Children’s Programme Training for Professionals
It takes a village to raise a child. You can prepare the children that you work with for tomorrow by creating strong partnerships with their parents today.
This programme is practical, solution-focused and draws on parents strengths. It is suitable for parents of children aged 6-11 years, including children with additional needs. The programme is flexible and can be delivered to small groups or with individuals over 6-12 weeks.
By training as a facilitator of this programme, you will learn how to support parents to:
- Manage behaviour and emotional problems
- Build their children’s self-esteem and confidence
- Reduce their own stress as parents
- Problem-solve with their children
- Establish positive daily routines
- Develop connected and close family relationships
- Encourage their children’s learning and school work
“Parents Plus gave me a strong structure, with tried-and-tested content, to feel confident in facilitating the Children’s Programme. Parents Plus challenges parents in a positive way, with parents less stressed and more relaxed with their families after doing the course.”
Marian Clarke, Family Support Worker
Who is this training for
The Children’s Programme facilitator training is suitable for a range of professionals, including:
- HSE Primary Care Teams such as Psychologists, Social Workers, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Public Health Nurses
- Family Resource Centres
- Children and Young People’s Services Committees
- Home School Liaison Officers (HSCL), TESS
- Primary School Teachers.
- TUSLA Parenting Support Champions Project
- TUSLA Child and Family Agency Teams
- Regional Parent support networks such as Parenting Monaghan, Parent Hub Donegal and Parenting Limerick
- Area Based Childhood Programme (ABC) such as Supporting Parents & Early Childhood Services (SPECS), Bray
- HSE Sláintecare Healthy Communities
What you will Learn
The Children’s Programme facilitator training is practical and solution-focused and will provide you with the essential skills and learning to achieve the best outcomes for the parents and families who attend your service.
The training focuses on:
- Developing an in-depth understanding of this programme
- Delivering the programme via face-to-face and online sessions, to groups and individual families
- Providing opportunities to observe and practise the skills to become a solution-focused facilitator
- Building on parents strengths as a basis for ongoing change
- Strengthening inter-agency and community partnerships
Facilitator Training
The next facilitator training for our Children’s programme starts on 17th April 2024 and will consist of five online workshops via Zoom. Participants are also invited to complete a short assignment between workshops. A summary of the training is provided below and a detailed breakdown can be accessed here:
| 17th Apr. | 9.15am-1pm Introduction, Evidence-base, Positive Parenting, Goal Setting with Parents |
| 18th Apr. | 9.15am-1pm Positive Discipline, Problem-Solving, Routines, Family Problem Solving |
| 19th Apr. | 9.15am-1pm Groupwork and Session Delivery Practice, Quality Protocol |
| 22nd Apr | 9.15am-1pm Groupwork Skills, Getting Groups Started, Dealing with Challenges, Online and Face to Face Delivery |
| 23rd Apr | 9.15am-1pm Engaging parent, getting groups started, Family Sessions |
Parents Plus offer a small number of part-sponsored places on the training when accessing finance is difficult.
Impact of the Children’s Programme
Studies in primary schools, mental health and disability settings have shown that families who complete the Parents Plus Children’s programme report:
- Increased child positive social behaviour
- Reduced behaviour problems
- Reduced emotional problems
- Decreased parental stress
- Increased parental confidence
You can learn more about the impact of this programme, and all our other programmes here.
Who can Become a Facilitator?
The Parents Plus facilitator trainings are open to qualified education, mental health and community professionals who work with families.
Our programmes are successfully delivered with impressive outcomes in a variety of Primary Care, School, Health, Disability and Mental Health settings.
- Attendance at our facilitator training for this programme is compulsory prior to delivering it to families attending your service.
- Parents Plus programmes must be co-facilitated, therefore, at least two facilitators need to be trained before a programme can be delivered to families in your agency. Facilitators who go on to complete our accreditation process are licensed to run the programme without a co-facilitator.
Please read our licensing guidelines here.
prior to booking a place on our training.
Programme Materials
The Parents Plus Children’s Programme package includes a wide range of materials to ensure it’s effective delivery.
- Two DVDs with 80 real and role-played scenes of family interactions, with comments from professionals, parents and children
- A comprehensive facilitator’s manual, with detailed guides to plan and deliver each session, including how to structure group discussion and exercises
- Two colourful parent books, containing all the programme handouts and worksheets for participants*
- A copy of the book ‘Positive Parenting‘ by John Sharry
- Posters to highlight key programme concepts
*In running subsequent courses, trained facilitators can purchase additional parent books at cost price. Trained facilitators are also licensed to copy worksheets and handouts from the parent books, as an alternative.
Our Support Package
Research shows that families achieve the best outcomes when facilitators and their managers are supported pre and post-training to deliver programmes. We provide a comprehensive package of pre and post-training supports to our facilitators and managers in order to ensure a sustainable and effective delivery of the programmes within their agency.
As a result, Parents Plus provides a comprehensive package of pre and post-training supports to professionals and managers who want to ensure a sustainable and effective delivery of the programmes within their agency.
Our supports include:
- Implementation support to get groups off the ground, including planning workshops and coaching for managers.
- Individual and group supervision sessions with an experienced Parents Plus Trainer.
- Advanced training workshops on specific topics.
- Extra resources to facilitate delivery, e.g. fliers, posters, certificates, practice articles, parenting articles, supplementary handouts.
- Support to promote your Parents Plus courses in your community.
- Advice and guidance on evaluating and monitoring outcomes in your agency to ensure your groups are effective.
- Access to two individual supervision sessions free of charge in the first year post-training.
- Sponsorship for further supervision is available on application.
You can read more details about our pre- and post-training supports here.
Certification and Accreditation
Certification
On completing the facilitator training for the Parents Plus Early Years Programme, you will be licensed to co-deliver this programme under supervision in your agency, to groups and with individuals. You can read our full licensing guidelines here.
Accreditation
For facilitators who want to take their practice to a higher level, Parents Plus also has an established accreditation process which supports you to refine your facilitation skills and professional practice and reach a high standard of delivery. Representing a major CPD achievement, accreditation allows you to deliver our programmes independently and to work towards becoming a Parents Plus supervisor. You can read more about our accreditation process in the resources section.
Onsite Training
Parent Plus provides onsite training to organisations and communities in Ireland and internationally. This is a cost-effective way to train your team or to partner with other agencies to deliver evidence-based programmes in your area.
If you would like to arrange an onsite training for your organisation, please contact our Impact Lead, Vicki Byrne at
Change the future for families
