Welcome to Parent Information Point - a joint project co-ordinated by the Family and Parenting Institute working in partnership with the Gulbenkian Foundation - providing innovative parent information sessions in schools.

The project proposal for PIP emerged from the NFPI's report, National Mapping of Family Services in England and Wales, published in 2001. One of the recommendations made in this report was to provide parents with 'single, universal parent information sessions' where they could access information on a variety of issues that affect children and young people.

The NFPI, in partnership with the Gulbenkian Foundation, conducted a preliminary study into the feasibility of parent information meetings in schools. This brought together recent evidence on work with parents in schools for all those working with parents in education and community settings. The publication, Children Growing Up: schools-based parent issues sessions can be purchased via our website.

 

PIP pilot scheme

Following the recommendations of the feasibility study, funding from the Gulbenkian Foundation for the pilot scheme and from the DfES (Department for Education and Skills) and Home Office (now Family Policy Unit in DfES) for the evaluation of the pilots, a national pilot scheme offering single information sessions for parents in schools ran in three areas of the UK - Kirklees, Stockport and Tower Hamlets - from September 2002 to July 2003. The aim was to try out the Parent Information Point 'formula' of universal one-off meetings for parents of children aged five, eleven and fourteen, i.e. at key transitional stages, to provide information and parenting top tips, link up parents and local services and link up parents with other parents for mutual support and exchange of information. The purpose of the pilot was to address the question: could a simple, effective idea like this work in practice and what would be the obstacles to overcome?

"What appealed to us about PIP was the idea of information sessions for all parents, as opposed to only those with particular needs or experiencing particular difficulties, and the fact that the parent information sessions are to take place in the familiar and accessible location of the school. We also believe that such an approach has the potential to be widely duplicated."

Simon Richey, Assistant Director of Education, Gulbenkian Foundation

Visit the Gulbenkian Foundation website

Further information

To order a copy of the PIP Toolkit please go to the Publications section.

Last updated: 5th September 2009 at 02:09:46