6d Developing parents’ own abilities through Family Learning courses
The majority of UK-based funded Family Learning programmes are aimed to increase parental levels of basic skills on the grounds that research has shown a positive relationship between school achievement and parents’ increased levels of education. Some programmes use the school curriculum as the basis for parental instruction while others focus on the adult basic skills curriculum. Joint sessions where parents and children engage in child focused activities usually form a part of, and sometimes the basis, for these courses. In spite of the focus on adult basic skills, the immediate effect is often an increase in parents’ level of knowledge about the curriculum and how it is taught, and in the quality of relationships between parents and teachers.
Most programmes up to now have been aimed at developing language and literacy skills in pre - school and primary age children although there are increasingly instances of programmes in secondary schools and the targeting of other curricular areas, especially numeracy and ICT. Programmes are often funded by the Learning and Skills Council and organised at local level by a co-ordinator based in the LA, and are part of the national Skills for Life strategy http://www.dfes.gov.uk. They are typically based in, or organised through, schools and involve teachers and sometimes adult educators. Courses last about ten weeks and parents can usually acquire accreditation through the Open College Network. A typical school based course might take place weekly in a parents’ room or spare classroom and include a session for parents on their own, one for parents and children together, and one for children on their own either in a creche or as part of ordinary classroom provision.
Adaptations of the original model for parents of primary and secondary children, such as Keeping Up with the Children aim to develop parents’ adult basic skills with the support of an adult tutor and support their children by engaging in a simulated literacy or numeracy hour or in joint activities with children such as cookery, football, ICT and (in a Welsh secondary school) sheep rearing activities! Share has the specific aim of communicating educational experiences, rather than specific learning objectives, in parents only sessions with a Share facilitator, parents and children then working together at home. http://www.continyou.org.uk/content.php?CategoryID=480
Other Family Learning programmes, such as the Sheffield based REAL programme http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org provide support for parents to help their children but without an intended impact on parental levels of education. New DfES support for Key Stage 3 parents featuring James Nesbitt can be found at: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/keystage3/downloads/
Useful links:
and those of the National Literacy Trust and Basic Skills Agencies:
Student teachers: should be made aware of the existence of these programmes and their potential for enhancing curriculum links, developing relationships with parents and raising standards.
 
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