To recognise and promote the importance that parents and carers have in the lives of our children and young people Oldham Children’s Trust has produced a Parenting Support Strategy.
Oldham Parenting Support Strategy aims to help all organisations that work with children, young people and families to provide parenting support that is proactive, accessible, well coordinated, inclusive and of good quality.
The strategy has been put together by Oldham Children’s Trust. It covers parenting from pregnancy to when a child is aged 19 and focuses on supporting parents as they do one of the hardest jobs in the world.
During a child’s early years the changes parents face in adapting to parenthood can be difficult and the decisions they need to make about issues such as their working arrangements, childcare and changing financial circumstances can be bewildering. Similarly, the parents of today’s teenagers can experience a fear of their child getting involved in risky or anti-social behaviour.
Parenting is not an easy task and we know that most parents do an excellent job. However, there may be times when some parents may need a bit of extra help, information and emotional or practical support.
The strategy aims to help the different organisations that provide services to families do just that – make sure that all parents can access information easily and when they need it.
Oldham already has many excellent parenting support services available for parents and the Parenting Support Strategy will build on this good practice, identify gaps in services and develop the children’s workforce accordingly to meet needs of all families in Oldham.
National Parents’ Week 20-24 October 2008
To celebrate National Parents’ Week Oldham Children’s Trust is encouraging all parents, teachers and other who work with children and young people to give them praise five times a day.
The ‘Five Praises a Day’ campaign aims to provide all parents and workers in Oldham with tips on how to praise children effectively. Giving regular praise to children is proven to have an all-round positive impact on the whole family. It increases children’s self esteem, makes both parent and child feel good, increases a parent’s confidence and is an effective way to create good behaviour.
To mark the week special sticker packs aimed at children aged 0-5 are available for parents from Monday 20 October to use as a fun resource to put the ‘Five Praises a Day’ into practice. The leaflets and sticker packs offer tips and advice about how to praise and are available for free at your local children’s centre or through the Family Information Service on 0800 731 1518. You can download the leaflet by clicking on the link below.
View the ‘Five praises a day’ leaflet
To celebrate National Parents' Week 2008 there will be a special mini-workshop for parents on giving effective praise on the Highways to Opportunities (H2O) Bus, which will be outside Spindles Shopping Centre from 10.30-11am on Wednesday 22 October and from 2.30-3pm on Thursday 23 October. A crèche facility will be available whilst parents take part in the session.
There are also a number of other activities taking place at various locations across the Borough throughout National Parents' Week. For example, existing drop-in sessions will be promoting the week. These include:
Displays and information will also be available during the week at children's centres, health clinics and community centres including: Uppermill Health Centre & Methodist Church, Smithy Lane; The Woodfield Centre, Drop-in baby clinics at; Spring Meadows Children's Centre, Littlemoor; Trinity Church; Sholver Community Centre; and Marjory Lees Health Centre.
For more details about activities for parents taking place throughout National Parents' Week 2008 and the rest of the year please contact your local children's centre or Oldham Council's Family Information Service on 0800 731 1518.