NEWS

The School & Family Works was launched at 11 Downing Street on 4 March 2010 at an event hosted by Mrs Maggie Darling. Since then, a lot has happened.

The following summary of news events demonstrates the progress that we have made and is an attempt to keep you up to date with what we are doing. For further details and/or for answers to your questions, please contact us.

News events

January 2012

A preliminary report produced by So What...?, a market research company run by non executive director Baz van Cranenburgh indicates that Family Group pupils outperform their peers.

Working from c150 data points, So What…? used Average Point Scores (“APS”) to compare the progress of Family Group pupils against the national expectation that pupils would progress at 3 APS points per year.

So What…? concluded that Family Group pupils were ‘catching up’ with the rest of their school, by making faster progress than their peers. While the national ‘expectation’ is for pupils to progress at 3 APS points per year, the available data suggests that pupils who participate in Family Groups progress at 3.6 APS per year.

So What...?'s preliminary report is available here.

August 2011

We were delighted to be able to finalise the details of a significant contract to deliver six Families Helping Families events as part of London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (“LBRUT”) carers strategy. This programme will take place in the period to 31 March 2012 under the leadership of Sue Richards-Gray.

If you live in LBRUT and are the parent or carer of a child or young person with additional needs, you may want to participate in this programme. For further details, please contact us.

July 2011

Negotiations to deliver a Family Group in partnership with Town Farm Primary School, Stanwell were completed. This programme began in September 2011 under the leadership of Wendy Smith and, for the first year, it will be funded entirely by the school. In subsequent years, we hope that we will be able to attract additional funding from other sources.

June 2011

In partnership with Fulham Primary School, we made a successful application to John Lyon’s Charity to set up and deliver a Family Group over the three year period 2011 – 2013. This project is the responsibility of Sue Richards-Gray.

March 2011

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation agreed to fund a major external evaluation project that will involve OPM – Office for Public Management reviewing our work at three schools in Hounslow (for further details of this project, see the announcement dated July 2010).

January 2011

A successful Yes Club pilot programme was carried out at Victoria Junior School.

July 2010

Following their attendance at 11 Downing Street, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation generously agreed to fund three Family Groups in schools in Hounslow for three years. This breakthrough contract is being managed by Mark Griffiths and Nicola Carvalho and involves us working in partnership with Forge Lane School, Victoria Junior School and Feltham Community College.

January 2010

In partnership with the local charity Metoo & Co and The Richmond Parent Carers Action Group, we launched the first Families Helping Families programme, delivered by Mark Griffiths. Subsequently Mark has worked with Metoo & Co to deliver three other successful programmes.