Confident Parenting

A guide for group facilitators

Available to purchase now for £95.00

The Confident Parenting Handbook and DVD are the result of 12 years collaborative work facilitating parenting groups at Hadrian School in Newcastle upon Tyne. Head Teacher Christopher Rollings and Clinical Psychologist Annette Hames have been successfully working in partnership with parents of children with a range of learning difficulties, behavioural difficulties and complex needs and have documented their successful approach in these new innovative materials.

The Handbook and DVD has recently been acknowledged with 2 national awards:

• The BILD All About People Award 2010 for “Behaviour Support and Leadership”
• The Bright Ideas in Health 2010 Award for “Training and Educational Materials”

The Handbook and DVD are designed to help empower new group facilitators to support parents on their difficult road to confident parenting. The DVD needs to be used in conjunction with the Handbook to raise parents’ awareness of the key components of confident parenting, equipping parents with the necessary skills, techniques and strategies to improve their child’s behaviour. These materials are the result of working in partnership with parents as true participants in the change process through a group work approach.

We are conscious that family life can be very difficult and challenging when living with a youngster with a learning difficulty. These materials help to make parents aware of the impact their behaviour has on their child and examines the environment and context in which behaviour takes place. The Handbook and DVD aim to help new group facilitators take parents on a similar journey and open their eyes to new possibilities, new sets of behaviour and new emerging understandings of disabilities.

The Handbook and DVD work on the premise that behaviour can and does change, and enable facilitators to help parents realise they have the possibility of altering their own destiny with the correct degree of support and encouragement. Parents should be supported and empowered to be the experts on their child’s behaviour and should be given respect for their knowledge and dedication to their child in a group setting.

The DVD has a selection of video clips showing a wide variety of behaviour techniques with comments from parents and practitioners in school and home settings. We want to cascade these resources to support group facilitators in confidently running group workshops for parents.

“For all of us who work, or plan to work with parents, this resource is essential. Annette and Chris have turned their many years of hands on experience into a resource that will benefit so many of us who aspire to support families with children who have additional needs.”

The areas covered are so comprehensive that you know this is no academic study, the areas covered
reflect the true nature of the challenges families meet.”

Rob Long, Chartered Educational Psychologist

As well as selling this publication independently HEADS also runs a series of 1 day training courses nationally where the Confident Parenting Handbook and DVD come as part of the course.