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You are in: Home > Projects > Parenting Forum ... > Parents' Week

Parents' Week 2011

'Family Friendly'

The 12th annual Parents' Week took place from Monday 17th to Sunday 23rd October 2011.  We are delighted that Ulster Bank supported Parents' Week 2011 as part of their MoneySense financial education programme. This year the theme was "Family Friendly" and we had a fantastic response, with over 500 events taking place across Northern Ireland. To view a list of the events please click here.

Parents' Week each year is

• a celebration of the valuable work organisations large and small do with families in all their shapes and sizes

• a time to examine how we can all be more effective

• an opportunity for us to ensure that all the hard work is recognised and valued and ensure that the issues affecting families today are kept at the top of the political agenda.

The Parenting Forum launched Parents’ Week 2011 with the annual conference on Monday 17th October at Grosvenor House Conference Centre, Belfast. Almost 80 delegates attended the conference, many travelling from across the province.  Under the theme of “Family Friendly” delegates heard presentations from a range of speakers including:

Michelle McIlveen MLA, Chair of the All Party Assembly Group on Children and Young People confirmed the importance of raising the profile of children and young people’s issues within the Assembly and Executive. She also reiterated the Group’s focus on promoting and supporting the mainstreaming of rights and equality for all children and young people within government legislation, policy, and service provision. Michelle also addressed the value of early intervention, helping to improve outcomes for children and families and recognised parents as the first educators.

Professor Sheila Greene, Co-founder & former Director of the Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College, Dublin gave a very informative and insightful presentation on Child Cohort Studies, North and South, and their messages for parents. The information contained a wide range of data gathered from children, families, schools, neighbourhoods etc. and highlighted how and why children change. These studies will gain in value with more data waves collected over time. Please click here to view Professor Greene’s full presentation.

Steve Daniels, Head of Human Resources, Ulster Bank spoke about the growing need for family friendly working policies and the difficulties faced by many parents in trying to balance their work/life relationship. He gave an overview of Ulster Bank practices in this area and the various organisational culture challenges faced in addressing the issue. Please click here to view Steve Daniels full presentation.

During the course of the morning, delegates also took part in workshops on:

Special Needs & Disability Within Education

Facilitators: Viviane Treacy & Heather Larkin, SENAC. The purpose of this workshop was to give an overview of the special educational needs framework and recent developments in policy; practical strategies for parents on how to engage within both to help address the needs of children and the challenges faced. Please click here for more information on delegate discussions during the workshop.

Education

Facilitators: Caroline Magowan & Marian McKinney, BELB. This was an interactive workshop focusing on creative parental engagement strategies/activities within school settings. Please click here for more information on delegate discussions during the workshop.

Ethnic Minorities

Facilitators: Trevor McMahon & Kat Beirne, SAAT Safe and Well Project. This focused specifically on the participation and engagement of Travellers and on the challenges of working with the Travelling community and ways of overcoming these. Please click here for more information on delegate discussions during the workshop.

Mental Health

Facilitator: Wendy Stewart, New Life Counselling. This workshop looked at the delivery of therapeutic family support in a community organisation and working with issues arising out of mental health. Please click here for more information on delegate discussions during the workshop.

Parents' Week 2011 supported by Ulster Bank MoneySense

* Please note that this link is to a Portable Document Format (PDF) file and you will need to have PDF Reader software on your computer to open it.