Category Archives: News
Single Parents Day
We are proud to be celebrating Single Parents Day on Monday 21st March 2022 and standing with Single Parents
We’ll be sharing valuable resources across all of our social media, so keep an eye out. Single Parents’ Day is a chance to raise awareness of the struggles and hardship faced by many single parents, but more than that, it is an opportunity to celebrate their incredible strength, love and resilience.
Single Parents’ Day is a day for everyone to stand with single parents and show them how amazing they are. A day for single parents to reflect on all they have achieved and overcome, and for the world to show them how valued they are.
We’re partnering with Gingerbread, One Family Ireland and One Parent Family Scotland to celebrate Single Parents Day. Check out what they’re up to during the week too!
Don’t forget that if you’re in need of additional assistance you can always call our support line – we are here for you!
Support Line: 0808 8010 722
Available Monday – Thursday 9:30 am – 3:30 pm and Friday 9:30 – 12:30 pm
We would love to hear your personal stories to help us celebrate Single Parents Day and #StandWithSingleParents! If you would like to share your own story or that of an amazing single parent you know, get in touch!
Follow the #StandWithSingleParents #SingleParentsDay2022 hashtags to see what we get up to during the week.
Email claref@parentingni.org to share your story
Parents report a significant drop in their mental and emotional wellbeing due to Covid19
Parenting NI are aware of a surge in need regarding mental health and wellbeing services for parents and their children, yet there was a conspicuous lack of necessary data to understand what is needed to better support parents in the region. Their recent focussed study aims to fill in these gaps in knowledge and learn from parents what they need most regarding this issue. The report from the charity encompasses views from 262 parents from across the region, gathered in a mix of interviews and online survey responses during a month-long investigative period. The report sheds a light on the heavy impact of covid on families in NI. A total of 88% of parents reported that the pandemic had affected their wellbeing. Parents also felt that the pandemic was taking a heavy toll on their children’s emotional health and wellbeing too, with 47% stating it has affected them ‘a lot’, and 24% suggesting it affected them ‘a little’.
Interestingly, the report found that a number of parents did experience some positive effects from the pandemic, namely spending more time at home as a family, however most noted that this was relevant to the first lockdown and subsequent lockdowns had been much more challenging.
“The change of pace has been positive for our family. The extra time spent together has boosted all our mental and emotional well-being”
However, notably the experience of families during the pandemic has been largely negative. The interviews highlighted many of the unique challenges children faced:
Parents expressed a desire for more support around emotional health and wellbeing, both for themselves and for their children. When looking at the support available, the majority (53%) of families told us they were not aware of help or support available to them. Many parents felt support was too limited or did not exist and wanted improvements in this area:
“Easily accessible information to support groups and funding from government for these organisations to provide these information and support sessions”
There has been an increased number of issues experienced by parents in regards to mental health provision and intervention services. Some of the parents surveyed wanted there to be more help offered in this area. Numerous parents reported that they had experienced difficulties finding help for themselves and their families. Many families have been unaware that support exists, and due to this have struggled. Communication from statutory services was often experienced by parents as confusing or lacking detail, which led to a lack of awareness of the support available.
Signposting between organisations could be capitalised to fill a need here to better support families.
Charlene Brooks, Parenting NI CEO warns that support for children and parents need to be made available now “A proactive approach is needed – Parents are struggling with the weight of the challenges that this pandemic has imposed upon them and their families, and they need help now. There needs to be clear and widespread communication about the support and services that are available with services being adequately resourced to meet demands”.
Read the full report here:
BBC Northern Ireland launch Christmas Appeal – Staying Connected – Overcoming Loneliness Together
Loneliness is something that many people will have experienced at some point in their lives. It can be difficult to talk about – and sometimes hard to overcome.
The Appeal aims to raise awareness of the effects of loneliness and provide information, support and advice on how everybody can do something – big or small – to help someone in need.
In a Christmas like no other in recent memory, BBC Northern Ireland is encouraging everyone to find different ways of saying hello and staying in touch with neighbours, friends or their wider family circle.
And whilst Covid-19 restrictions mean that we have to keep our distance, it remains more important than ever to stay connected – whether by phone, email, letter, social media or the BBC itself!
The appeal, which will run from Monday 7 December – Friday 11 December, is a joint initiative with a group of local charities including: Volunteer Now, Age NI, Parenting NI, Marie Curie, Barnardo’s NI, British Red Cross, Campaign To End Loneliness, Carers NI, Mencap NI and the Royal College of General Practitioners NI.
Charlene Brooks, Chief Executive of Parenting NI comments, “Parenting NI are delighted to be working in partnership with BBC Northern Ireland and the other charities on the Christmas Appeal ‘Staying Connected at Christmas – overcoming loneliness, together’. This year, more than ever before, parents and grandparents have been telling us their experiences of loneliness. We know that this can have a negative impact not only on their own well being but also on their children and other family members. It is therefore more important than ever to encourage anyone struggling to reach out – to friends, family members, faith groups or organisations such as Parenting NI. We are all here to help and no one should ever have to feel alone.”
Fronting the campaign this year is BBC News NI’s Tara Mills. She says: “I think this year has brought loneliness and isolation into very sharp focus. The good thing is that many of us have got to know our neighbours better, but it has also shown that loneliness affects people of all ages.
“In our programmes I talk to people every day who are helping their family and friends, their neighbours and colleagues. We can provide company on the radio in particular, but as a community we have to do more and keep up the new social contacts we all built in the lockdown. Is there anyone you could call or write a letter to? Sometimes the simplest things have the greatest impact.
“One of the most touching stories I heard was a young woman who befriended her 94-year-old neighbour during lockdown. They’ve now become great friends and have both gained enormously from the new relationship.”
Mark Adair, Head of Corporate and Community Affairs, BBC NI says: “Loneliness is an important issue and it’s something that many people have struggled with in this most difficult of years. Our Appeal is a joint initiative with local charities that have been doing innovative work in this area and we hope that it will facilitate a big conversation about loneliness and how it can be overcome. There are no easy solutions, but help is available and all of us can do something to stay connected with neighbours, friends, family.
“Just finding time to say ‘Hello’ could make a huge difference this Christmas. And whilst Covid-19 may require us to keep our distance, it doesn’t mean that we can’t reach out to others in a ‘virtual embrace’.”
There’ll be stories, features and reports about loneliness across the BBC’s airwaves.
Now, more than ever, it is important for all of us to stay connected this Christmas.
For more information about the Appeal’s charity partners and how to get involved visit: bbc.co.uk/niappeals.
Get involved with #stayingconnected
Families Together Project in Antrim and Strabane draws to a close after five highly successful years in local schools.
The Families Together Project is a 5-year transformative project deployed in schools within Antrim and Strabane. The project was headed by Parenting NI in partnership with Action Mental Health New Life and with financial support from the National Lottery Community Fund. The project was initially deployed in six schools within Antrim and Strabane which included Sion Mills Primary School, Ballycraigy Primary School, Six Mile Integrated Primary School, Parkhall Primary School, St Catherine’s Primary School & St Mary’s Primary School. The project was able to provide support for an additional 4 schools across the two areas however unfortunately ends this November after five incredible years working within local schools.
A principal remarks on the project;
“It’s hard to imagine the school without them – they’re part of the school now and an important part of our annual pastoral action plan.”
Parenting NI has been providing parenting services across Northern Ireland since 1979 in the belief that effective parenting is the cornerstone of strong families, and that parents should be supported to enable them to provide children with a positive upbringing. Parents are a primary influence on their children and that influence can either be negative or positive depending on the quality of the parenting (Campbell, 1995). The Families Together project was designed around these principles in order to holistically strengthen these relationships. Strabane and Antrim were selected as the two areas for the project because of the high level of disadvantage. Primary schools within the most disadvantaged parts of Strabane and Antrim were invited to become partner schools with Parenting NI to form the Families Together Project.
Once a year, the Families Together Project would host a Family Fun Day in Antrim and Strabane with a variety of local agencies joining in to provide fun activities for families as well as information on local support services. The project hosted a large number of activities, parenting classes, parent & child workshops and counselling sessions for parents and their children within each school. These included the ‘Time for Parents’ Support and Counselling service and ‘Time for Me’ informal listening and signposting sessions and Time Together for the parents and their children. Families Together ran a variety of free parenting workshops for participating schools. These topics ranged from subjects such as Relaxation, Handling Children’s Behaviours and Healthy Choices. The programme ran numerous child workshops, a Parenting Café for parents to informally meet one another and a highly successful Walking Group.
One of the school principals remarks on the programme;
“I am struck by the diversity of needs and parents being engaged – not just those who are always targeted because of high needs, but also fathers and people of different social backgrounds. This is de-stigmatising.”
Over the 5-year duration of the project, the engagement of the schools and families involved in the programme has grown significantly. This has been particularly noticeable with families who lacked confidence in their parenting ability and self-esteem. Parenting NI and the Families Together Project are delighted to celebrate all the great work and engagement the parents, families, children and the teachers in each school have brought to the project over the past five years.
One parent remarked on the programme:
“It’s like a wee lifeline. A good experience – brilliant and highly recommended. I’m definitely more confident as a parent and I have a better support system.”
Parental Experiences and Attitudes on Post-Primary Academic Selection during the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented disruption to the education of children in Northern Ireland. While this has had a dramatic impact on all children, there has been a particular focus on those facing important exams. While sector-wide policies have been enforced for both GCSE and A-level results, this has not been the case for Northern Ireland’s unique third examination period – the post-primary transfer.
One key result of this lack of government mandated policy has been regional variation. While some schools have indicated that they intend to continue with selection without adjustment, several others have decided to either drop or amend selection methods for this year. This decentralised response to the crisis has left parents and children in a uniquely challenging situation, without precedent.
This paper sought to gather a snapshot of parental concerns and views regarding post-primary transfer in the pandemic period. The findings of this demonstrate a wide range of very strongly held views, and a lack of consensus on almost any aspect of post-primary transfer both in the pandemic and more generally. Parents were deeply divided on core issues such as:
• Whether the transfer test should go ahead this year;
• Whether the transfer test should exist at all;
• Whether academic selection by any means should be a component of Northern Ireland’s Education system.
Parents were often unambiguous and direct with their feedback. Those in favour of the transfer described it as “a necessary part of education” and said that altering it at this late stage was “deeply unfair”. However, some parents who opposed the tests described them as “almost a form of torture” and suggested that allowing the normal transfer process to take place in the shadow of COVID represented a “moral failing on behalf of the authorities”.
It is impossible to determine with such a small sample size how widely any of these beliefs are held. However, what is clear is that there are strong feelings regarding post-primary transfer that deserve to be examined in more detail.
To read & download the full report on Parental Experiences and Attitudes on Post-Primary Academic Selection during the COVID-19 Pandemic 2020, please click the button below. Published August 2020.
Parents struggling with the additional pressure lockdown is putting on families
Leading parenting support charity launch findings from Parenting in a Pandemic Survey
A survey carried out with 439 parents in Northern Ireland shows many families are finding the current circumstances incredibly difficult. 78% of parents either agreed or strongly agreed that the pandemic had been difficult for them and their families. 74% agreed or strongly agreed it had been difficult for their children.
This crisis has presented a range of unique and challenging problems for families and parents. It has fundamentally altered society, and has forced many parents to adapt. Parents are particularly concerned about the stress and emotional impact and the loss of traditional routines, such as struggling to maintain bedtimes and structure during the day.
Home schooling was another major cause of concern for parents. Half of parents felt that provision for their child's education had not be adequate during lockdown, with many describing feelings of guilt or anxiety about balancing home working and home schooling. Parents also suggested they were concerned about children falling behind as a result of lack of formal education. Parents are also unsure as to whether schools should be one of the first settings to return after lockdown, with 42% agreeing that schools should return and 58% feeling that they should not.
A worryingly high number of parents suggested they were unaware of any support available to them. 63% of parents believe that the Northern Ireland government have not done enough to support and inform parents.
Chief Executive at Parenting NI, Charlene Brooks, said,
"This is undoubtedly a very difficult experience for many families. Parents facing additional challenges such as lack of access to devices and poor internet provision, concerns about impact of isolation on mental health, and parents of children with additional needs have been hardest hit and in need of more support. It is therefore really concerning that many parents were unaware of support available to them. Parenting NI are suggesting that more should be done to make parents aware of existing help."
Interestingly, whilst parents are struggling there was a minority (just under 20%) who suggested that the crisis and associated lockdown had been, on the whole, a positive experience for their families. Some parents indicated that this unique period had offered them an unexpected opportunity to spend more time together and enjoyed strengthening their family bond. Reflecting on this Charlene said,
"I think in these most unusual times it has been encouraging to see families find the positives in this new way of life we have been adjusting to, spending more quality time together, sharing meals and generally bonding more as a family. At Parenting NI we would encourage families to consider if any of these positives can be made to maintained, even after the crisis is over. We hope that it might be an opportunity for employers, schools and families to work together to consider changes to working and education patterns and encourage a stronger value to be placed on parenting and families; which will have a positive impact on society as a whole."
Parenting NI Statement on ‘Too Little, Too Late’ Report
Parenting NI welcomes the comprehensive review of the provision of SEN in mainstream schools completed by NICCY.
The key findings of the report mirror our own experiences of parents and caregivers struggling with a system that is under-resourced, opaque and slow. SEN needs were a major source of concern in our own research, such as the 2019 Big Parenting Survey.
We specifically welcome the recognition of the issues faced by parents in the report. In particular, the lack of communication with parents and caregivers involved in the SEN process and in SEN provision. This is an issue that parents and families raise with us on a regular basis with us. In addition, we recognise specific parental concerns such as parents feeling that children with dyslexia, or ASD are not being sufficiently supported . These are worries that are raised by parents contacting Parenting NI and will likely be familiar to any organisation supporting parents.
Parenting NI supports the call from the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, for an urgent systemic review of SEN provision within mainstream schools. In addition, Parenting NI echoes calls for a clearer framework for communication with parents and caregivers as outlined in recommendation 32 in particular.
Parenting NI commends NICCY on it’s hard work in producing this essential report, and calls upon all relevant bodies to implement its recommendations as soon as possible.
You can read the full report on NICCY’s website.
Parenting NI Statement Regarding COVID-19
Update from Parenting NI
We are living in unprecedented times and it is important that we all look after ourselves and each other in these challenging circumstances.
Parenting NI provides support to parents and families throughout Northern Ireland, and the health and well-being of our staff as well as those in the communities which we offer services is of the utmost importance. Therefore we have made the decision to temporarily suspend direct services, effective as of Friday 20th March. These services will include programmes, Families Together services such as walking groups and parenting cafes, focus groups, home visiting and the Dads Project services such as Dads Talk and programmes.
We will continue to provide support via our Support Line which can be contacted on freephone 0808 8010 722 during the usual opening times of 9:30am – 3:30pm Monday – Thursday and 9:30am – 12:30pm Friday. Our website which has a wide range of tips and guidance will be updated regularly and our Parent Support App will also still all be available.
At this stage, direct services (such as programmes) due to start week commencing 20th April will proceed as planned. However, as the situation continues to change quickly, we will continue to follow the guidance and advice of the Public Health Agency. I would encourage parents to keep an eye on our website for the latest on Parenting NI services in the coming weeks and also follow our social media channels which will continue to share information and support for parents.
Rest assured that Parenting NI will continue to explore new ways that parents can access support during this period. At the moment our priority is to safeguard parents, families and staff. We appreciate your understanding as we take precautions in part of the wider public effort to reduce the impact of the virus.
Further information
In line with government guidelines, and to protect the wellbeing of families and our staff, Parenting NI Head Office will close from 5pm on Monday 23rd March until further notice. Parents and families will continue to be supported by telephone/web chat and email. With the closure of schools and children being at home, where needed, staff flexibility will allow the needs of those parents who may wish this support to be outside our normal hours of working. This will be agreed between the staff member and the parent.
The teams will also provide families with resources on family activities, Top Tips, practical support and tips on emotional wellbeing as well as ongoing weekly support either via calls or email.
Feedback from parents on this provision has been hugely positive as the team continue to provide this valuable service.
All parents have been informed of the postponement of programmes and workshops and will be made aware of new dates of commencement when the time is right.
We are still available to take referrals based on this temporary means of providing support from all professionals across Northern Ireland. We would ask that all referrals are made via email to our help@parentingni.org address. Referral forms are available to download and further guidance offered here.
Take care,
Charlene Brooks
Parenting NI CEO
Parents concerned about the effects of technology on their children, don’t feel they get enough support
Leading parenting support charity have launched the findings from the second Big Parenting Survey with a specific focus on technology’s impact on modern parenting
A survey carried out with 1,358 parents across Northern Ireland in the 2019 has found that parents remain concerned about their children’s future. 69% of parents are more worried than hopeful about parenting in the future – a 3% increase compared to 2018’s figures. 82% of survey participants said they do not feel parents get enough support, showing no improvement compared to last year at all.
Parents expressed deep concern about the role technology plays in their children’s lives. 75% felt is had a “significant” impact on their children’s wellbeing, 71% found it difficult to monitor and only 23% felt they get enough support on technology. Parents expressed particular concerns about smartphones and social media.
Jenny Smithson, a mother to 3 daughters, spoke of her parenting experiences,
“Smartphones and social media are incredibly concerning for parents. My girls are dabbling on the edges for now - going on YouTube, playing a few games, researching for school. However, I still wonder about how we equip them for this place full of great possibilities and knowledge, but where there are many dangers.
“I don’t want my girls to be caught in the trap of living out their social interactions online, of comparing their lives, relationships, and bodies with the fake world that these things celebrate. I know that the main responsibility for protection in this area (as in all areas) lies with us, the parents, and so I feel that any support that can be provided for parents is really valuable.”
Maria Rogan, Director for Training and Development at Parenting NI said,
“This year’s findings, mirroring last years, remain a deep cause for concern. Parents have made it very clear that on a range of issues – mental health, technology and childcare to name a few – not enough is being done. A pervasive feeling of worry has taken root in Northern Irish parents, and policy makers need to act urgently to address their concerns. The return of elected, locally accountable government offers a chance to improve things, and we call upon all parties to act swiftly.”