailored to the needs of those parents who stand to benefit most from support;
• transition information sessions for parents whose children are joining a reception class or transferring to secondary school;
• details of local and national sources of advice and support;
• access to parenting groups that use structured, evidence-based parenting programmes;
• access to informal networking opportunities such as coffee mornings and cookery or ICT classes; and,
• family learning sessions (depending on demand).

What schools should be doing:

Schools need to take a proactive approach to ensuring that families feel engaged and able to ask for support if they need it. Parenting support services can be provided either by the school or by signposting parents to existing services. Schools will need to assess existing provision and consult parents and carers, staff and the local community about their needs before deciding which approach to take.

Research carried out by Ofsted found that "services that were used by the most vulnerable parents were reported to have transformed the lives of some parents and had positive effects on their children." There is evidence to show that schools that work closely and effectively with parents have:

• improved levels of achievement;
• more positive pupil attitudes and behaviour; and,
• greater parent participation in, and support for, the life and work of the school.

Where parents are engaged with the school, they are also more likely to share information, allowing problems and misunderstandings to be reconciled before they escalate.

Parent Support Advisers:

To help schools provide parenting support as an extended service, the Parent Support Adviser (PSA) role has been created. In York there are currently three PSAs, working in small clusters of schools; find out more about the PSA role and some case studies of their work.  The work of Parent Support Advisers can be used as evidence for Ofsted’s self-evaluation form (SEF) for schools.  Read the TDA’s guidance on providing PSA evidence for the SEF.

Useful contacts are:

• Parenting for practitioners – this page has further links to and information on the parenting strategy for practitioners, parenting support, and some of the Parenting Programmes used in York
• the Parenting Strategy Team are based in The Children’s Trust Unit (CTU), Mill House, North Street. The team are available to work with partners in developing and delivering parenting information and support for mothers, fathers and carers of children 0-19 years. To contact the team, telephone the CTU on (01904) 554597 or email ctu@york.gov.uk.
• it may also be useful to search the YorOK service directory for parenting support groups that run locally.