The Government's plans to boost the nation's parenting skills took a major step forward last week with the launch of a national academy for parenting that will train workers across England. Sarah Cooper finds out what the academy will try to change.

Gone are the days when parenting classes were only offered to those seenas bad parents as a way to help them improve relationships with theirchildren.

With the development of the Government's National Academy for ParentingPractitioners it seems that parenting lessons are soon to be availableto all.

The contract to run the centre, which launches in October, was won bythe Family & Parenting Institute, Parenting UK and King's CollegeLondon. Mary Macleod, chief executive of the Family & ParentingInstitute, says: "This is the next step in offering parents the righthelp at the right time as they raise their children."

Testing new methods

The academy will have three core elements. It will house a nationaltraining centre, which will establish the skill deficits within theworkforce around the country and concentrate on meeting those needs.This will train practitioners who work with parents in schools, healthservices and children's services across England to give support toparents in the community.

The academy will also provide a base for research into parenting skills,and the Family & Parenting Institute hopes this will have aninternational element, where untested parenting skills can be given atrial run. The final element is a Centre for Knowledge Transfer andPolicy Development to improve policy on parenting and the parentingworkforce.

Within the first year of operating, the academy plans to train 150practitioners, who will not have to pay, to each go out around Englandand educate at least 30 more people in parenting skills. In this way,4,500 people will have benefited from the academy's training in thefirst year alone. This could mean more parents benefiting from parentingclasses, which research has shown does have a positive effect on boththe child and the parent.

Jane Barlow, reader in public health at the University of Warwick, whohas carried out many studies into the effects of parenting classes, saysthey are "highly successful". In her studies she has seen behaviouraland emotional benefits in children under three and older children whoseparents received classes. Teenage mothers and their children experiencedimproved self-confidence and engagement between mother and child, whileparenting programmes for abusive parents led to improved parentingpractices and a reduction in the amount of smacking.

Many in the sector believe parenting classes are the way forward. ClareTickell, chief executive of the children's charity NCH, says: "Parentingclasses help parents understand that they are not alone and that othershave difficulties as well."

The benefit of practitioners being able to find out what support isavailable to them is also seen as a major plus-factor for the academies.Andrew Fletcher, director of communications at the National ChildmindingAssociation, says: "The new parenting academy is a positive developmentand should provide valuable and reliable information for those who workwith and support parents.

"It is encouraging that in establishing the academy, the Governmentrecognises the need to provide support for those who work with parentsin a range of professional settings, including children's services," headds. "We hope that the academy reaches all those who work in this area,including registered child minders."

Children's minister Beverley Hughes said at the launch of the academy:"Parents increasingly seek help with bringing up their children and wewant to be as supportive as we possibly can. The academy will ensurethat our parenting practitioners can access the best possibleinformation and help parents do the best they possibly can for theirchildren."

Hughes' views are echoed by Mary Crowley, chief executive of ParentingUK, one of the groups running the academy. She believes the academy willhelp practitioners react appropriately to parenting needs. "The academywill take a major step forward in ensuring those who work with parentsare trained for that purpose and meet national occupational standards,"she says. "The academy will help them access appropriate training andadvice. They will be able to provide the kind of sensitive, responsivehelp parents need to support them in the job of bringing upchildren."

What works for parents

Tickell also believes the research centre has an essential role:"Research into what really works for parents is an essential part ofthis academy because help for parents must be based on their individualneeds and the needs of their family."

Graeme Cook, researcher in social policy at the Institute for PublicPolicy Research, is pleased that parenting classes will no longer belinked with bad parenting. "They are absolutely in the best interest ofsupporting families and ensuring children have the best start in life,"he says. "The key priority is that they are done in the right way."

But while the academy launch has been widely welcomed, Annette Brooke,the Liberal Democrat spokeswoman for children, warns that there needs tobe sufficient support in local areas for the scheme to work. "Theimportance of good parenting support cannot be underestimated, butnational initiatives are no good without the appropriate support on theground."

KEY POINTS

- The launch of the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners wasfirst proposed in the Respect Action Plan in January 2006

- Research has shown that the level of skill of practitioners indelivering parenting classes was key in achieving positive outcomes

- The contract to run the academy is worth 30m.