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Reports on our events

Parenting conferences, seminars, lectures and celebrations

UNCRC - Making the right to play real for parents and children

11 April 2022

Parenting across Scotland held a webinar on 30 March 2022 on the UNCRC: Making the right to play real for parents and children with speakers; Marguerite Hunter Blair, Chief Executive of Play Scotland and Professor John McKendrick, Glasgow Caledonian University.

UNCRC - Supporting families webinar

26 January 2022

PAS brought together leading experts in Scotland to discuss how implementation of the UNCRC in Scotland can help to solve the systemic problems of poverty and housing that parents and carers are facing, and how whole family support must be part of that picture.

The UNCRC - What does it mean for families?

1 November 2021

Parenting across Scotland held a webinar on 16 Sept 2021 on the UNCRC: What does it mean for families? With speakers, Juliet Harris, Director, Together and Professor Brid Featherstone, Professor of Social Work, University of Huddersfield.

Covid and the under-fives: impact and recovery

20 August 2021

The first few years of life lay the foundations of future wellbeing and health but there’s been little attention paid to the experiences of under-fives and their families during the pandemic. This Parenting across Scotland (PAS) webinar explored the issues, the research, and the experience of those supporting under-fives and their families.

Supporting families through ELC

11 March 2020

Families need support in the early days as they adjust to a new life with their child and have to learn a whole new array of skills such as breastfeeding, weaning, how to get their baby to sleep. The expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland offers opportunities to provide families with that support through working with families as well as children.

Supporting families: a rights-based approach

1 October 2019

Many families in Scotland are struggling because of austerity. Finances, housing and health are all under pressure. The UNCRC states that the family is the most appropriate place for children and that parents hold rights on behalf of their children, and that the state has a duty to support parents in delivering these rights. Parenting across Scotland and Home-Start Scotland came together to explore how the incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots law can support families to exercise these rights on behalf of their children.

Protecting children: a social model

This event celebrated the launch of Protecting children: a social model. The book’s key thesis is that the practices that have been developed to protect children need to be understood and located within a wider appreciation, that for many families, especially those living in poverty, such practices are experienced as paradoxically over-intrusive and neglectful. The authors argue that another way is possible, and offer a message of hope developing a social model of protecting children.

PAS conference 2018

Over 80 delegates attended our conference on 26 April 2018 at the West Park conference Centre in Dundee. SallyAnne Kelly, CEO, Aberlour opened the conference discussion by shining a spotlight on the struggle many families face to secure sufficient income, adequate housing and opportunities to thrive.

Creating loving relationships report cover

PAS conference 2015

PAS held its conference 'Creating loving relationships' on 12 March 2015 in Dundee. It attracted over 140 participants from across the range of professions connected to children, young people, families and parenting whether as researchers, policy makers or practitioners. The spread of organisations represented emphasised just how extensive and important the issues are to so many areas of policy.

10th anniversary celebration

Our biggest celebration event for our 10th anniversary took place in the Scottish Parliament on 4 December 2014. Along with a showing of parents' video selfies, we launched a report of our first ten years of working for parents and families in Scotland, concluding 'what a difference a decade makes'.

10th anniversary lecture

Brid Featherstone, professor of social work at the Open University, eloquently outlined the evidence on inequality and the beliefs that allow it to persist at our 10th anniversary lecture at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 12 October 2014.

Let's talk teens seminar 2014

Parents of teenagers are looking for information. The 'teenagers' section of the information for families on our website is one of the most visited. One of the most frequently-used search terms is 'parenting classes' and 'teenagers'. Over a third of calls to Parentline are from parents of teenagers. In April 2014 we held a seminar to launch the findings of our research into the information needs of parents of teenagers.

Evidence review seminar 2014

Anecdotally we all know that the shape of the family in Scotland is changing, but what evidence do we have to show how it's changing? PAS commissioned an evidence review from the Evidence Request Bank to examine 'The changing shape of families in Scotland'. We launched the evidence review at a seminar on 20 May 2014 at Creative Scotland in Edinburgh, presenting the findings and giving the Scottish Government and a panel the chance to respond.

Incredible Years seminar 2012

The highly-regarded 'Incredible Years' programme was the focus of a PAS seminar in spring 2012. Presentations came from Professor Judy Hutchings, director of the research team at the Centre for Evidence-Based Early Intervention at Bangor University, and Brenda Renz, programme director, Psychology of Parenting project, NHS Education for Scotland.

PAS conference 2012

A full house of over 200 delegates attended our annual conference on 3 October 2012 at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh. Aileen Campbell MSP launched the Scottish Government's long-awaited National Parenting Strategy.