Appendix1
Wrexham’s Draft Parenting Strategy
Executive Summary
2010 – 2013
The Vision for this Parenting Strategy is to
“Improve the outcomes of children and young people in Wrexham now and in
the future, by better supporting parents in their parenting role”.
The Principles are
 To ensure that provision is of the best possible standard, delivered
by qualified and experienced practitioners
 To ensure that appropriate parenting provision is available at all
tiers of need1 for all parents who need it, including those in
potentially marginalised parent groups2
 To maximise the opportunities for parenting providers to work
together in partnership, in order to optimise provision
The Purpose of this Parenting Strategy for Wrexham is to improve the
support provided to parents in their parenting role. This strategy brings
together all main providers of parenting in a partnership to consider the
current provision, to map that against what parents and practitioners tell us is
needed and to develop parenting provision to meet this need. This strategy is
the record of the work done by parenting partners and their plans to improve
parenting provision over the next three years.
The key national priorities from both the WAG Parenting Action Plan and the
NSF have informed the Parenting Strategy in Wrexham, as have those of the
Children and Young People’s Plan locally.
Tiers of Need
The following tier system is used in this strategy to describe the different tiers
of need for parenting support and the services that are designed to address
this need.
Tier 1 - Universal Need
At Tier 1 services include: Information available to all parents; Leaflets, TV
programmes, verbal, books and booklets, self-help DVD programmes
Advice available for all parents: from Wrexham Family Information Service,
Health Visitors, teachers, nursery staff, chemist, doctors and health centres,
libraries etc.
Tier 2 - Extra support for parents is needed
1
Please see page 14 for an explanation of parenting tiers of need.
Please see Appendix 3 for a list of potentially marginalised parent groups identified by this
strategy
2
1
At Tier 2 services include: Support is parent – led, voluntarily accessed, or
‘opt-in’, Information and advice, parents groups, programmes for groups and
individual families, family support; Child(ren) may have a TAC or some extra
support
Tier 3 Needs - Parenting intervention is needed
At Tier 3 services include: Information and advice, parents groups,
programmes for groups and individual families, family support; Child may
have a TAC or be a Child in Need
Tier 4 Needs - Family needs crisis or urgent intervention
At Tier 4 services include: Information and advice, parents groups,
programmes for groups and individual families, social work support; children
may be on CP register or a young offender; family may have in depth
assessment
Current Provision
Mapping of parenting provision, carried out in 2009 in Wrexham has resulted
in a mixed picture. Some areas have better provision than others; parents of
some age-groups of child are better served than others; some tiers of need
have better provision than others. In particular, there was fairly good provision
at tier 1, insufficient at tier 2 (except in some primary schools) and provision
for tiers 3 and 4 tended to be focused on pre-school and primary aged
children living in areas of deprivation. A gap in parenting for parents of the
10+ age group was identified immediately, although this has partly been
addressed by the recent introduction of the Strengthening Families
Programme (10-14).
Consultation
In the summer of 2009, a consultation3 took place about parenting support in
Wrexham where questionnaires were completed by parents, parenting
practitioners, schools and staff in children and young people’s services. The
questionnaires asked about their thoughts on current parenting provision, any
identified gaps in provision, their experience of and thoughts about parent
participation, their thoughts about current arrangements for access to
provision and the potential for developing new provision. The results of the
consultation have been used as a basis for the decisions made about the
development of new provision for Wrexham. The strategy explains how the
key messages from the consultation link to the Strategy Action Plan.
Quality
The strategy defines what a ‘quality’ parenting service is:
a. Practitioners are experienced and sufficiently qualified to deliver their
parenting service to a good or excellent standard
b. Access for parents to the provision is straightforward and does not
present parents with insurmountable obstacles
c. The service represents evidence - based practice
d. There is evidence of a focus on positive parenting, the importance of
play and the involvement of the father
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The parenting consultation report can be found in Appendix 6
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e. The service is evaluated using an evidence based evaluation tool and
is judged to be effective or very effective in terms of outcomes for
families
f. The level of parent participation in the service is appropriate to the
service and is at least at the ‘consultation’ level4
Recommendations of the Parenting Strategy
That a 3 yearly Audit of Parenting Provision be carried out by the Parenting
Team in partnership with parenting providers to assess the extent of
provision, how provision addressed need, the quality of parenting services
and the extent to which Wrexham’s parenting practitioners meet the minimum
level of qualifications expected at their tier of provision.
That an Annual Mapping of Parenting Provision and an Annual
Assessment of Parenting Services be carried out and that an Annual
Report on Parenting Provision be compiled by the Parenting Co-ordinator in
order to assess and record progress against the actions in the Parenting
Strategy Action Plan.
That an annual Training Plan be developed by the PSG to meet training
needs of parenting staff.
That parenting providers follow the guidance regarding Information Sharing
contained in this strategy when sharing confidential and sensitive information
about families between agencies.
That new members of staff be introduced to the Parenting Team, funding
permitting:
 Parent Network Co-ordinator whose role would be to promote parent
participation, access to provision and to support the development of
Tier 2 provision for parent groups

Sessional Parenting Workers who will deliver individual programmes
and interventions as and when needed

Parenting Officer to deliver parenting programmes and one-to-one
interventions and to train practitioners to deliver interventions and
support their delivery

Dads’ Worker to actively promote father-friendly parenting provision in
Wrexham and to promote the participation of dads in parenting
provision and in children and young people’s services
New Provision will be introduced to Wrexham to meet need, with the PSG
advising as to its suitability, its evidence base and its cost effectiveness. A
partnership approach to delivery will be used wherever possible.
Parenting Strategy Action Plan
The action plan is divided into four sections, addressing
4
See Parent Participation Scale, Appendix 5
3
1.
2.
3.
4.
Workforce Development
Parent Participation
Parenting Provision
Parenting and Schools
Workforce Development
1. To increase the numbers of highly trained, qualified, experienced,
motivated and flexible parenting practitioners, able to deliver a wide
range of evidence based parenting provision to the highest standards
2. Enable parenting practitioners to evidence their skills, qualifications,
training and experience in working with parents when applying for jobs,
training places or applying to deliver parenting interventions
Parent Participation
1. Raise the standard of parent participation in Wrexham among
parenting services and in children and young people’s (CYP) services.
2. Ensure that agencies in Wrexham fully support parents to participate in
their services to the highest level possible
3. To improve access to Parenting Provision
Parenting Provision
1. To maintain and develop current provision and to introduce a variety of
new evidence based provision to meet the needs of Wrexham parents
at all tiers of need, including parents in potentially marginalised groups.
2. To assess the quality of parenting provision in Wrexham and to
improve the quality of provision where needed
3. To increase the capacity of providers in Wrexham to deliver parenting
provision
Parenting and Schools
1. To increase the amount of parenting provision delivered in school
premises
2. To increase the partnership role schools play in providing parenting
support and to ensure that young people understand the basics of
good parenting
Actions under these headings are outlined in the strategy, with indicators of
how progress towards these objectives will be measured.
Monitoring and Reviewing
This Parenting Strategy covers a 3 year period, from April 2010 – March
2013. Progress towards the short, medium and long term actions identified on
the parenting action plan will be monitored throughout each year and reported
annually each March by means of an annual report to the Enjoyment and
Participation SCoG. The PSG will engage in an annual process of reviewing
and revising the Parenting Strategy Action Plan. In the autumn of 2012, the
PSG will engage in the process of agreeing a new Parenting Strategy for the
period beyond April 2013.
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