The Nurturing Programme

Research & Evaluation

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Click here to Download a copy of our research and evaluation leaflet in pdf format. This includes a summary of all recent research.

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Staff and Pupil Perspectives of the Family Links Nurturing Programme: An evaluation of the Andover Programme.
Research and Evaluation Unit, Hampshire Educational Psychology Service 2008. Hampshire County Council.

Extract from the Literature Review.
3.1 The parenting programme
As part of a larger evaluation of the Nurturing Programme, operating in Oxfordshire, Barlow and Stewart-Brown (2001) interviewed parents 9 -10 months after the programme had finished. The overall consensus was that it had been a worthwhile experience, which had brought about beneficial changes in their lives. Osgood & James (2006) similarly explored the parental views of the programme, as part of Sure Start and Family Support arrangements in North West Kensington and Golborne. The principal benefits were consistent with those found by Barlow and Stewart-Brown (2001) and included the following:

1. Parents felt supported by their peers. Parents mentioned that they had previously felt very 'isolated' in their parenting role. Many mentioned the strong bonds that formed between parents during the course (many still continuing to meet). Parents had been reassured by coming to realise that other parents had similar problems. Parents were also perceived as less judgemental than the professionals with whom they had come into contact.A reduction in feelings of guilt was cited, linked to recognition that things, which had gone wrong, were not always the parent's fault.
2. Parents felt they had regained control over their parental role. Parents felt they had the ability to change some of the behavioural issues they faced. This appeared to be associated with an increased capacity to stop and think (whilst remaining calm) about things, such as the reasons behaviours had occurred.  Many also made reference to acquiring new techniques to help them address problems. This appeared to have played an important role in the cessation of less helpful practices such as shouting, smacking and threatening.
3. Increased empathy. Parents appeared to have increased in their capacity to empathise with their children and this was associated with improvements in their ability to recognise and understand the reasons why children behave in particular ways.  This had resulted in an understanding that children have the same feelings and anxieties as adults, and that children should be helped to talk about these things.
4. Improved sense of self. Many indicated that the programme had helped re-establish their sense of self-worth and the importance of nurturing themselves. The programme embodied a non-judgemental approach and parents did not feel that they were being taught how to parent, but rather, were being supported to parent. Their practices were not criticised, and course leaders were not prescriptive about what they should do.
5. Longevity of the lessons learnt. Despite the shortness of the programme, much of what they had been taught had been internalised (sufficiently for it still to be apparent 9-months after the end of the programme, in the case of Barlow and Stewart-Brown, 2001). The content was further strengthened by parent’s ability to refer to the associated handbook The Parenting Puzzle (Hunt, 2003).

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An Evaluation of the Family Links Nurturing Programme delivered on behalf of Parenting Education and Nurturing Support (PENS).
Heather Stringer, Health on the Streets Team (HOTS) Bradford and Airedale (teaching) Primary Care Trust. 2007.

Extract from Conclusions
6.1 Conclusions - meeting course objectives
The outcomes identified by participants may be said to exceed those which may have been expected. The pleasure and enjoyment expressed by course members no doubt was a major influence on the attendance and retention rates. <
Course objectives:

• Recognise the value of consistency and set clear boundaries.

Time and again, group members were able to identify how a more consistent approach adopted since attending the course had a positive influence both on their relationship with an identified child and also on the family as a whole.

• Maintain positive discipline.

Parents were able to give examples of positive discipline now adopted and recommended to friends and relatives as being effective.

• Respect their own and their children's emotional needs.

The improved insight into the emotional needs of all family members and how respect for these had changed family relationships in such a short space of time came over as immensely powerful.

• Become a more confident, understanding parent.

“I no longer think I am a bad Mother” along with similar statements from participants suggests that group members did grow in confidence and understanding as a result of taking part in the course. This change was also commented on by facilitators, staff members at the school and course members about their colleagues.
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Sustaining Emotional Literacy - an evaluation of the medium- to long-term impact of the Nurturing Programme in schools
Dr Tony Eaude - 2006

Extract from the summary
The way in which the language had helped the whole school community to have a common way of discussing feelings and behaviour, and children to reflect on their behaviour, was commented on frequently, especially where the Nurturing Programme was most successfully embedded. This was the aspect which had made the most lasting and distinctive impact and was perceived to have been of greatest benefit to individual children and to the school culture. While there was a widespread view that all children benefit, the main beneficiaries were seen to be children who lack secure boundaries, those whose immediate response is confrontational and those who are quiet. The greatest impact was perceived to be with younger children, with some evidence that the effect may tail off with time especially with older children. The responses indicated a widely held belief that the Programme had been of greatest benefit in building the children’s sense of self-esteem and well-being, followed by sense of personal responsibility, with behaviour and empathy close behind and confidence and ability to assess and deal with one’s own feelings slightly behind them.
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Parent Support in Sure Start North West Kensington & Golborne: an evaluation of the Family Links Nurturing Programme
Jayne Osgood and Kathy James - The Institute for Policy Studies in Education (IPSE), 2006

Extract from page 48
The cathartic effect of this session signalled that whilst the Nurturing Programme can appear quite simplistic on the surface, deep emotional changes were occurring. Feelings of relief were apparently quite common, in re-visiting childhood experiences parents claimed to be able to understand their attitudes and behaviours more clearly and hence work towards altering them. These reflections provide evidence that parents were working through Goleman's (2005) five elements of emotional literacy which are outlined in Chapter Two.
Extract from page 50
Many parents stated that at the outset their principal motivation for attending the Nurturing Programme was to regain a sense of control in the parental role. There was considerable evidence that through calmer thinking and new tools of parenting this had been achieved. As outlined above, the development of emotional literacy and all that that entails (identifying and managing emotions, self motivation, empathy and relationship management) was powerfully experienced by most parents that completed (all, or most of) the course.
Extract from page 58
In summary, the Nurturing Programme in the context of North West Kensington and Golborne is very well received and clear evidence of effectiveness has been identified.
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The Family Links Nurturing Programme:
A report of a qualitative evaluation of training and implementation
Dr Virginia MacNeill, 2005

Key Findings
Perceptions of the immediate impact of the two-day course on teaching staff:

• enhanced team-working skills
• improved confidence and communication skills
• greater empathy with children
• an experience that uplifted all participants
• increased knowledge and understanding of tools and techniques for promoting children's social, emotional and behavioural development

The immediate impact of the Nurturing Programme on participating parents and their families.
Parents were positive about the Programme. They reported:

• an uplifting experience in a supportive atmosphere
• a better understanding of family relationships and parenting
• improved confidence and communication with their children
• more positive attitudes towards their children
• positive behaviour reinforcing techniques like Choices and Consequences were most successful
• Time Out and ignoring were least successful

The Nurturing Programme's longer term impact in the classroom:

• widespread and regular use of Circle Time but techniques often failed to filter through to other activities in the week
• widespread use of class reward systems
• perception that it has made a positive difference to the social, emotional and behavioural development of some children

Perceptions of the helpfulness and relevance of the Nurturing Programme in schools:

• needs explicit commitment from headteachers and management team for it to work
• children understand and positively respond to it
• techniques enable a consistent approach throughout the school
• empowers children by giving them a common language
• headteachers accept that their staff need nurturing as well as the pupils
• teachers often find it difficult to make time for it

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The Nurturing Programme: a prison based pilot – An evaluative commentary
Jonathan Nicholls, Mental Health Foundation, 2005

The report describes a pilot in Styal women’s prison in Cheshire, focusing on the lessons learned from taking the Nurturing Programme into a prison setting.  It is therefore not intended to be a formal evaluation of the impact of the pilot, but it does nonetheless contain some observational points about the course.

Extracts from stakeholder experiences from the Styal Pilot
Hence, while it’s not possible with this study to determine the long term impact of the programme, there are indications that the course was raising the women’s awareness of their role as parents in a useful way.

Another indicator of the prisoners’ engagement with the course was their attendance levels.  It is compulsory that prisoners attend training or other forms of work in the prison – but for uninspiring courses, it was suggested that prisoners will often claim to be sick, resulting in low attendance levels.  For the Styal pilot, however, voluntary attendance levels were consistently high.  This indicates that the prisoners found the course of value.

The Nurturing Programme in Foston Hall: piloting the full programme – An evaluative commentary
Jonathan Nicholls, 2005

The report describes a second pilot in Foston Hall women’s prison in Derbyshire, concentrating on the changes made to the format since the Styal pilot and the further lessons learned from this.  As with the Styal report, it is not intended as a formal evaluation of the impact but it does contain valuable observational points.

Extract from conclusions and key messages
It is also clear that, overall, the more intense version of the programme works: the women have enjoyed it and attended consistently; they have engaged in the material; and as the weeks have progressed, they have become more open to trying the exercises they [originally] felt less confident about, such as relaxation.  There is also evidence of them trying the skills and strategies, supporting each other in doing so, and praising each other for the work they are doing.
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Evaluation of a Course on Emotional Education in Initial Teacher Training
Dr Katherine Weare and Dr Robert Stratford, University of Southampton , 2004

Extract from discussion of the findings
Overview: The course appears to have been very successful in terms of its impact on confidence, degree to which it met its own aims, and degree to which the students enjoyed it. Given that it was only two days long and students did not elect to attend, this impact is remarkable.
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The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parental Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievements and Adjustment: A Literature Review
Professor Charles Desforges with Alberto Abouchaar
DfES Research Report RR433, 2003

Paragraph 8.36.1
The [Nurturing] Programme receives strong endorsement from head teachers who have used it (Hudson 2003; Carnan, 2003). These heads feel that the programme has, as part of a general strategy of school improvement, played a significant part in improving the schools' ethos and it has enhanced the emotional stability of all concerned. Further endorsement is manifest in the heads' willingness to invest time, money and energy in buying and sustaining the Programme and to further invest in capitalising on its perceived benefits through the recruitment of home-school links workers. Heads proselytise for the Programme. Furthermore, they are increasingly confident that they are involving previously hard to reach parents. Strikingly, heads report observing participant parents recruiting other parents to the ways of thinking and action promoted in the Programme.

Nurturing Group Work in a Children's Home
Maggie Bell, Helen Fay, Debbie Ramsden, Shirley Morgan
Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, Vol.2, No.2, August/September 2003

The paper describes a joint Education, Social Services and Health initiative introducing the Nurturing Programme in a Sunderland Children's Home. Both the staff and the young people undertook the 10-week course.

Extracts from the conclusion
Our young people speak very positively about the effects of the programme…Several of the young people have commented that the home is calmer to live in now.

Comments from the staff also reflect what the young people have said; however, what most members of staff have talked about is the nurturing aspect of the course and how it made them think about looking after themselves…

Building on the success of the pilot, a joint training initiative has been set up to train five residential social workers initially, with another five to follow, so that they will be able to deliver the programme in other children's homes.
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Understanding parenting programmes: parents' views
Dr Jane Barlow and Dr Sarah Stewart-Brown, Health Services Research Unit, University of Oxford
Primary Health Care Research and Development 2001

Conclusion
Overall, the qualitative data obtained in this study suggest that the parents who participated in and completed the Family Links Nurturing Programme were both satisfied with it and felt that they had made beneficial changes in their lives as a result of it. This suggests that brief interventions such as parenting programmes can have a long-term beneficial effect for parents. Support and feedback from other parents was one of the primary ways in which parents felt that the programme had been helpful. In addition, the programme appears to have helped parents to re-establish a sense of control in the parental role, partly through an increase in their capacity to think about matters calmly, and also through the provision of new tools with which to do the job of parenting. Perhaps most important of all, many parents referred to an increased sense of empathy with their children, and a better understanding of the factors which motivate children to behave in particular ways. Many parents appeared to feel that they were in a position, having completed the programme, to address the emotional and behavioural issues presented by their children. It seems likely that these outcomes were the result of a combination of affective strategies which helped the participating parents to focus on feelings, relationships and the parents' own experiences of being parented, in addition to the provision of behavioural strategies aimed at providing the parents with new methods of managing their children's emotional and behavioural development. Programmes which combine both affective and behavioural strategies may well be providing parents with important benefits which are not provided by behavioural strategies alone.
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An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the School and Family Links Programme
Mary Layton - MA Dissertation 1996, Oxford Brookes University

Extract from the summary
This evaluation has demonstrated the effectiveness of the School and Family Links Programme in improving the child's knowledge of prosocial and assertiveness skills and when to use them appropriately. Of particular significance is the children's ability to apply their skills effectively outside school.
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The Nurturing Programme is also included in the following:

Improving Children's Behaviour and Attendance through the use of Parenting Programmes: an examination of good practice
Prof. Susan Hallam, Lynne Rogers and Jacqueline Shaw, Institute of Education , University of London , DfES, 2004 (DfES Research Report RR585)

What Works in Parenting Support? A Review of the International Evidence
Patricia Moran, Deborah Ghate, Amelia van der Merwe, Policy Research Bureau, DfES, 2004 (DfES Research Report RR574)

Never Too Early: An Evaluation of Methods of Early Years Intervention
Thames Valley Partnership, 2001

Research and Validation Report of The Nurturing Parenting Programs
Stephen J. Bavolek PhD

An introductory survey by the originator of the Nurturing Programme, including a report on the initial study of the Programme funded by the US National Institute of Mental Health. The report is available from www.nurturingparenting.com.

Related Research

Explaining Intergenerational Income Persistence: Non-cognitive Skills, Ability and Education
Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Lindsey MacMillan, 2006

This paper explores intergenerational mobility in terms of socio-economic factors, examining why this seems to be declining and why mobility is relatively low in the United Kingdom. The paper explores the mechanisms which connect parental income and later earnings in adult life, focussing on education, ability, non-cognitive skills and labour market experience. This paper shows that personal characteristics such as self-esteem are beneficial to social mobility between generations, and that skills which Family Links’ Nurturing Programme provides are valuable. The paper examines information from two cohorts of male children – those born in 1970 and those born in 1958.

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