Making Sense of Parenting Support
Training and Qualification Opportunities: July 2010
GUIDELINES for Providers and Commissioners
INTRODUCTION
Over recent years there has been a significant increase in roles, which are either dedicated to or
include an element of support to parents/ carers. As a result new training opportunities are
emerging to support staff in these new roles. It is the aim of this document to help staff to make
sense of these training opportunities. The document should be read with reference to
Hertfordshire’s Parenting Support Minimum Standards (June 2010).
PARENTING SUPPORT TRAINING MINIMUM STANDARDS IN HERTS
(The following paragraphs are taken from Hertfordshire’s Parenting Support Minimum Standards, June 2010)
The National Occupational Standards for Work with Parents need to be known and adhered to by
all
individuals
and
organisations
providing
parenting
support.
(http://www.parentinguk.org/2/standards). Staff need to be supported by employers to attend
appropriate training to ensure that they meet these competencies. Staff providing parenting
support, will be referred to as parenting practitioners in this section of this document.
All parenting practitioners should be trained in all of the following:

Common Core Skills, set out by the Children’s Workforce Development Council1

Integrated Practice

Safeguarding – lead practitioners must be Group B trained
In addition to the above training, until April 2011, all parenting practitioners, must adhere to the
2006 Guidelines for Best Practice in Parenting Support:

Practitioners have an appropriate qualification to work with parents, including facilitation
skills if they are facilitating group activities

Inexperienced or unqualified parenting practitioners must co-facilitate activities with a
qualified parenting practitioner

Parenting practitioners offering one to one parenting support must be suitably trained and
have a recognised structure of ongoing support and supervision
By April 2011, the following guidelines will supersede the 2006 guidelines:
All who are providing one to one parenting support must additionally:
1) be knowledgeable, and if appropriate, trained in a relevant parenting programme
2) be qualified at Level 3 or higher to work with parents
All who are leading co-facilitated group based parenting support must additionally:
1) be knowledgeable, and if appropriate, trained in a relevant parenting programme and
2) be qualified to level 3 or higher in group facilitation skills and
3) be qualified to level 3 or higher qualification to work with parents
Inexperienced or unqualified parenting practitioners must co-facilitate activities with a qualified
parenting practitioner and be working towards the standards of the lead practitioner
Staff must attend a minimum of three practice based supervision sessions annually, in addition to
line management supervision, and be supported to attend peer support forums.
UNDERSTANDING LEVELS OF QUALIFICATIONS
1 Foundation
Mainly routine or predictable activities
2 Intermediate Range of varied work activities, some of which are complex and non-routine
and would demand degree of individual autonomy and responsibility.
3 Advanced
Application of knowledge in broad range of activities, most of which are
complex and non-routine. May include supervision of others.
4 Managerial
Complex work with substantial degree of personal autonomy. May include
responsibility for the work of others and allocation of resources.
1
For information on these common core skills, please refer to: http://www.childrensworkforce.org.uk/assets/0000/0631/How_To_Use_CWN_Induction_materials.pdf
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Making Sense of Parenting Support
Training and Qualification Opportunities: July 2010
GUIDELINES for Providers and Commissioners
Examples of Level 3 Relevant Qualifications
To Work With Parents (accredited)
Examples of Level 3
Group Facilitation Skills (accredited)
Examples of Parenting Support
Programme / Approach Training
(non accredited)
Parent Services
Parent Group Facilitation Training
Evidence Based Programmes

Work with Parents (WWP)*

Families Going Forward*

Advanced Parent Supporter
Children and Young People Services
 Unit 308 of Work with Parents
(WWP)**
 Parent Group Facilitation
 Advanced Facilitator
 Positive Parenting**
 Working with Parents Programme






Children’s Care Learning and Development
(CCLD)
Work with Children
Award in Early Years and Childcare for
Playworkers
PEAL
Diploma for the Children and Young People’s
Workforce*
Playwork


Playwork
Award in Playwork for Early Years and Childcare
Workers

Diploma for the Children and Young People’s
Workforce
Youthwork


Family Links Nurturing Programme/
Parenting Puzzle***
Incredible Years***
Strengthening Families
Strengthening Communities***
Early Years Programmes
Other Facilitation Training

Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong
Learning Sector (PTLLS)**




**Please see page 4 for information
about these specific qualifications
Share Plus
Parents as Early Education
Partners (PEEP)
Parents as First Teachers (PAFT)
Family Caring Trust
Other Programmes




Protective Behaviours***
Positive Parenting Time Out
Programmes
Speakeasy
Let’s Talk….


Youthwork
Diploma for the Children and Young People’s
Workforce
Social Care
*** Please see pages 4 and 5 for
information about these specific
programmes

Health and Social Care Children and Young
People

Diploma for the Children and Young People’s
Workforce
Teaching and Schools



Teaching Assistants
Support Work in Schools (Parent Support)
Specialist Leaders of Behaviour and Attendance
of Children/ Young People

Supporting Educational Effectiveness

Diploma for the Children and Young People’s
Workforce
Youth Justice



Youth Justice Services
Community Justice: Youth Justice
Diploma for the Children and Young People’s
Workforce
*Please see page 3 for information about these specific
qualifications
Examples of Level 4 and Higher
Relevant Qualifications to Work With Parents
Professional Qualifications

Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting

Teaching
Degrees in:





Examples of Level 4 &
Higher Relevant Qualifications

Diploma in Teaching in the
Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS)
Counselling or Pschyotherapy (BACP accredited)
Family Therapy
Social Work
Early Years Childhood Studies
Youth Work
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Making Sense of Parenting Support
Training and Qualification Opportunities: July 2010
GUIDELINES for Providers and Commissioners
Looking more closely at Level 3 Relevant Qualifications to Work with Parents
There
are a Programmes
number of children and young people focused qualifications, which contain elements
Parenting
relevant to parenting support: Youth work, Health and Social Care, Support Work in Schools
(Parent Support), Children’s Care Learning and Development, Work with Children, Play
work, Youth Justice Services etc. Please visit www.cityandguilds.com/smiles for more
information. However, the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) identified a need
to design a specific qualification to support staff in the relatively new parenting support roles;
consequently the Work with Parents (WWP) qualification was born.
Work with Parents Qualification
This is available as an Award (12 credits) and Certificate (30 credits). Hertfordshire has designed
a Level 3 WWP Award qualification and until March 2011 is funding a limited number of places for
anyone in Hertfordshire working directly with parents and running parenting support groups, with
priority given to frontline staff without a relevant Level 3 or above qualification. Information
regarding the Level 3 WWP Award in Herts:
 comprises a 10 day training course with learning in your own time to build a portfolio of
short essays, personal reflective reports, records and observations of practice
 units covered are:
o Unit 300: Build and maintain relationship in work with parents (6 credits)
o Unit 304: Effective communication with parents (3 credits)
o Unit 308: Work with groups of parents (3 credits)
All enquiries to be made to Family Matters Institute, who are delivering the training on behalf of
CSF www.familymatters.org.uk/hertswwp
Families Going Forward / Children’s Centre Outreach Worker Training
CWDC have reconfigured Unit 300 of the WWP Level 3 qualification (Build and maintain
relationship in work with parents) with the aim to make it more appropriate for Children’s Centre
Outreach Workers and have retitled it: Families Going Forward. This training is being rolled out
across the region from September 2010 until March 2011, with CWDC funding a limited number
of places for CCOWs and other staff, who deliver outreach and are based in or linked to
Children's Centres, including volunteers. These outreach workers could undertake further units
and gain a full Level 3 Award/ Certificate qualification if they wanted to.
Suggestions for a Rule of Thumb for finding the most suitable Level 3 skills training for Children’s
Centre Outreach Workers:

If staff are / will be providing group based support to parents - including delivering parenting
programmes such as the Family Links' Nurturing Programme, the Level 3 Award in the
Work with Parents is the most appropriate training as this provides learning on group
facilitation skills.

If staff are not / will not be providing group based support to parents, but are exclusively
offering 1-1 outreach work, Families Going Forward is the most appropriate training
Diploma for the Children and Young People's workforce
This new qualification is scheduled to be launched in September 2010, having been developed
by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC). CWDC’s vision for the future is for
this to be the only Level 3 diploma for the children and young people’s workforce in England.
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Making Sense of Parenting Support
Training and Qualification Opportunities: July 2010
GUIDELINES for Providers and Commissioners
Looking more closely at Level 3 Group Facilitation Skills
Parenting Programmes
Staff offering group based parenting support need to be skilled to manage group dynamics and
ensure all in the group have an opportunity to learn and develop skills.
Within some of the facilitation skills training opportunities, there are elements supporting the
learning of work with parents skills e.g. Unit 308 of the Work with Parents Qualification: Work
with Groups of Parents. This is one of the units included in the Level 3 WWP Award
qualification, funded by CSF until March 2011 (as detailed on page 3). This unit alone carries 3
credits at Level 3 however, when attended as part of the WWP Level 3 Award in Hertfordshire,
the Award carries 12 credits.
Additionally within other facilitation skills training opportunities, there are elements supporting the
learning of specific programmes e.g. Positive Parenting Parent Facilitator Qualification. This
is a four-day course which covers aspects of child development, parenting and includes a brief
overview of Positive Parenting courses (sometimes known as Time Out). This training course
comprises a 4 day training course with learning in own time to build a portfolio of personal
reflective reports, records and observations of practice. It carries 9 credits at Level 3.
Preparing to Teach in Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS)
This course is usually delivered over approximately 36 hours with additional learning in own time
to build a portfolio of personal reflective reports, records and observations of practice, after which
learners will:
 have an understanding of the responsibilities and boundaries of their own role in relation
to the subject they are delivering
 be able to identify and use appropriate teaching and learning approaches for the subject
they intend to deliver
 be able to demonstrate session planning skills
 understand how to deliver inclusive sessions which motivate people in the group
 understand the use of different assessment methods and the need for record keeping
 be able to reflect on their own practice and learning, and identify areas for further
development.
Looking more closely at Parenting Support Programmes
There is a vast number of parenting support programmes, designed to support parents / carers
develop parenting skills in a group setting. Some of these programmes can be delivered “off-theshelf”, others require staff to attend training to become knowledgeable with the programme
content and approach (some also require a licence). A useful starting place to find a parenting
support programme, is www.commissioningtoolkit.org: online database of parenting support
programmes available in England. The Toolkit explains which parents the programmes are
designed to support, as well as outlining programme content and effectiveness
There is a small number of parenting support programmes, which have been proved, by research
and evaluation, to be effective in developing parenting skills. These are known as evidence
based parenting programmes. Hertfordshire’s Children and Young People’s Plan 2009-2011
cites the need to increase the delivery and take up of evidence based parenting programmes.
There are three evidence based parenting programmes being delivered in Hertfordshire:

The Nurturing Programme (Family Links, sometimes known as The Parenting Puzzle)

Incredible Years (sometimes known by it’s developer’s name: Webster Stratton)

Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities
Training in another programme, Protective Behaviours, is being offered to staff working in
Hertfordshire’s Children’s Centres community areas, where social care referrals rates are high.
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Making Sense of Parenting Support
Training and Qualification Opportunities: July 2010
GUIDELINES for Providers and Commissioners
ABOUT THE PARENTING PROGRAMMES COMMONLY USED IN HERTFORDSHIRE
Family Links Nurturing Programme
Strengthening Families
Strengthening Communities
The programme explores relationships
between parent and child, and society
by exploring ethnic and cultural roots
and how they impact on parents’
values, experiences and hopes for their
children.
Incredible Years/ Webster Stratton
Protective Behaviours
A specialist programme designed to
promote social competence and
prevent, reduce and treat child conduct
and attention related problems.
An approach, which aims to provide
parents and children the confidence and
tools to talk about their feelings, to
develop personal safety based on 2
themes: the right to feel safe all the time
& there is nothing so awful we can't talk
about it with someone.
For parents with children from birth to
6, with a range of child conduct and
attention problems and families
referred to social care for abuse and
neglect, foster parents, families with
children diagnosed with ODD, CD,
ADHD.
In Hertfordshire this programme is
mainly delivered by the Specialist
Children’s Team and therefore often
only available to parents of children
who have been referred to social care.
For any parent or child; although the
programme originated from work with
families where abuse was a concern.
The programme aims to encourage
parents and children to use 7 strategies
to help them develop personal safety.
The
strategies
include
ensuring
networks are available & fit needs, using
a 'third person' approach to problem
solving, interrupting unsafe situations,
seeking help, risking on purpose when
the outcome may be what we want or
need and re-framing language into an
empowering, non-victimising and nonviolent format.
Summary
A structured emotional health and positive behaviour
course for parents/ carers, designed to strengthen all
family relationships. The programme can be delivered
to a group of parents or on a one-to-one basis.
Parent/ carer
Target
Group
For parents of children aged 2 to 15 and has been
effective with targeted populations: parents of children
aged 0-5, single parents, teenage parents, fathers etc.
For any parent of children aged 3 to
18.
The programme has been
successfully used with families of black
and minority ethnic backgrounds and
marginalised groups.
Level of
Need of
Families
Appropriate for families at levels of need 1 or 2.
Appropriate for families at all levels of
need however, in order to maximise
impact in Hertfordshire it is delivered
as a “targeted” and “specialist”
intervention, at level of needs 2 and 3.
Goals
 Positive parenting- develop understanding that adult’s
emotions, attitudes & behaviour towards children are
influenced by own childhood
 Positive discipline – open to new methods of
parenting skills
 Self-awareness and esteem – develop understanding
of own emotions & needs & how to meet them
 Empathy – develop understanding of children’s
emotional point of view
 Appropriate expectations – reflect on how children
grow up, physically, intellectually, socially and
emotionally
X10 sessions, usually held once a week; each session
lasts 2 hours
The programme aims to increase
parental self-esteem, increase parental
confidence and achieve positive
change in family relationships.
The programme aims to promote
protective factors such as positive and
nurturing parenting, school involvement
and positive family and peer support
and reduce risk factors, while reducing
aggressive and oppositional behaviour
of children.
X13 sessions, usually held once a
week; each session lasts 2 hours
Sue Haynes, CSF
Parenting Development Manager
sue.haynes@hertscc.gov.uk
Emma Allen, CSF
SFSC Project Manager
emma.allen@hertscc.gov.uk
Basic early childhood programme = 18
sessions
Toddler programme = 13 sessions
Baby programme = 8 sessions
Emma Hayward, CSF
Learning and Development Officer
Emma.hayward@hertscc.gov.uk
Length
Training
Information
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Appropriate for families at all levels of
need.
Fiona Benjamin
Action for Children
fiona.benjamin@actionforchildren.org.uk
Making Sense of Parenting Support
Training and Qualification Opportunities: July 2010
GUIDELINES for Providers and Commissioners
SUPPORT FOR STAFF
Parenting Practitioner Forums
District Partnership Teams host forums to provide parenting practitioners an opportunity to share
learning and practice ideas. Contact your local Parenting and Information Officer for more
information.
IP Networks
All practitioners who have attended integrated practice training, or are due to attend, can build on
their knowledge and skills by attending the informal network group meetings in their district.
http://www.hertsdirect.org/yrccouncil/hcc/csf/childrenstrust/integrated/ippractice/
Clinical Supervision
Staff working intensively with families should have access to clinical supervision as well as line
management supervision. The aim of clinical supervision is to focus on supporting the
practitioner to develop skills, specific to the agreed interventions or models they are employing to
assist parents and children, by reflecting on their practice2. Clinical supervision is provided by a
senior practitioner with recognised knowledge and expertise in the intervention being applied.
Supervision can be carried out on a one-to-one basis, in a small group of two to four practitioners
or in a larger group up to 10 or 12 practitioners. Clinical supervision can cost approximately £40/
hour. The people listed below do not provide clinical supervision themselves however, they may
be able to help you access clinical supervision:
 avril.burns@hertspartsft.nhs.uk and janet.crook@herrtspartsft.nhs.uk – Think Family
Parenting Practitioners employed by CAMHS
 Maria.Nastri@hertscc.gov.uk - Counselling in Schools Manager – Maria commissions
clinical supervisors and knows people who are providing family work supervision
 Housing based Tenancy Sustainment Officers occasionally access clinical supervision, so
these services are worth contacting in your district
For more information about subjects raised in this document please contact
sue.haynes@hertscc.gov.uk
2
Good Practice Principles in Supervision for Work With Parents, National Academy of Parenting Practitioners
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