Supporting parents

A national programme has been launched to help parents and carers support their children’s learning and development.

Family Learning Scotland will back families who stand to benefit most by helping parents learn about childhood development and how to support their child’s learning.

The £500,000 scheme, which will be available in, or near, early learning and childcare settings, also aims to build parents’ confidence to learn and help take up adult learning and training opportunities that could boost in-work progression or access to new employment opportunities.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said:

“Family learning supports both children’s learning and development and the needs of parents and carers. Together with our £16 million Parental Employability Support Fund, this investment will help parents improve their skills and increase their earnings.

“This is an important part of our wider action to eradicate child poverty and make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up.”

Children’s Minister Maree Todd said:

“We know that parents are the primary influence on children’s development and this programme will help families to provide a high-quality home learning environment while supporting parents to work, train or study.

“Some local authorities already offer family learning as part of their early learning and childcare package. Our new investment will complement this and help reach even more families, working alongside our transformational expansion of Early Learning and Childcare funding to provide 1,140 hours from August this year.”

Background

Family Learning Scotland will be targeted at families living in the 20% most deprived communities and the priority family types identified in the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan. This includes those from a minority ethnic background, those with a disability within the household, those with a parent under the age of 25, headed by a lone parent, with three or more children and with a baby under the age of one.

The programme will support parents by increasing their confidence in their own learning skills through increased engagement in education, training or work, and the development of other skills to support increased economic activity.