Parental involvement is seen as a very valuable part of a child’s education, yet what’s often forgotten is the enormous benefit it can bring for the parents too. Armadale Primary School in West Lothian has seen the results first hand thanks to a new support group for the parents of nursery children.
Led by social worker John Rogers with Fiona Johnston, the school’s nurture group teacher, the group is a great example of joined-up working between social policy and education. It’s particularly beneficial for the parents and carers of children with behavioural problems, or parents who themselves have personal challenges to overcome.
Bringing parents and kids together
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Laura, for example, has a 1-year-old daughter and a son, who’s 4. Laura finds her son's behaviour difficult to handle, but the Armadale programme has greatly improved their relationship.
'He's a wee bit of a handful, which is one of the reasons I come to this group,' she explains. 'It’s brought a bond between me and him because we can sit down and talk to each other now. Before, he wouldn’t sit down and he wouldn’t do anything. Now he’ll sit and do jigsaws, draw with you. He does a lot more towards his learning now and he’s always singing!'
Managing difficult behaviour
The support group meets each week for a full-day workshop. The day starts with a support session for parents, where they are encouraged to work through their own personal issues and develop their self-esteem. After lunch, the parents take part in a play activity with their child, which is videoed and discussed later in the afternoon. Although initially daunted by this prospect, parents became more aware of how they support their children and started to discuss different ways of interacting.
The final session of the day gives parents ideas for managing difficult behaviour and supporting learning and development. 'The programme has helped me because I’ve learnt that I am his main teacher for most of his life, and everything I do with him involves teaching of some sort,' says Angie, whose children attend the nursery.
New friendships and happier families
The support they have received from Armadale Primary School has helped parents feel less isolated and developed positive relationships between parents and staff. 'Now I’m involved with the school I talk to the teachers and we actually work together,' said one Laura who is one of the parents. 'I now feel if my child has a problem at school I can approach the school and get the problem resolved.'
Strong bonds have also formed between some of the parents attending the group, who have made firm friendships and found new confidence. So much so that a few of the parents are looking into the possibility of returning to work and one has plans to enrol on a college course.
Of course, the biggest benefit of all is for the family unit as a whole. 'It’s made us a happier family,' says Laura. 'Definitely.'
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