In May 2008, the Department for Children Schools and Families published research showing parents want more involvement in their children’s education and prefer informal chats with school staff instead of parents' evenings. The research showed half of all parents feel very involved their child's education - up from just 29% in 2001 - and the majority (65%) want to get even more involved. Parents now see informal discussions with school staff as the most useful way of finding out about a child's progress. Read the full article at www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2008_0083

In December 2007, the TES reported on findings from the Primary Review, which include reports by Manchester and Leeds academics. They say that the drive to meet Government targets for tests and the Every Child Matters outcomes has altered the relationship between schools and families. Teachers are now being pushed into basing their judgements of pupils on race, class and gender rather than their individual abilities. The report said: "methods to tackle underachievement with broad solutions based on ethnicity, gender or learning styles, are too simple to work well, can reinforce prejudice and underestimate children’s abilities". The researchers went on to point out that schools tend to be less diverse than the national picture as variations are not evenly spread.

The full report, Children, identity, diversity and inclusion in primary education by Mel Ainscow, Alan Dyson and Jean Conteh, can be found at www.primaryreview.org.uk/Publications/Publicationshome.html

In November 2007, the TES reported on Bernard Levey, an educational psychologist from Hull, who observed a project in which support assistants helped parents of 143 primary school pupils (all with literacy difficulties) to work with their children. He found that children’s literacy levels improve significantly if teachers help parents to read with their children. Mr Levey also noticed that parents’ interest in literacy increased , and the schools involved recognised that parents can make a difference to children’s literacy. In the same month, as part of the Primary Review, Cambridge University released research which found that many children’s homes were becoming classrooms and others were being looked after in after-school centres while their parents worked long hours. They warned that drives to increase parent involvement in their child’s education – a focus of the 10-year children’s plan – could backfire.

The study says that parents feel intense pressure to read to their children and help with their homework but many are intimidated by academia, while others feel guilty for failing to meet their children’s expectations. It added that wraparound care was increasing pressures on children and schools find it ever more difficult to talk to parents as family structures shift. (Guardian/Daily Mail, 23 November 2007).


In November 2007, Children and Young People Now reported that a pilot project to encourage parents to get involved with their children’s education to try and reduce levels of truancy and exclusions was showing success. 20 local authorities in England chose to pilot the Parent Support Advisers Project, which the Government launched in 2006. Barking and Dagenham, one of the volunteer LAs, commissioned charity School-Home Support Services to recruit, train and support 15 dedicated parent support advisers. The advisers are based in schools and encourage parents to get involved with their child’s education and also act as mediators between school and home. The DCSF pilot will run until July 2008.

In October 2007 Ed Balls, children's secretary, stressed that ten minutes bedtime reading a night for every child is as important as a good diet and healthy lifestyle. Parents were reminded that reading bedtime stories should be as much a part of their routine as brushing teeth. For more information visit www.dfes.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2007_0197.

In October 2007, the TES reported on a parental strategy group in the Scottish borders, which looked at how schools can engage with parents in a more meaningful way. To read the article in full visit www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2444208.

In September 2007, the Independent reported on research of 1,800 parents, commissioned by Booktime, which found that children of primary school age spend more time reading on their own than reading with their parents. It also found children spent more time playing on their own, with friends or in front of the television than they did with their parents. Children aged four to nine spend twice as long watching TV (7 hrs 46 mins a week) as they do spending time reading a book with an adult.

The survey also found that 69% of mothers who earn £30,000 to £50,000 a year read to their children, compared with 74% of those earning £10,000 to £20,000, and 84% of those making less than £10,000.

A report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in June 2007 found that white, working-class, British boys were persistently the worse performers over any other ethnic or gender group in schools. The study found that this group accounted for almost half of school-leavers with no or low qualifications. The report suggested that such low achievement was due to parents failing to talk to their children at home and a community culture of learning being ‘uncool’. The report said: “A key factor is the home learning environment. The amount parents read to their children, the number of books in the home, the degree to which parents support their children in and out of school. Language development is a further factor.” Tackling low educational achievement is available in electronic format from www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/details.asp?pubID=901

Grandparents can help children achieve at school

The Guardian has reported on a statement by Ofsted, which has said that schools that involve grandparents and extended family members in their pupils’ education have reported significant improvements in children’s attitudes and achievements. Because parents and carers find it ever more difficult to get into schools due to work commitments, the extended family is making an increasingly important contribution. A small survey found grandparents could help with history and literacy, while grandparents with English as a second language could act as translators.

(Guardian, 18 July 2007)

Bedtime stories a problem for many parents

The Guardian has covered results of a survey by Learndirect that was carried out as part of the launch of their free children’s book ‘Where did the river go?’, which is backed by television presenter Eamonn Holmes.

The survey of 1,000 parents with children aged five to 10 found that one in five parents had difficulties with English homework and 12% of parents said they struggled to understand books they read to their children; almost a quarter (23%) said they skip passages they cannot read or invent words to get to the end of a sentence.

Despite the difficulties, the poll found that reading stories is enjoying a renaissance, with 73% of families preferring it to playing in the park or watching TV.

(Guardian, 24 July 2007)

Legislation puts fathers on equal footing in schools

The TES has reported on the Gender Equality Duty – new legislation which came into force in April. It means that schools, many of which sideline fathers despite research showing the importance of their involvement in their children’s education, will be obliged to place mothers and fathers on an equal footing. Parental involvement is a key government policy area and the Parental Involvement Act, 2006 aims to provide parents with more opportunities to be involved with their children’s school life.

Duncan Fisher, of Fathers Direct told the TES: “When schools are faced with a mother saying she doesn’t want the father to be involved, the current approach is simply to say ‘OK’. Instead, that should be identified immediately as a major risk factor for the child’s learning. The school cannot ignore it.”

For tips, ideas and examples of good practice for practitioners on how to engage fathers, the NLT has produced Getting the Blokes on Board: involving fathers and male carers in reading with their children magazine.

(TES, 15 June 2007)

New research into home-based learning

The TES has reported on research, led by Kathy Sylva at Oxford University, which claims that reading aloud to primary pupils has minimal effect on their literacy skills. The study found that the reading ability of less able pupils does not significantly improve if they are read to by adults. Instead, they benefit most from adults listening to them read.

The study of 3,000 children in 800 primaries in England also found that educational activities, such as using a computer at home, do not always contribute to educational development. Moderate use of home computers did have a positive effect on maths ability but excessive use did not increase ability.

Reading was found to be improved through one-to-one interaction with parents, both in reading itself and through other shared activities, with the less able benefiting most from parents listening to them read. However, Prof. Sylva said that reading to children was important for bonding, social and motivational reasons. She said: “There is a school of thought that if you have a struggling reader you should expose them to a rich variety of language, read to them, get them interested and help them develop a love of books. That is not enough. By the age of seven really listening to them read is more important.”

The study also found that expressive play, such as dressing-up and role-play, helped children’s reading; however, large amounts of playtime were not more beneficial than a moderate amount of play. Language-rich activities such as reading to the child, listening to the child and adult-child play all contributed to better social ability.

The only home-based activity that consistently contributed to all forms of children’s development, including behaviour, was one-to-one interaction between parent and child- the more the better.

(TES, 1 June 2007)

New national college for parenting

The Telegraph has reported that the Government has set aside £30million for a new academy to coach parents in a bid to curb antisocial behaviour in society. The academy will be based at King’s College, London. The National Academy of Parenting Practitioners will include courses designed to improve father-children bonds and catch-up classes for parents with literacy and numeracy problems. It will train practitioners who work with parents in local community.

The academy will be run in partnership with the Family and Parenting Institute and Parenting, UK.

(The Telegraph, 25 April 2007)

Study shows children suffer from lack of fathers' involvement

The Guardian has reported on the Equal Opportunities Commission announcement that children are more likely to suffer development problems if their fathers do not spend enough time with them when very young. The report The State of the Modern Family, found that emotional and behavioural problems were more common by the time youngsters reached the age of three if their fathers had not taken time off work when they were born, or had not used flexible working to have a more positive role in their upbringing. They study was based on 19,000 children born in 2000 and 2001.

(Guardian, 6 March 2007)

Every Parent Matters strategy, with fathers focus, announced

The Guardian has reported on how fathers-only school parent evenings and other special events are to form a big part of the Every Parent Matters strategy. Research shows disengagement of fathers is a crucial source of the relative failure of boys in schools and argued that many unsupportive fathers have had a negative experience of school themselves. One solution covered by the Guardian is to ask disengaged fathers to attend courses designed to help them in their role as a father, understand the value of school or to offer practical educational advice.

The strategy also says that parents with poor literacy and numeracy will be targeted for family learning courses and provided with "learning packs". Other examples of good practice it highlights include training councils to deliver information sessions for parents, establishing parent councils, making home visits before children start school, and offering activities that make it easier for working parents to be involved.

(Guardian, 27 February 2007)

Proof that parents are teachers too

The Independent has reported that in 13 assessments, ranging from testing skills in maths and reading to observing emotional development, four- and five- year-old children scored less well in 2006 than in 2005. Ministers said that the way tests are scored has become tougher but Dr Madeleine Portwood, an educational psychologist, said the reason is that parents do not spend enough time playing with or talking to their children before they start school, and that if the effort is not put in before children start school, youngsters become disaffected in school because they have not learnt the skills of concentration and social interaction they need.

(Independent, 22 February 2007)

Online toolkit to help parents become partners in learning in Scotland

The Parents as Partners in their Children's Learning Toolkit has been developed by the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) to provide parents and staff in education authorities and schools with a practical resource to support partnership with parents in all aspects of children's learning. National guidance on this has also been published on the Learning and Teaching Scotland online service.

For more information, visit www.ltscotland.org.uk/parentsaspartnersinlearning/toolkit/introduction.asp

(LTS Scotland, February 2007)

Extended schools: support for parents causing concern

Parenting support is the most troublesome element of the extended schools core offer, it emerged last week.

Schools are also finding it hard to provide wider community access, according to the first breakdown of how they are meeting individual aspects of the core offer. The research by the Training and Development Agency (TDA) reveals only 23% of all schools are providing parenting support and community use.

The DfES is conducting a pilot where 600 parent support advisers are working with 20 local authorities around the country in order to help better understand the issues that surround providing effective support for parents.

Gill Morris, national programme manager for family learning at ContinYou, said schools themselves can be a big barrier to parental involvement.

"Schools have got to make themselves more accessible," she said. "Sometimes the buildings can be threatening and the terminology used in school frightens a lot of people."

Morris added that schools must make the effort to approach parents through home visits, phone calls or a simple walk round the playground after school, rather than expecting parents to come in.

More than 3,000 schools provide all parts of the core offer. The parenting support element requires them to provide parenting programmes, family learning sessions and information sessions for parents. A recent survey of trends in education by the National Foundation for Education Research concluded that a key challenge was "to ensure pupils and families take up the opportunities offered by extended schools".

(Children Now, 8-14 November 2006)

Childhood ends earlier as parents pressure youngsters, says survey

Increasing numbers of parents are pushing their children to read books aimed at a higher age to fast-track their education to the detriment of their development, it has been claimed. A survey comparing the childhood experiences of mothers and fathers with their own children has prompted fears that this generation is growing up faster than any other in history.

It found that children today stop believing such things as elves, goblins and fairies around the age of six, whereas their parents mostly held on to such beliefs until the age of 10. More than 60% of parents try to get their children to read literature above their reading rates, according to the survey of 4,000 parents of pre-teen children.

A separate report released from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) supported the notion that pushing children too hard at a young age can backfire. Academic results themselves do not ensure a higher income, and too much focus on them can inhibit social development and confidence, it said.

The survey of comparative childhood experiences was conducted for the Cartoon Network children's channel. It found that academic pressures were cutting into leisure time, with 85% of parents saying they arranged extra-curricular educational activities for their children. There were 35% of parents who said their children spent at least half an hour a night on homework and revision.

Cecilia Persson, of the Cartoon Network, said: "Childhood is over all too quickly these days and we are hoping that this research will highlight to parents the importance of encouraging children to exercise their imaginations and take a break from the demands of life." The IPPR study was based on surveys from people born in 1958 and 1970 and found that personal and social skills, like communication, self-esteem, planning and self-control, became 33 times more important in determining earnings between the two generations.

The IPPR report recommends that the school day be longer so pupils can develop skills through after-school arts and sports clubs or scouts, cadets and martial arts. Parents should face fines if they failed to make sure their children attended some of these clubs, it said.

(Guardian, 6 November 2006)

One person should oversee parents' services

The Government is calling on local authorities to identify one person to oversee all of their parenting support services. Recent guidance from the Department for Education and Skills also states that councils should ensure that they commission parenting programmes that are evidence-based. They should draw up a 'parenting support strategy' that informs their children and young people's plan, and takes account of parents' views.

For more information visit www.everychildmatters.gov.uk

(Children Now, October 2006)

Atypical working hours and family life

In September 2006 the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) published Working atypical hours: what happens to family life? by Matt Barnes, Caroline Bryson and Ruth Smith, based on an analysis of the UK 2000 Time Use Survey, (for which interviews were completed in 2000-2001 in over 6000 households, involving over 11,000 individuals). This study focuses on parents' working patterns, and associations between these and the way that families spend their time. Atypical working is defined as before 8am or after 7pm on a weekday, and work at any time during the weekend. Findings include:

• Eight out of ten working fathers and half of working (lone and couple) mothers worked atypical times, e.g. weekend working.
• Forty two per cent of parents worked one or both days of the weekend.
• The average working mother (lone or couple) spends around six hours a week with her children at mealtimes, the average non-working mother with a working partner spends about 12 hours, and the average working father in dual-working households spends about 5 hours.
• There are no significant differences between the amount of time that lone mothers who work atypical times spend on playing, reading and teaching their children, compared their counterparts who work only during normal working hours.
• For working mothers in dual earner families, working at atypical times during week days appears to be associated with spending less time playing, reading and teaching with their children.

For a copy of the full report email Sue Johnson on info@natcen.ac.uk To download the summary (pdf file) visit www.natcen.ac.uk

Too tired or can't be bothered to read to your children?

Research, conducted by the publisher Pearson, has found that one parent in 10 of primary-school children never reads to them. And if you're a child in Yorkshire you've only got a one in two chance of ever getting a bedtime story from mum or dad. 49% of Yorkshire parents say they never read to their kids. In Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire it's 43%. In London 41% of parents read to their children every day and the figure is 35% in Scotland and 32% in the north-east.

As school begins the daily habit suffers, with just a third of parents nationwide reading aloud every day. Dads are the least dedicated, with one in seven never reading to their children. A quarter of all parents skip pages to finish a book more quickly. When parents do read to their children they spend an average of 10-15 minutes doing so. The average time spent by a child watching TV every day is one hour and 29 minutes.

In response to their research Pearson has launched an initiative to distribute one million free books to children starting school. Marjorie Scardino, chief executive of Pearson, said: "Many children don't have sufficient access to books, let alone the privilege of owning them. We hope this will help teachers and parents kickstart a love of reading, which has to be one of the best starts you can give a child in life."

Jim Trelease, America's foremost expert on reading aloud, welcomes the initiative but wants to go further. He wants nothing less than government-led "read to the kiddos" crusades, similar to the campaign against smoking. He cites the anti-smoking campaign's success in informing, frightening and shaming people into changing their behaviour.

He draws on numerous research studies that show that the best way to boost children's language skills and provide them with the knowledge required to learn to read well themselves is to read aloud to them. This, according to research, is better than work sheets, flash cards or any other reading scheme. This is because reading aloud to a child repeatedly over time conditions the brain to associate reading with pleasure, creates background knowledge on all manner of subjects, builds vocabulary and provides the child with a reading role model.

For Trelease the pleasure principle is key, he says: "Human beings will voluntarily do over and over that which brings them pleasure. Every time we read to a child, we-re sending a 'plesure' message to the child's brain."

By the age of four a child already understands two thirds to three quarters of the words he will use in future daily life. When he arrives at school the child from a professional family will have heard 45 million words, the working-class child 26 million and the child on welfare just 13 million. That's 32 million fewer words than the kids of well-educated parents have heard. Already those kids are likely to have a smaller vocabulary.

Of course, quantity of words does not necessarily mean quality. The quality of the vocabulary that a child hears is increased through reading. The common lexicon that we use in conversation consists of about 10,000 words. An adult talking to a child will use only nine "rare words" per thousand. Those are word beyond the common lexicon. Prime-time television will have 22 rare words per thousand. A children's book will have 31 rare words per thousand. So the best way of pouring words into a child's head, familiarising him or her with their sounds, is by reading.

This can be done at school but Trelease points out that a child spends 900 hours a year in school and 7,800 hours outside it. One-to-one reading at home is the key, Trelease says: "Somewhere in that seven-day week there must be time for your child to discover the specialness of you, one-to-one, even if it's only once or twice a week."

This can start as young as you like. Trelease quotes studies that show that reading to a baby in utero can help to associate a parent's voice with comfort and security. He adds that "almost as big a mistake as not reading to children at all is stopping too soon". This is because children listen and understand on a higher level than they can read themselves. Trelease advocates reading to adolescents. He insists that there is no need to rush children into learning to read themselves, pointing out that in Finland, the country with the highest reading scores among children, kids aren't taught to read until they are seven.

He also reserves tough words for dads: they must do better. There needs to be more reading to their kids. This is particularly crucial for boys: the vast majority of them will ot be read to be a male teacher because most primary school teachers are women.

(The Times, 18 October 2006)

Does having pushy parents make you healthy and happy?

Parents who fill their children's free tine with activities such as music lessons and swimming are bringing them lifelong benefits, according to research in the US. The growing belief that pushy parents who over-schedule youngsters' lives are condemning them to anxiety and depression is challenged by the study. It found that children who follow a busy timetable of after-school activities are happier, healthier and brainier.

Even a gruelling schedule of 20 hours organised activities a week brings some benefits, including better performance in the classroom. Lead researcher, Dr Joseph Maloney, of Yale University, said: "Our research shows that children who take part in organised activities benefit developmentally. They are healthier, judging from their academic performance and indicators of psychological and emotional well-being and self-esteem, as well as from their lack of use of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, and their parent-child relationships. They are more competent than other children, better adjusted, less prone to anti-social behaviour such as dropping out of school, getting arrested and/or substance use."

The study involved more than 2,000 American youngsters aged five to 18.

(Daily Mail, 9 October 2006)

Today's busy parents see more of their children than 30 years ago

The pace of modern life means parents are busier now than they have ever been but they are actually spending more time with their children than parents did 30 years ago, according to a report by the Future Foundation - a consumer think-tank.

Known as 'super-parents', they spend an average of nearly 100 minutes a day on childcare, rising to over 200 minutes when they care for the under-threes. This far exceeds the 25 minutes a day those in the 1970s spent looking after their children. Today's parents are more likely to sacrifice time with their partners than their offspring. This is despite the commonly held view that modern families do not have as much time to devote to their children as in previous generations. The explanation, researchers believe, is that women in the 1970s who stayed at home were often occupied by housework rather than quality time with their youngsters.

The Changing Face of Parenting report was commissioned by Calpol and as based on a survey of 795 parents and non-parents in April 2006. It found that women still shoulder most childcare responsibilities, they also lost the most sleep.

Hugh McKinney, of the National Family Campaign, said: "The rise in daytime children's television will mean for many parents that any such extra time with their youngsters is spent in front of the television rather than interacting with them."

(Daily Mail, 4 October 2006)

Unsocial work hours 'damage 9 in 10 families'

Children are missing out on crucial time reading, playing and eating with their parents, according to a study that reveals nine out of 10 families suffer from unsocial working hours. Eight out of 10 working fathers and more than half of all working mothers are forced to work outside the hours of 8am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, says a report from the National Centre for Social Research.

Family life is being irrevocably damaged because few parents ever make up the time lost, the study of 11,000 people found. Mothers working unsocial hours are losing eight hours a week with their children, while a third of working fathers are losing more than 15. Only 17% of families had a parent working the "normal" nine-to-five week.

(Telegraph, 18 September 2006)

Reading Agency dads promotion

The Reading Agency is offering a book promotion for dads this autumn linked to RaW. Five Minutes is aimed at dads with low literacy who have children aged between 0 to 10 years. Using the concept of dads finding time to read to their children, it actively promotes the library as the place for dads to discover books to share with their children and to enjoy themselves. The Five Minutes design shows a dad shaving with a child waiting to be read to and uses the strapline 'It takes five minutes..so does a story'.

The promotion is designed to support work on BBC RaW and will carry the RaW logo and website address. It is backed up by a new booklist which will be available on the Vital Link website at www.vitallink.org.uk featuring both dads and children's titles that have been chosen according to the Vital Link Stock Selection Criteria.

Please see www.readingagency.org.uk for further details and an order form, follow the link for 'new support resources' by the BBC logo on the front page. The link to the order form is at the bottom of the BBC Campaigns TRA Resources page.

(September, 2006)

Campaign to encourage literary visits and reading

38 contemporary and classic children's authors are celebrated in Storybook England, a six-month campaign by the English section of tourism agency VisitBritain, to persuade schools and families to visit more literary landmarks and read the books that inspired them.

The campaign includes promotions through branches of Starbucks, Waterstone's and the Early Learning Centre, plus a chance to win books and holiday vouchers through the Pre-school Learning Alliance. However, the key element is a free A1 colour map poster available from 1 September 2006 (a downloadable teachers' pack will follow early in the autumn 2006 term) which tracks key authors' English locations.

So it introduces Tyneside and Tynemouth through the novels of David Almond and Robert Westall, the Hampshire Downs via Fiver and friends in Richard Adams' Watership Down, Gloucester Cathedral and London's Foundling Museum through Jamila Gavin's Coram Boy and Paddington Station via Darkest Peru and duffel-coated bear (not to be confused with the bear of very little brain in Ashdown Forest). There are city locations (Peter Pan statues in both London and Liverpool) and invitations to discover Henry Williamson's Tarka country in north Devon or the original for Lucy M. Boston's Green Knowe manor in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire.

To order the Storybook England map call 0845 456 2332 or visit www.enjoyengland.com/storybook. The downloadable teaching pack, Children of Winter, will be on the site in autumn 2006 and will be reissued by Catnip Publishing in early 2007.

(TES, 1 September 2006)

Family break-ups leave British children among Europe's most deprived

A league table has found that British children are among the unhappiest and unhealthiest in Europe. A picture of dysfunctional families unable to talk to each other or eat together is painted by university researchers.

British youngsters are the most likely in Europe to come from broken homes and have among the worst relationships with parents and friends. And on a scale of 'wellbeing' they rate 21st out of 25 EU nations, trailed only by Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Slovakia.

The study at York University is based on surveys by the World Health Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. It found that divorce and family breakdown are condemning a whole generation to a future of low achievement.

The researchers said: "There is substantial evidence that children in single-parent as well as step-families tend to have worse outcomes than peers living with both biological parents." They studied 51 indicators of child wellbeing and found many youngsters in Britain are barely on speaking terms with their parents. Just 60% spoke to them several times a week while only 67% regularly sat at the table to eat with their parents, the lowest proportion in Europe. Many were unhappy at school and felt pressured.

(Daily Mail, 7 August 2006)

Home reading enters a new chapter in Scotland

Thousands more Scottish children benefited in summer 2006 from Scottish Executive funding for home reading projects designed to foster a love of books. £300,000 for the Read Together grants was shared among 370 schools, nurseries and community groups.

Projects in 2006 ranged from lending parents 'talking books' for their nursery-age children, to setting up a dads' drop-in club to get fathers more involved in their child's reading. Since it was launched in 2002, the grants scheme has invested nearly £2 million in more than 1,700 home reading projects. It is administered by Learning and Teaching Scotland in partnership with Read Together and the executive.

Robert Brown, Deputy Education Minister, said: "We want all Scottish children to be confident readers. Sharing storytime at home is great fun for parents and carers, and it can give their child a big head start in the classroom. These grants are just one of the things we are doing to raise literacy levels, and we know we are making progress. Most pupils are already reading at or above the levels expected for their age, and 2006's home reading grants will help us keep up that momentum."

Examples of projects that benefited from the funding include:

• Hamiltonhill family learning centre in Possilpark in Glasgow, which will buy more story sacks containing a book, soft toy and game for under-threes to explore with parents at home.
• Fishcross primary in Clackmannanshire will set up a dads' drop-in club, which strives to increase fathers' involvement in their child's education. Each dad will be encouraged to become a Fred - Fathers Read Every Day.
• Polbeth nursery school in West Lothian will give parents access to talking books. Parents will take turns borrowing a laptop with talking books software to use at home with their child.

(TES Scotland, 4 August 2006)

The benefits of bedtime stories

A study by Professor Edward Melhuish of Birkbeck College in London found that the happiness level and behaviour of children are directly affected by the amount of time parents spend singing, reading and playing with them. The study found that the more time children spend on these activities, either with an adult or on their own, the more intelligent, cooperative and happier they are.

Reading at bedtime also helps to ensure a better night's sleep, Halsey says: "Children will be comforted by spending time reading with their parent before sleep, plus this gives them extra one-on-one time. They may use this time to confide in you if anything is bothering them, or share details of their friends and school life, which you may not ordinarily find out." Bedtime stories also set the groundwork for creating strong listening and memory skills, plus the all-important interest in the written word.

(Part of 10 recommendations for keeping children happy by Claire Halsey, a clinical psychologist, who appears in the ITV1 programme 'Driving Mum and Dad Mad'.)

(Independent, 25 July 2006)

Children unprepared for school life

Organisations including Ofsted, the Institute for Education, local education authorities and the National Association of Head Teachers have noted that a significant number of children are now arriving at school, aged four to five, not ready for classroom life and without the foundations needed for learning to read, write and understand numbers.

Dr Helen Likierman and Dr Valerie Muter, both practising child psychologists, have seen the problem in their work and written a book that they hope will help. Prepare your child for school: how to give your child a flying start covers the full range of early skills that are necessary for a successful start to a child's school career.

The authors believe that parents need to play an active role in getting their children ready for school, and that a slightly more focused and methodical approach will achieve a much happier transition. Dr Likierman says: "As clinicians, we often see problems picked up very late in the day when they have already had a 'snow-ball effect'. We want to empower parents to spot problems early."

The authors stress that they are not advocating 'hothousing'. In fact, the first half of the book is not about specifically educational issues at all. The authors say: "It's not just your child's ability to learn to read, write and do sums that's important for success at school. There is also the little matter of sitting still for long enough to take in what a teacher has to say. There are classmates to contend with, and authority."

(The Times, 20 June 2006)

Are children being deprived of play skills by parents?

Leading academics have warned that children are being stripped of their natural creativity by structured activities and hi-tech toys. Innate play skills are lost as parents pay for children to attend classes and clubs or buy televisions and video game machines for their bedrooms.

Even at school children are told what games to play in sports lessons and sometimes even in the playground.A report entitled the Trouble with 21st Century Kids, compiled by Peter Smith, professor of psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London and nutritionist Rachel Biggins found that the regimentation of childrens' leisure time is stifling their initiative.

The report stated: "Some structuring of play can be helpful now and then to get children who have difficulty playing. But this should not go too far. Regimented play activities can have negative consequences on the social and emotional development of a child because they are too organised and take away a child's initiative and freedom of choice. In contrast, freeform play encourages the creative and multi-sensory development of a child because it has no structure. Play or games with rules, where it is the outcome that motivates the participation, train a child's thought patterns, which leaves less time for imagination or creative thought process to establish itself and mature."

The report warns of the stifling potential of television and videos, saying: "Although it can be said that there are some positive effects to these activities, such as hand-eye co-ordination, there is growing concern that children are spending too much time on sedentary, solitary pursuits that can inhibit their mental and physical well-being. Experts agree that pre-programmed electronic toys monopolise the brain, because children respond to a scenario constructed by someone else and this is having an impact on their creativity."

To read the full report visit: www.api-play.org/upload/documents/document56.pdf

(Daily Mail, 30 May 2006)

£40m set aside for parental advisers

Some 600 schools across England are to appoint dedicated parent support advisers to offer parents help when there are problems with their child's attendance or behaviour. The Government has pledge £40m for that initiative.

Jacqui Smith, Schools Minister, said "I can't stress enough how we need parents to be true partners in their children's education. So I'm pleased to announced that we will be appointed dedicated parent support advisers in both primary and secondary schools. Backed up by £40m of funding, we will be trialling the role in some 600 schools from this September."

The main role of advisers will be to offer one-to-one help to parents whose children are misbehaving or truanting. The advisers will also encourage parents to volunteer at school, attend parents' evenings and keep up a dialogue with their child's teachers.

(Children Now, 4 April 2006)

Parents urged to use support services by the charity Parentline Plus

Parents are being urged to use support services when they experience family problems by the charity Parentline Plus. Its report Parenting behind closed doors, says many parents do not ask for help because they fear they will be labelled 'bad parents' as a result. The report praises the work of Sure Start and children's centres in offering parenting support, but warns that their services will be targeted on disadvantaged areas and so families in more affluent areas could miss out. The charity's 'Just Ask' campaign is accompanied by a series of postcards, leaflets and posters urging parents to 'just ask' for support whenever they need it. Visit www.parentlineplus.org.uk

(Nursery World, 10 November 2005)

Commission urges workshops for parents on raising children

The government should provide training workshops for parents at every stage in the upbringing of their children, according to an independent commission. It called for all parents to be given a legal right to advice from before birth until the often troublesome transition into secondary school. Families should no longer be left on their own to cope with the problems of children's upbringing, it said.

After 18 months of research into the relationship between families and the state, the commission on families, chaired by the child psychiatrist Sir Michael Rutter, also called for a ban on smacking and more financial support for the poorest families.

The commission was set up last year by the National Family and Parenting Institute and the children's charity NCH, with support from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Professor Rutter said: "The state has a significant role to play in supporting family life to protect children and promote their wellbeing. It should adopt an approach of minimum enforceable extensive support so families can carry out their caring responsibilities more effectively - particularly where they have difficulties in managing their children's behaviour."

Parents should not be obliged to attend training workshops, but failure to take advantage of services could affect how they were treated if a child went off the rails. The commission called for an overhaul of laws that permit both parent and child to be held legally responsible for the child's crimes. Punishing parents for their children's crimes should be "the exception rather than the rule".

(Guardian, 11 November 2005)

Poor parenting is to be tackled by the Department for Education and Skills by targeting people as they shop. The Government will distribute more than two million pamphlets at branches of Asda to give parenting tips on subjects such as nutrition and childcare. But critics claimed that the £900,000 campaign would do little to restore community values.

Thousands of parents were offered free booklets at 40 Asda stores, offering advice on how to bring up their children. The booklets have been developed with Fathers Direct, Parentline Plus and the National Family and Parenting Institute.

Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, said that the initiative was another example of the "nannying state". Gill Loughran, of Parentline Plus, a charity that answers 100,000 calls from parents suffering problems each year, said that the leaflets would be vital to provide reassurance and advice.

(Times, 11 August 2005)

Childcare for all

For the first time, childcare will be added to the list of basic services that every Briton can expect to be guaranteed by the State. Under a consultation paper on childcare published by Beverley Hughes, the Minister for Children, town halls will be required by law to ensure that there are enough childcare places to meet the needs of all working parents in their area.

The paper does not provide for free childcare. Like other parts of the welfare state, users will be expected to pay. The measures nevertheless mark a watershed in the provision of children's services. In another first, the paper will require local authorities to improve the "life chances" of all children under the age of five by closing the gap in educational and social development between those from the poorest families and the rest, through the provision of integrated and accessible early-years services.

For Ms Hughes, the measures are nothing short of revolutionary. "With this step we are changing what we expect a modern welfare state to make available to today's parents." She added that the consultation document, which will lead to a childcare Bill this parliamentary session, was the next step in a journey that began in 1997 when Labour put childcare at the top of the political agenda with the publication of a national childcare strategy.

The main points

• A duty on councils to ensure sufficient childcare places for children aged up to 14
• Councils to improve the outcomes of children under five and close the gaps between richest and poorest groups
• Provision of a full range of parenting information to families
• Reformed, simplified childcare and early-years regulation framework

Modern mothers suffer more stress and get less sleep

Mothers with new babies are getting 30% less sleep than their own mothers did in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a cross-generational poll yesterday on trends in nightly routines. It found that today's babies wake on average three times a night and take 33 minutes to settle, compared with twice a night a generation ago when they took 20 minutes to settle. As a result modern parents are at their wits' end from sleep starvation. The average new mother gets 3.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night compared with five hours in the 1960s and 1970s.

Working fathers also felt the strain. Two-thirds felt their work was affected by lack of sleep. Yet, according to the mothers, only 19% of the fathers got up every night to help with the baby and 46% never got up. The results came from a survey of 2,000 grandparents commissioned by Mother & Baby magazine and the nappy manufacturer Pampers. Elena Dalrymple, editor of Mother & Baby magazine, said: "Today's working parents are so time poor, their anxiety to 'get baby to bed so they can have a bit of an evening' actually prevents baby from falling asleep. Babies latch on to their parent's anxiety and stay awake instead."

(Guardian, 2 June 2005)

Parents are partly to blame for the underachievement of their sons in school exams, researchers have said. A study found that parents adopt a "hands-on" approach with their daughters and push them to do well in class, but leave boys to their own devices. As a result, their sons adopt a "macho" and "relaxed" attitude to hide the fact that they are struggling in school, and think they are coping well. Dr Jane Brown, of the childhood studies department at Edinburgh University, said that special study classes aimed at boys were needed to reverse the trend.

"Schools have to target boys more in terms of study classes and advice," she said. "In interviews it was apparent that boys put on a front that they were coping, whereas girls would be more open about feeling pressurised." The Edinburgh University study looked at the significance of exams from the perspective of 16 and 17-year-old pupils, their parents, and teachers in two local authority areas. It found that 80% of parents with sons agreed that passing exams was not always necessary to do well in life, while the figure dropped to 61% for the parents of girls.

The majority of parents of boys admitted they did not help them with their homework, although half said they had bought exam study guides. But less than one third of girls' parents relied on guides, and favoured a more hands-on approach, giving personal guidance and helping with homework.

Lorna Hamilton, the co-author of the report, added, "The boys that we spoke to suggested that feelings of stress and anxiety about exams were not something they felt they could expose to other people because it would be seen as unmanly." She added that many girls realised they had to do well to get a foot on the career ladder and compete with their male counterparts.

(Telegraph, 23 May 2005)

Years of so-called progress during which growing numbers of mothers entered the workforce while fathers learnt to change nappies have done little to change the male and female urges to procreate. Women are significantly more likely than men to want children so they have someone to nurture, while for men it is the need to pass on their genes that is the primary driving force behind starting a family.

Where change had occurred, however, was in a growing tendency among this generation of parents to worry whether their parenting skills were adequate. This was the chief concern about having children, cited by more than 50% of adults interviewed. "Being a parent is now regarded as problematic and something for people to fret about," Peter Marsh, a director at the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford, said. He blamed the proliferation of parenting books and television programmes for undermining parents' confidence.

(Times, 5 May 05)

A phone helpline called Parents Direct is to be set up by Labour as part of its childcare revolution. Ministers hope the aid for stressed-out mums and dads will match the success of NHS Direct, which helps millions with medical advice. The Education Secretary unveiled the plan in April 2005, with a launch scheduled for 2008.

Parents will get advice on how to control their children. If they are struggling financially, Government aid will be outlined. Information will be given on rights to time off work or flexible hours to make it easier for people to look after their children. And there could even be relationship tips for couples pressured by the arrival of a new baby or battling to cope with troublesome youngsters. Labour believes at least one million parents a year might benefit from the service, backed by a website.

(Mirror, 20 April 2005)

Government plans to scrap the annual report by school governors and their meeting with parents will reduce the influence families have on education, the Labour peer who developed the modern governing body fears. Parents' groups say the proposals in the Education Bill are at odds with the drive by Ruth Kelly, Education Secretary, to give parents a greater say in schools. They have received backing from Lord Taylor, whose report in 1977 influenced the shape of school governing bodies. The annual report to parents will be replaced with a school profile, which will not explain what governors have done or how they have spent their budget. Lord Taylor described the plans as ridiculous. "If you do not give parents an opportunity to come to an annual meeting and to read an annual report, they will be less interested than ever," he said. The National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations said it would not oppose the end of the annual meeting, as it attracted few people, but that parents would miss out if the governors' report was dropped.

(TES, 25 February 2005)

(Telegraph, 26 November 2004)

Fathers could be urged to switch off their mobile phones when they play with their children at new state sponsored "parenting classes". Under the training initiative parents will be offered courses in how to improve family life. They will be given tips on dealing with sex, drugs and bullying as well as how to discipline children by being authoritative rather than authoritarian.

Rob Parsons, author of The Sixty Minute Father said: "When my daughter was very young, she would love me to read to her. Just as we were getting to the exciting part, the phone would ring. She would say, 'Oh dad, let it ring." She may as well have asked me to fly. "In my life I have had thousands of calls which have been described to me as urgent. But I can count on one hand those that really could not wait 20 minutes."

(Telegraph, 12 August 2004)

League tables make little impact on parental choice

Flagship reforms to improve parental choice such as publishing league tables and inspection reports have had little impact on the way families choose schools.

Parents of the first generation to study the entire national curriculum and sit national tests have been left unmoved by a series of major Acts the research says.

They have failed to make use of Ofsted reports and exam tables to decide which school to send their children to, and increased testing had largely passed them by. After 15 years or reforms, they still feel schools are "not bad".

"The only league table that matters is the Premiership," one father told researchers from Bath university.

But it seemed that, for all the inspections and league tables parents still chose secondaries for the same reasons they had chosen primaries - "location and relationship with the community" not formal academic record.

Parental involvement in a time of transition, by Felicity Wikeley Bath University email f.j.wikely@bath.ac.uk

(TES, 26 September 2003)

Parental involvement greatly increased by individual appointments not parents evenings

A Glasgow secondary school in one of Scotland's most deprived areas has made a remarkable breakthrough in engaging parent interest - by ditching parents evenings. The move has been warmly welcomed by the Scottish Parent Teacher Council.

St Paul' High in Pollock now gives parents appointments during school hours or in the evenings so that they can see and discuss their children's reports, which are no longer sent home.

The result, for a school which is sixth from the bottom of the poverty index based on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals, is that parental turnout has shot up from 30% to 88% and to 95% in the fifth year.

The new approach involves the 60 staff each taking responsibility for seeing three or four pupils in a year group and covering all their subject reports, with sensitive or difficult cases handed by the guidance staff or senior management.

(TESS, 14 March 2003)

Pre-school Learning Alliance launches parental involvement campaign

In May 2002 the Pre-school Learning Alliance launched a campaign to raise public awareness about the value of parental participation in early education and childcare. The specific aim of the two-year campaign - called Changing Lives, Changing Life - is to secure a Charter for Parents and the Early Years, and highlight the contribution that the pre-school sector makes at the forefront of educational and social innovation. 

Research shows that the first years of life represent a period of rapid development: pre-schools provide play and learning opportunities which help children to achieve their full potential and offer a foundation for future success. Changing Lives, Changing Life is lobbying for:

• a childcare or nursery place for every child who needs one
• a continuity of care for children to ensure that they form secure attachments and that they are not moving frequently from one setting to another
• full consultation with parents, in the planning of local nurseries or childcare centres, to ensure that provision is matched to family needs
• the formation of parents' boards for all early years settings to give parents a voice in the development and management of provision
• drop-in and advice services for parents, together with family and lifelong learning opportunities, developed as part of childcare settings.

(Pre-school Learning Alliance news release, May 2002)