Frequently asked questions

FAQs

How will the work of the parenting academy be split between King's College and the CWDC?

King's College will continue its world-class programme of research into what works for parents, children and families, with the exception of the personalisation project which will be terminated in December.

CWDC will take on the workforce development and support for local authorities as part of its new 'support to work with parents and families' programme and the two will collaborate through King's representation on the CWDC programme board.

Will there be any changes to the research projects?

No - the research projects will continue exactly as before, except for the Personalisation project.

Will the Commissioning Toolkit continue and can I still submit programmes to it?

The Commissioning Toolkit will continue to be developed and the process for the submission and evaluation of parenting programmes will remain the same. CWDC will promote wider awareness and use of the toolkit via the CWDC website

Will there still be training places in evidence based practice in 2010-11?

Yes.- there will be 2000 funded places allocated through CWDC.

How do I access training places for 2010-11?

Details can be found on the training places section of our website.

Will the good practice workshops continue in 2010-11?

The good practice workshops will continue until March 2010. Plans for future workshops are not clear at this stage.

Who will be offering the core skills units and working with parents training and qualification?

CWDC will support 600 practitioners to complete the working with parents qualification in 2010-11. Details of how to access this offer will be available in March or April 2010 on the CWDC website.

What post training support will be available from April 2010?

Programme related post-training support will continue to be part of the evidence-based training offer, now to be delivered through CWDC. More detail will follow and be available on the CWDC website. CWDC also plans a series of events to meet practitioners, managers and other key stakeholders as early as possible in 2010-11.

Why is this transition happening?

The 2020 Children and Young People's Workforce Strategy signalled the government's intention to simplify the footprint arrangements in England for the children and young people's workforce. It also demonstrated their intention to address the overlap of responsibilities across workforce bodies and the appropriateness of organisations with a single sector focus.

By transferring the workforce work streams of the parenting academy to CWDC, workforce development will be brought under one roof whilst ensuring continued support can be delivered to those working with parents and families (parent practitioners).

King's College London will now be directly accountable to the DCSF for its research programme rather than being accountable through the parenting academy.

Who will continue the relationships with academy partners and networks?

CWDC will work with the partnerships and networks that underpin the relationships with the parenting academy to ensure they are maintained during the transition and as the wider 'support to work with parents and families' programme is built.

Where will this piece of work fit within the new CWDC programme structure?

This area of work is hugely significant in creating better life opportunities for children and their families and will be established as a newly created programme called 'support to work with parents and families'. Key aspects of this programme will include support to the local authorities and to the third sector to ensure work with parents is informed by evidence.

Is the support to work with parents and families programme clearly spelled out in CWDC responsibilities for 2010-11?

CWDC continues to be committed to supporting those who work with parents and families. In the coming year it will make the whole of the workforce more aware of the important contribution their work brings to improved outcomes for children and young people.

How will CWDC ensure that those who work with parents and families are made aware of the support CWDC can offer?

CWDC aspires to make the whole of the workforce more aware of the important contribution their work brings to improved outcomes for children and young people and the support available.

To achieve this it will have a comprehensive programme of communication and events to involve all stakeholders. It will build and maintain web resources to communicate with those who work with parents and will make available messages that translate research into policy and practice.

In addition, CWDC will build on the parenting academy's work to influence Children's Trusts and ensure they recognise the importance of parenting strategies in supporting improved outcomes for children and young people.

Will CWDC support qualifications and training development?

CWDC will aim to provide support for updating the Work With Parents (WWP) National Occupation Standards (NOS) and qualifications and link it to the agreed strategy of the children's workforce.

How will CWDC support the delivery of qualifications and training development?

CWDC will continue to work with other organisations, such as Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) and the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) to update the WWP NOS and to develop training and qualifications linked to the agreed strategy of the children's workforce.

In addition, CWDC plans to make available 5000 places for workers engaged in outreach work from children's centres (linked to a unit of the WWP qualification) and to make available 600 places for the Level 3 WWP qualification.

It will take forward work to assess best practice in parental involvement in training and will produce materials about the common core for those who work with parents and families.

When will information on the training offers be available on the CWDC website?

We will be able to give you more details on the process for accessing the evidence-based training courses at the end of March once the Priority Groups that will receive these places have been agreed.

At that stage, parenting commissioners will be sent details of their allocation of free places accompanied by practitioner and service manager application forms. The commissioners will then pass application forms on to their selected practitioners. Please note that application forms will only be available from the commissioners.

Details of the outreach offer are already available on the website. 

How will the training be funded?

2000 free places on evidence-based parenting programmes will be available to priority groups in the coming year. These will be offered to eligible practitioners through the local authorities. Parenting commissioners will be sent details of their allocation of free places accompanied by practitioner and service manager application forms. The commissioners will then pass application forms on to their selected practitioners who fulfil the criteria. Please note that application forms will only be available from the commissioners.

Local authorities may also choose to buy places directly from the training providers.

I am interested in a specific course, how can I find out whether you will deliver training for this?

We will be able to give you more details on the courses that will be available and the priorities for the free evidence-based training offer at the end of March. Once this is agreed we will post the information on the CWDC website.

In addition, parenting commissioners will be sent details of their allocation of free places accompanied by practitioner and service manager application forms. The commissioners will then pass application forms on to their selected practitioners who fulfil the criteria. Please note that application forms will only be available from the commissioners.

How do you plan to encourage more third sector organisations to access training opportunities?

CWDC has been asked by DCSF to develop a project, in consultation with the voluntary sector, which will aim to increase engagement with evidence-based training and practice. This will be taken forward through some events later in the year. As soon as we have further details on this we will post the information on the CWDC website. The 2000 free places offer for 2010-11 will only be available to voluntary sector providers through parenting commissioners, who will hold and allocate the application forms, and will need to be within the identified priority groups.