Being a parent is the hardest job that you will ever have. There is no training, no pension, you are on call 24/7, there is no salary and children do not come with a user’s guide.  Your little bundles of joy can make you laugh, cry, frustrate you, keep you up all night, refuse to eat, answer back, behave badly (especially in public), break your treasured belongings and then give you the biggest, cheesiest smile as if to say ‘sorry Mum, you love me really’.  Would you put up with these working conditions in any other job!?

All is not lost! Mrs Docwra and Mrs Easty run the most amazing group for parents at Burlington Infant and Junior schools: Family Links.

Family Links is a 10 week course  to support parents and carers by the use of given strategies to try a new way of parenting at home. Strategies shared are the same as we use in school; our children at Burlington flourish knowing that there are firm, fair, consistent boundaries in place. 

The course runs for 2 hours every Friday over a 10 week period, twice a year. The next course is due to start on Friday 23 February. If you would like a place on our next course, please book it early as we fill up very quickly. The course also gives you a chance to meet and chat with other parents who are usually having the same problems at home as you. There is no charge for the course and you will be given a lovely book that will see you through the 10 week program and will be yours to keep, so you will always be able to refer back to it. If you are interested in joining us in February, please contact the School Office.

1:1 support is available for the parents who are unable to attend the Family Links parenting course and are having issues around parenting that they would like support with. This can be for any aspect of parenting. It could be around routines, eating, bedtimes, bedwetting, day time wetting, behaviour mangament, anything that parents are struggling with. We offer 1:1 meetings, email support and follow up meetings.  If it is not something that we can help to solve then we have a host of professionals that we can refer you to. First port of call is either your class teacher or the office staff who can arrange a meeting for you.

For more tips advice, check out the latest post from Mrs Easty: 

Positive Parenting - weekly post in our newsletter

Here is some feedback from parents who have recently attended the parenting course:

You have both transformed our family life!  We are beginning to enjoy our children more with a little less shouting and nagging.  After attending the parenting course, I feel like Mary Poppins with a bag of tricks and parenting techniques! I’ve gained a toolbox to use and adapt as my children grow. The most magical for us is praise and empathy. Being more aware and listening, to make a difference. Family rules rock! The hand gestures for choices and consequences work wonders!  A huge thank you to the both of you. Your support and advice have been much appreciated. You are both amazing! You have a great partnership, which in turn delivers the objectives of the course in a nurturing and fulfilling way.  This course is outstanding! I’ve learnt soo much and have already recommend to other parents.

The positive parenting course has been a brilliant, insightful journey into the daunting world of parenting and expertly delivered by both Terri and Michelle. I wish we had known about this valuable resource earlier on in our parenting journey and I would go as far to say it is as, if not, more important and valuable as the NCT antenatal classes we attended before becoming parents. Lots of soul searching and self-reflection, the course invites you to delve into your own childhood experiences and upbringing (as well as learning from such experiences from others in the group) to understand what worked well and what didn’t work so well. This has helped in really understanding various experiences from my child’s perspective in their important formative years and whilst much of the course content does seem quite obvious in many instances, the reality is that due to our busy schedules and hectic lives we live, we often forget or we are distracted from what is truly important and best for our children in these critical early years. The basic interactions, reactions and engagement we have with our children on a daily basis clearly has a profound impact on their own mood, character, wellbeing and development and attending this course has highlighted the ways in which we can tailor our own daily engagement with our children to become more naturally conscious of this, in doing so really helping our children to excel and avoiding habits that we have as parents that may be inadvertently hindering their growth.

I have learnt so many useful tips and strategies from the course to promote my child’s independence and to encourage them to be the best version of themselves whilst simultaneously using the parenting experience for self-growth and inner reflection. Whilst I realise that nurturing young children is no easy task and there will be many challenges and hurdles to overcome, the course has really helped shift my perspective of parenting into a much more positive and rewarding context. I am incredibly grateful to the course leaders Terri & Michelle for their dedication, positivity, humour, kindness and encouragement during the past couple of months and for delivering the course in such an engaging and thoughtful manner throughout. I would highly recommend this course to any parent or carer to really equip themselves and get the most out of the parenting journey. Thank you Michelle and Terri once again!

Below is some more feedback from parents who have previously attended the course:-

• I have come on such a huge journey and I feel so much has changed.
• I now understand that we all need help with parenting.
• I came away every week feeling supported and optimistic, I was not alone and change is possible.
• The course has taught me that kids are kids and not to expect too much of them.
• My confidence has grown massively, I no longer feel out of control.
• My relationship with my husband is back to what it used to be, lots of love and affection. We are not just ‘Mum and Dad, family life is so much calmer.
• The course turned me into a happy parent who now knows how to have fun with my child, I feel so sad that the course has now finished.
• We now talk, not shout and scream at each other.
• I now enjoy being with my children and feel blessed that I have them. I am determined to enjoy every minute of their childhood as time goes so quickly and they will be adults before I know it.