The Community Parents training course runs for approximately 32 weeks (not in term time).

Free childcare is provided, if required, and all expenses incurred in volunteering reimbursed.

The course is run by Sussex Careers who provide a tutor and are responsible for assessing and marking coursework. The Open College Network provide the accreditation which is up to Level Three.

The course covers the following:

Introductory unit:
Understanding the principles of the community parent’s role including an overview of the home visiting materials and awareness of child
welfare issues.
Interpersonal skills:
Establishing a supportive peer group and understanding how to use communication skills effectively and appropriately.
Home visiting:
Learning and practicing approaches to use when visiting families in their home, understanding how to use the home visiting materials and actual visiting of families with support.
Liaising and networking in the community:
Accessing information on services and agencies and finding out what’s available in the area.
Sharing cartoons:
Practice using the cartoons and understanding the underlying messages they portray and how they can be used as useful tools in the enabling and development of effective parenting skills.

If you said yes to these you could, with training,
become a Community Parent who:

• makes a difference to the day to day lives of the families supported by reducing isolation and sharing ideas, information and experience.

• supports families with a wide variety of issues whether it is parenting difficulties such as healthy eating, behaviour problems, routine building, play and development or sleep problems; or the more practical side of family life such as budgeting, spending time as a family/having time to themselves, housing problems and time management.

• always avoids giving advice but provides information and guidance on issues of importance to the family.

• offers suggestions and ideas focusing on the parent rather than the child.

• signposts families on to other agencies, groups and services in the area

• encourages parents to get involved in the
local community.

Would you like support from a
Community Parent?

If you have at least one child under four years old you are entitled to free parenting support.

Our volunteers, who are parents themselves, learn and develop different skills to encourage and enable families to use effective parenting skills, access other services and groups in the area and, most importantly of all, listen to the issues parents have in an informal and confidential setting. The Community parent will be able to help you identify what support would be most useful.

Using non-directive cartoons the volunteer will use suggestions and share their own parenting experience to help you to find the
best way forward.
The community Parent will help you to recognise your own skills and develop them further to build self-confidence.
Visits usually start on a weekly basis extending to fortnightly
and then monthly as applicable.

Our volunteers are all CRB checked have support from the Co-ordinator
of the project and course tutors.

For more information contact Emma