Family Learning menu

If you can’t see what you’re looking for on our menu, please do get in touch. We’ll be happy to discuss the best course to meet your needs.

Best Start for Babies
This popular course is for parents of babies of 0-1.5 years. Course content includes language development (including bilingualism), importance of play, weaning, sharing books with babies and other topics selected from a list by parents. Sessions can also include a singing session with babies.


Best Start for Boys
For parents of boys, this course looks at both myths and facts about boy children and seeks to create a greater understanding of their specific needs. The course aims to support parents in developing strategies for engaging boys in ways that suit each individual. For example, parents have the opportunity to make a literacy toolbelt for their sons.

Best Start for Nursery
This course is for parents of children soon to start nursery who would like to develop their understanding of pre-school education in England and help prepare their child for the transition from home to nursery. The course includes preparing a child for nursery, choosing a nursery , and the role of the parent in supporting a child’s pre-school education.

Best Start for School
This practical course is for parents of children soon to start school who would like to develop their understanding of the English education system. Topics covered include choosing a school, the national curriculum and the role of the parent in supporting a child’s education.


Best Start for Toddlers
For parents of 1-3 year-olds, this thought-provoking course includes social, emotional, cognitive and physical development, learning through play, language development (including the importance of bilingualism), behaviour management, healthy eating, choosing childcare and nursery provision and other topics selected by parents.


Creative Parents
This hands-on course provides parents with time to enjoy developing their creative skills by making learning resources to support their children’s development. Parents can reflect on the value of learning through play and courses can be designed to provide parents with the opportunity to use their home languages.


ESOL for Parents
These popular courses enable parents to improve their English (ESOL) using a wide range of meaningful and relevant topics and contexts. Sessions can be delivered at a range of levels from absolute beginners to intermediate or differentiated for mixed ability groups. Course lengths are negotiable and courses can also be accredited.


Family Finance 
Provides parents with the opportunity to develop their skills in English and numeracy at the same time as covering topics relating to managing money and bills

Family French
The Family French courses are run by native French speakers and are aimed at family groups including toddlers to primary school aged children. Through games, songs and interactive activities, families are supported in developing some basic French conversation skills together


Family Literacy (Functional English)
This popular course provides parents with the opportunity to work on improving their reading and writing skills. The course can be adapted to suit the levels and interests of the group and will aim to build learners’ confidence in reading and writing for a variety of purposes. Participants will also have the chance to take a Functional English qualification at an appropriate level.


Family Maths (Functional Maths)
This course offers parents the opportunity to improve their own maths and to take a Functional Maths qualification if appropriate. The course allows parents to become more confident in using maths in all aspects of their lives leading to improved employability and the ability to support their children’s learning.
Getting ready for training and work
Offers EAL parents the opportunity to develop their skills in English and confidence, at the same time as covering topics relating to identifying training and work opportunities, getting and understanding further information and application criteria, making applications, developing CVs and practising for interviews

Happy Parents, Happy Families
This is an engaging course which specifically addresses the causes of parental stress and its impact on both children and the family as a whole. Learners learn about stress triggers and explore coping strategies and sources of support.


Healthy Families
This hands-on course aims to enable learners to access health information and reflect critically on the information they are presented with. During the course, participants have the opportunity to explore a wide range of topics including healthy eating, reading and understanding food labels, the importance of exercise, common childhood illnesses and emotional well-being.


Helping my Child with Maths
This useful course is aimed at parents and carers of children at nursery or primary school who would like to help their child with mathematics. Parents learn about the methods that are used to teach children maths in British schools. They also have the opportunity to makes games and resources and try out numeracy activities to have fun using with their children at home. Participants are also given support with their own maths skills and we can offer the opportunity to take accreditation in mathematics.


Helping my Child with Writing/ Helping my Child with Reading
These practical courses are aimed at parents of nursery and primary school children who would like to develop their understanding of how children learn to read and write, how they are taught to read and write and what the parent’s role is within that. The course can be tailored to focus on either reading or writing or longer courses can consider both skills.


Kids UK
For parents who have either recently arrived in the UK with young children or new parents who arrived in the UK before having children, this popular course looks at the ‘culture’ of childcare in the UK and how to support your children within it. Topics covered include behaviour and discipline, child-centred approaches to teaching, the role of parents in children’s education and the importance of early childhood bilingualism.


Literacy for ESOL Learners
This course for ESOL learners who have progressed to level 1 in speaking and listening and who would like to improve their written English. The course focusses on literacy skills and also offers the opportunity to improve speaking and listening in English.


Play Out!
Play Out! is a fun course focusing on safe, outdoor play opportunities for the family. It aims to give parents and carers ideas for encouraging outdoor play and activities to do outside. Participants will also explore their local area and discover local outdoor venues to take their families to.


Shop, Cook, Eat
Designed to enable parents/carers to make healthy choices when shopping and cooking on a budget, this course also helps them to consider how a healthy diet can make a positive impact on their own and their family’s physical and emotional health and well-being. The course involves some food preparation, so kitchen facilities are needed.


Smile, Sleep and Self-confidence 
A course where parents share and develop their ideas for positive discipline, strategies for managing stressful situations, building resilience in children, the importance of routines and sleep, understanding each other and the role of praise.

Story Sacks
Course designed to support parents in understanding the value of play and stories in their children’s development. Parents will focus on a book to develop a range of fun activities to enhance the story.

Supporting my Bilingual Child
This very popular course is aimed at parents bringing up children in a bilingual environment, i.e. speaking one or more languages other than English at home. The course covers the advantages of being bilingual, research into bilingualism, strategies for encouraging childhood bilingualism, developing bilingual resources, and choosing schools that value bilingualism.


Supporting My Child’s Learning
Designed specifically for EAL parents of under-fives to enable them to develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to support their children’s cognitive development and learning opportunities

Taking time to talk together 
Provides EAL parents with opportunity to develop their skills in English at the same time as covering topics relating to their child’s development with a particular focus on speech and language

A Basket of Flowers
Families will discuss the essential elements for plant growth. They will make a basket, fill it with compost and plant seeds in it. The following curriculum areas will be addressed – science, design and technology and maths.


All About the Weather
Families will explore the characteristics of the different seasons and different kinds of weather. They will then have the opportunity to make their own weather wheel and a weather matching game. This workshop will address the following curriculum areas science, literacy and maths. It will also help children to develop their fine motor skills.


Healthy Me
Families will explore what healthy food is through quizzes and other activities and will then make their own personalised healthy eating place mats. At the end of the session they will have the opportunity to make and eat a healthy snack. This session will address various curriculum areas including design and technology (cooking and nutrition), Science and PSHE.


In the Frame
Families will take turns at drawing each other and then make wooden picture frames for their art work. This workshop will cover the following curriculum areas – maths, design and technology and art and design.


Pirates!
Families will explore the theme of pirates through making a pirate ship, drawing a treasure island and writing a letter in a bottle. The following curriculum areas will be addressed – design and technology, art and design and English.


Tick Tock Family Clock
An opportunity for parents and children to work together to make a fully functioning clock on a background of their choice. Families will use measuring skills and explore design ideas whilst children will develop their fine motor skills and learn to tell the time using an analogue clock. This workshop will address the design and technology and maths curriculum.


Cool Cats
Families will have the opportunity to explore the cat family, learning about classification of animals and identifying different cats. We will look at the common features of all cats. We will explore the threat to some species of big cats. Families will make cat masks, take part in a quiz and make a cat game to take home and play. (Some of the curriculum areas covered – identifying and classifying; classification of animals into carnivore, herbivore and omnivore).


Family Parachutes
Make a parachute and explore resistance. Families will make a parachute and test it in various ways to explore the science behind it


Seed Head
Plants and how they grow. All families will make a head filled with compost and will plant seeds, as hair, into compost. This workshop will look at the essential elements for growth of plants. There will be a practical demonstration of the intake of liquid by a flower. (Some of the curriculum areas covered – observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants; find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy.)


Spaghetti Engineering
We will explore principles of strength, tension, compression etc. in this fun-filled team-building activity. Families will use spaghetti and marshmallows to build a bridge and then test their product to see how much weight it can bear. All bridges will also be given a name. Older children will have the opportunity to further develop their understanding of the key principles.


Catch Me a Fish
Families will focus on comparative language and show how you can use stories to support its development. We will demonstrate how a simple fishing game can be used to compare size and families will have the chance to make a fishing game to take home. (some of the curriculum areas covered – measure and begin to record lengths and height)


Families Count
We will demonstrate a range of games that can be used to reinforce counting skills and families will have a chance to try out the games and make one to take home such as kitchen roll skittles. (Some of the curriculum areas covered – develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value)


Guess How Many
Estimation – we will talk about what estimation means with the help of some guessing games. Families will make a resource together, that involves cutting and colouring, which can be used to get the concept of estimation across in a fun way.  (Some of the curriculum areas covered – estimating and comparing).


Shapes and sizes
We will show how a simple memory game can be used to support with shape recognition in a fun way. Families will be able to make and play the game. (Some of the curriculum areas covered – recognise and name 2D and 3D shapes in different orientations and sizes.)


Dinosaur Fun
Families will review and consolidate their dinosaur knowledge through a quiz. They will then make their own, personalised, dinosaur board game with questions suitable for both adults and children. Adults and children will have the opportunity to check their facts and do some research by using books and technology. (Some of the curriculum areas covered – develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding; finding out information from a range of sources)


Tell Me A Story
This differentiated workshop will focus on children as creators of stories. All families will have the opportunity to reflect on what makes a good story and how stories are structured. A whole group activity will give each participant an opportunity to contribute to a group story. Families will then either make story cards (for older children who can read) or a story wheel both of which can be used by families to create their own, personalised stories