Parent support

Parenting courses give parents and carers an opportunity to:

• meet other parents
• share ideas and concerns about being a parent
• listen and learn from each other

The Waltham Forest parenting programmes aim to:

• increase knowledge and understanding of children’s development and needs
• build positive relationships and improve behaviour and communication
• make parenting and family life more enjoyable
• increase confidence and parenting skills
• help parents to feel more positive and reduce parenting stress
• develop new skills with practical support

Waltham Forest offers a range of parenting programmes and courses for parents and carers with children aged 0 to 18 who either live in Waltham Forest or have children attending Waltham Forest schools.

We offer the following courses:

Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC)

 For parents or carers with children from 3 to 18 years old.

Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) is an inclusive evidence-based parenting programme, designed to promote protective factors which are associated with good parenting and better outcomes for children. The programme helps parents and carers build a special relationship with their children based on unconditional love, giving their children the key skills, they will need as they grow to make ‘healthy and safe choices’. The programme focuses on developing healthy lifestyles, healthy families and healthy communities which are free from violence.

SFSC has enjoyed success with parents/carers from a number of backgrounds, including Black and minority ethnic parents, teenaged parents, parents with learning disabilities and parents from marginalised communities, including those with experience with drugs, alcohol or violence.

How is this delivered?

Face to face and online

Length of programme

13 sessions. Each session is 3 hours

Find out more about this programme through the 13 week SFSC information pack (PDF).

Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) workshops 

For parents/carers with children from 3 to 18 years old.

A selection of four workshops with different topic areas for certain aims.

Workshop one: To enable parents to think reflectively about their own experience of being parents and how this impacts their current parenting choices

Workshop two: To help parents positively connect to their children and understand the benefits of developing close warm relationships as a protective factor in parenting

Workshop three: To help parents gain the confidence to use positive discipline methods and understand their role and responsibility in providing children with a process of discipline consistent with protective factors to increase positive outcomes

Workshop four: To help parents understand their role and responsibilities to support children in and through various stages of transition from childhood to adulthood

Find out more about this programme through the 4 week SFSC workshop information pack (PDF).

How is this delivered?

Face to face

Length of programme

Choice of attending all four workshops, or individual workshops. Attendance at all four workshops is encouraged.

Triple P 0 to 12

Parents or carers with children up to 12 years old.

Parents/carers actively participate in a range of exercises to learn about the causes of child behaviour problems, set specific goals, and use strategies to promote child development, manage misbehaviour, and plan for high-risk situations.

Triple P 0 to 12 programme information pack (PDF).

How is this delivered?

Face to face and online

Length of programme

5 sessions, each session is 2 hours. Plus 3 weeks of individual telephone consultations.

Triple P Teen

Parents or carers with children from 11 to 18 years old.

Parents/carers may be interested in promoting their teenager’s development and potential or they may have concerns about their teenager’s behaviour. Parents/carers actively participate in a range of exercises to learn about the influences on adolescent behaviour, set specific goals, and use strategies to promote a teenager’s skills development, manage inappropriate behaviour, and teach emotional self-regulation.

Triple P Teen programme information pack (PDF).

How is this delivered?

Face to face and online

Length of programme

5 sessions, each session is 2 hours. Plus 3 weeks of individual telephone consultations.

Triple P stepping stones

For parents or carers with children up to 12 years with an intellectual or physical disability.

The Triple P stepping stones programme (PDF) helps you manage problem behaviour and developmental issues common in children with disability. Parents or carers actively participate in a range of exercises to learn about the causes of child behaviour problems, setting specific goals, and using strategies to promote child development, manage misbehaviour, and plan for high risk situations.

How is this delivered?

Face to face

Length of programme

6 sessions, each session is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Plus 3 weeks of individual telephone consultations.

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS)

Positive Behaviour Support is an approach for supporting individuals with autism, a learning disability, and a range of other complex care needs. Often there can be challenges for an individual within the environment in which they live that produces, what has been described as challenging behaviour. The overall aim of Positive Behaviour Support is to improve the quality of life for the person, their family, and to create opportunities for meaningful engagement with day-to-day life.

Positive Behaviour Support information (PDF).

How is this delivered?

Online

Length of programme

2 sessions. 1 session is 2 hours and 1 session is 2 hours 30 minutes.

Programmes are held within the four Children and Family Centre Hubs, as well as schools throughout the borough. Sessions rotate the four areas each term. We also offer some of the programmes online.

Please download a parenting course application form (PDF) and Email the completed form to earlyhelpparenting@walthamforest.gov.uk.

Referrals from professionals and self referrals from parents or carers are welcome.

For more information on the parenting programme offered please contact Gemma Akinade, Parenting Programmes Training Lead.  Telephone: 07586 713 368.

or sending an Email to earlyhelpparenting@walthamforest.gov.uk

BeeZee Families

A completely free, award-winning healthy lifestyles programme for 5 to 15 year olds and their families. Our fun-filled, family-focussed sessions are filled with exciting activities and practical healthy eating advice to help you feel great and live your best life! 

How is this delivered

Face to Face

Length of support:

16 Weekly sessions held in local Schools

Referral criteria:

At least one child aged between 5 to 15 years old and above their ideal weight based on the BMI centile chart

How to refer:

Click the link  sign up link - Award Winning Weight Loss Programmes | Behaviour change for good (beezeebodies.com) or Phone: 03308 186308 or Email hellowalthamforest@beezeebodies.co.uk

Cygnet 

A free course for parents of children aged 5 to 18 years old with an autistic spectrum condition, delivered by the Educational Psychology Service.

The programme is designed to:

• increase understanding of autistic spectrum conditions
• help to develop knowledge on how a child on the autistic spectrum experiences the world and what drives their behaviour
• provide practical strategies that can be used with children
• give information on relevant ASC resources
• provide opportunities to meet with other parents/carers/professionals who have had similar experiences and to gain support and learn from each other

How is this delivered?

Face to face.

Length of programme

6 sessions, plus an optional extra session. Each session is 3 hours long.

How to refer:

Referrals from professionals and self-referrals from parents or carers are welcome. Please Email rebecca.wright@walthamforest.gov.uk and wayne.keenan@walthamforest.gov.uk  

Calm Parents, Calm Children

A free course for parents, run by the Waltham Forest Adult Learning Service.

You will learn how to: Identify triggers that lead to challenging behaviours, how to encourage calm behaviour in yourself and your child, how to manage the main sources of anger, how to use praise as a discipline method, how to set and keep boundaries, and the role of feelings in parenting

How is this delivered?

Face to face.

Length of programme

4 sessions. Each session is 2 hours long.

How to refer:

To enrol or for more information Email Cherie.cowan-smith@walthamforest.gov.uk or call 079 1877 1041.

Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities (EPEC) – Being a Parent

A free course for parents of children aged 2 to 11 years old.

Empowering Parents Empowering Communities (EPEC) is a peer-led parenting programme that helps children and families get the very best start in life. It is designed to improve parenting support for families in socially disadvantaged communities and is unique as it trains, supervises, and supports local parents to deliver parenting courses in their communities.

The course content relates well to children being ready to learn at school and is recognised by pre-schools, nurseries, early years settings, children’s centres, and schools in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. They receive ongoing support and supervision from the EPEC Hub, and their experiences, backgrounds, skills, and qualities make each session inviting and engaging.

How is this delivered?

Face to face.

Length of programme

9 sessions. Each session is 2 hours long

How to refer:

Referrals from professionals and self-referrals from parents or carers are welcome. For more information Email EPEC@walthamforest.gov.uk or call 077 9991 3026.

HENRY Healthy Families Group Programme

A free 8 week programme for families with children under 5 which helps you give your child the best possible start in life. Each week join an interactive group session with other local families to explore parenting confidence, emotional wellbeing, eating well as a family, physical activity for your little ones and family lifestyle habits. You'll receive a free HENRY toolkit which includes lots of helpful resources to use in your family. Bring along your little ones, a free creche is provided. 

How is this delivered?

Both face to face and Online

Length of Programme

8 weeks with either a 2 hour (face to face) or 1 hour (online) session each week.

How to refer:

Families or practitioners complete the online referral form or contact our team on 0208 496 5223. Email wfsupport@henry.org.uk

HENRY Wellbeing Buddies Support

When families are finding family life tough, a HENRY buddy can provide a listening ear.  Providing regular 1-1 phone or video conversations, buddies will listen and provide families with the support they need as a parent or carer, offer practical ideas and signpost to services families can access. 

Examples of things a HENRY Buddy can help with include:

• planning time for yourself and ways of reducing stress
• how to make daily life at home enjoyable for you all and reduce arguments
• fun ways of keeping active
• how to reduce social isolation

How is this delivered:

Flexible 1-1 phone support.

Length of support:

Families typically are offered 6 phone calls at a frequency that suits them, typically weekly.

Referral criteria: to support expecting or new parents or carers, with a child up to the age of 2. 

How to refer:

Families or practitioners can complete the online referral form or contact our team directly on 0208 496 5223. Email wfsupport@henry.org.uk.

Mellow Bumps 

A free course for expectant parents with health and social care needs, delivered by the Lloyd Park Children’s Charity.

An antenatal parenting programme for parents to feel more relaxed during pregnancy, improve their wellbeing and start to build a relationship with their baby. Mothers to be must be between 20 to 30 weeks gestation at the start of the course.

How is this delivered?

Face to face and online.

Length of programme

7 sessions - each session is 2 hours long.

How to refer:

To refer to this programme or for more information Email famillysupport@tlpcc.org.uk.

NEWPIN (New Parent Infant Network)

A proven, highly effective project for troubled parents who are willing and able to attend regularly for at least one year and explore, in a supportive, non-judgemental group setting, the reasons for their serious difficulties in parenting, going back to their own childhoods.

Their under-5s play in a therapeutic playroom, and parents are helped one-to-one to bond with and play with their child.

NEWPIN was established in Southwark by a health visitor in 1982.

Many parents who have been through the programme have taken paid work as NEWPIN co-ordinators.

Parents find that NEWPIN leads to permanent, significant improvements in family life.

How to refer:

For more information Email roskane@btinternet.com