Useful resources for practitioners working with families
Irene Graham, Programme Manager, Save the
Children
September 2010
Save the Children is
working in partnership with Families and Schools Together (FAST) to
deliver a new parenting programme across the UK. The programme aims
to engage families in their children's learning to enable them to
succeed at school.
Children growing up in poverty are less likely to do well at
school. While schools have an important role to play, research
shows that parental engagement in children's learning and
development is the single biggest factor which can help to
determine how well a child will do at school. Often, however
parents living in poverty find it hard to engage in their child's
learning - both at home and at school. The FAST programme aims to
address this.
FAST
FAST is a community based preventative support programme with a
proven track record of success. It has already transformed the
lives of children in eight countries and 2,000 schools. FAST has a
particularly strong record of working with socially marginalised
parents (retention rates amongst this group are as high as 80%).
The core aims are to enable children to:
- succeed in school and have stronger life chances because of
improved educational achievement in reading, writing and maths,
behaviour and better home-school relationships
- live in strengthened families because of improved parent-child
bonds, communication and parental confidence
- live in stronger communities with increased trust,
participation and reduced social isolation
FAST in Scotland
In Scotland, we are working with West Dunbartonshire Council to
deliver FAST to early primary school pupils in deprived areas. FAST
is run by a network of locally-based professionals and community
members. During eight weekly sessions, children and parents take
part in activities such as, eating a family meal together, family
play, communication sessions, one-to-one parent-child dedicated
support, community building and parent-parent peer time. After
graduation, parents continue to meet on a monthly basis. Each
family also receives a hamper, including books and toys, so that
they can continue to support their child's learning at home.
The evaluation of the pilot in Scotland found clear improvement
in 'family functioning'. As one parent said "Now I spend a
couple of hours playing games with my daughter every single
night." The evaluation also noted significant improvement in
the children's relationships with classmates and their attitude to
school and teachers.
The way forward
Save the Children considers that there has to be greater
recognition in Scottish society of the pivotal importance of
parenting and family functioning in children's learning. Having
looked at the range of parenting programmes, we believe FAST to be
the most cost effective and the one which delivers results in the
home, in school and in the community.
If you are interested in learning more about FAST and delivering
the programme in your area do come to our workshop at the Parenting across Scotland
conference in November or contact Irene Graham: i.graham@savethechildren.org.uk
or 0141 763 2871