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Parent
Action Learning Sets (PALS) is a family learning project Learning
Partnerships has set up to help parents gain the skills they need
to bring up their children.
The
project is being run in the Harehills, Burmantofts and Chapeltown
area of Leeds, some of the most deprived wards of the country.
Learning
Partnerships has secured a grant for the project from the Families
Division of the Department for Education and Skills.
PALS
targets parents who live in a community characterised by poor
housing, low skills, low educational attainment, high unemployment,
single parent families and large ethnic minority populations.
Small
groups of parents meet on a monthly basis with a trained facilitator
to explore parental issues, such as self-esteem, health and nutrition,
isolation, behaviour and anger management and cultural issues.
Support
group
The groups are very much parent-led, with participants assessing
where they are now, looking at what skills they have and what
they are lacking in order to set and reach personal goals.
The
facilitator helps the parents to fulfil their goals, providing
information about courses available to them and supporting their
attendance and learning.
In
addition to the monthly meetings, the facilitator holds workshops
and taster sessions in areas identified by the parents.
The
PALS project is a direct response to a Family Learning Needs Analysis
carried out by the charity in Harehills, Chapeltown and Burmantofts.
The audit of 60 families gauged opinion on their child's learning
as well as their own parenting skills.
It found parents had a lack of understanding of how the school
system worked, did not know how to support children with their
studies, experienced negative contact with schools, had poor basic
skills and faced language barriers.
The
full Family Learning Needs Analysis is available for a price of
£8.95 (inc p&p). Please contact: lisa@learningpartnerships.org.uk
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