Involving parents and families

We are developing work to ensure that the views of parents and families are taken into account in the decisions we make and the work we do.

We believe that children, young people, parents and families have a right to be involved in decisions that affect them. The decisions and plans made about the development and reform of the children's workforce nationally, regionally and locally impact on the lives of children, young people and families. Therefore we believe that children, young people, parents and families should be involved in the development and reform of the children's workforce.

Do you work with parents and families?

If you work with parents, families, children and young people and would like to hear about opportunities for them to get involved in our work please join our database of groups.

We are also looking for examples, case studies and resources around the participation and involvement of parents and families. If you have something to share please contact us.

Resources

Parent and carer engagement toolkit

As part of our participation fund programme, Staffordshire Children's Trust developed a parental engagement toolkit. The toolkit was developed in partnership with parents and was piloted by a range of settings in Stoke and Staffordshire. The toolkit is available online and is made up of a range of downloadable activities and factsheets as well as short film clips. It is designed to help services work together with parents and families to assess how good they are at engaging parents and to develop an action plan for improvement.

Take a look at the parent and carer engagement toolkit.

Acceleration toolkit - engaging young parents

The acceleration toolkit was developed by The Beat Project in partnership with Busymummy as part of the Participation Fund programme. It is aimed at professionals wanting to engage with young parents. This was developed with young parents and a range of different professionals working in Kent.

Take a look at the acceleration toolkit [PDF - 1.3 Mb].

Where's Dad?

What do mothers, fathers and children think about involving dads in early years settings? Find out in the Where's Dad report. This report and briefing detail the results of a qualitative research project undertaken by the Pre-school Learning Alliance as part of the Participation Fund programme.

The report gives details of the views of fathers, mothers and children under the age of five on father engagement in early years settings and shares the learning of one of the settings which undertook child consultations. The briefing highlights the key findings from the report and is aimed at practitioners.

View the Where's Dad project report [PDF - 943 Kb]
View the Where's Dad project briefing [PDF - 267 Kb]

Vist our participation fund pages to find out about the other projects funded between 2007 and 2010.