DCSF Parental Engagement – Response to Call for Evidence

‘There is overwhelming evidence to show that mothers' and fathers' engagement in their child's learning is the most important influence on their child's attainment, wellbeing and life chances.’

DCSF Call for evidence concerning parental engagement in children’s learning, December 2009

In recent years policy has increasingly acknowledged the centrality of mothers’ and fathers’ engagement to children’s participation in learning and subsequent educational attainment. Measures such as the roll-out of SureStart services and Children’s Centres throughout the country, the appointment of Parent Support Advisors, and the adoption of Home School Agreements, show how services have sought to involve parents in their children’s learning from the outset.

At the Fatherhood Institute we have collated a growing body of evidence showing just how important the involvement of fathers can be to their children’s future prospects. So often the parent in parental engagement is assumed to be the mother. This is partly for practical reasons: mothers often have greater availability to attend childcare and early years services and educational settings. However, we would like to emphasise that their role should not be seen as a solo one: the extent of fathers’ engagement in these services has a powerful impact on future educational and social outcomes for the child. Moreover, there is now good evidence about practical approaches to engaging with fathers, and this submission shows some important examples of what happens when services seek to extend their reach to include fathers systematically and positively. Services also may unintentionally operate in a ‘father-blind’ manner, inadvertently excluding fathers through a variety of mechanisms: subconscious assumption that contact with mothers is sufficient; lack of knowledge of fathers’ importance to children’s outcomes; lack of skills in working with them; lack of thought relating to how fathers’ needs may differ from mothers’. We contend that effective parental engagement must overcome these issues, and in so doing, will improve the educational experiences and outcomes of British children.

Our response to the call for evidence will cover the following areas:

● review of research evidence concerning fathers’ involvement in children’s’ learning

● overview of opportunities for parental engagement in establishments catering for children and young people 0-19

● overview of models for parental engagement● case studies in father engagement● conclusion: the way forward for father engagement

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Review of the research evidence concerning fathers’ involvement in children’s’ learning

Several reliable studies have shown that high levels of interest by a father in his child’s schooling and education (including early learning), his high expectations for their achievement and his greater direct involvement in their learning, education and schools, are all associated with their better educational outcomes (for review see Goldman, R., 2005; Fathers’ Involvement in their Children’s Education. London: National Family and Parenting Institute)

School-aged children’s emotional / behavioural development shows that fathers have a significant influence separate from mothers - specifically on their children’s social maturity, behaviour, and important personality variables such as self-esteem and internal locus of control. Far from having a mainly ‘instrumental’ impact (as was once thought), fathers are now understood to play a substantial role in socializing their children’s emotions. In addition to the impact on their adjustment, this has been found to influence school functioning and popularity (Parke et al, 2004)

In terms of specific educational outcomes, the following examples from research studies illustrate the importance of fathers’ input throughout their children’s lives: • Frequency of fathers’ reading to 1-2 year olds is linked with their greater interest in books later (Lyytinen et al, 1998)

• A significant relationship is found between positive father engagement at age 6, and IQ and achievement at age 7 (Gottfried et al, 1988).

• English fathers’ involvement with their children (at ages 7 and 11) correlates with better national examination performance at age 16 (Lewis et al, 1982).

• US fathers’ involvement in routine childcare has been associated with children’s higher school grades (Hoffman & Youngblade, 1999).

• A key predictor of fathers’ involvement in children’s learning is having become involved in their child’s life very early on (Goldman, 2005).

Conversely, where relationships between fathers and children are negative, there is ample evidence that children’s education and behaviour can suffer:

• Low paternal interest in children’s education has a stronger negative impact on children’s lack of qualifications than contact with the police, poverty, familytype, social class, housing tenure and child’s personality(Blanden, 2006).

• a father’s own bullying behaviour at school is a risk factor for his child becoming a bully (Farrington, 1993).

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• fathers’ harsh parenting has a stronger effect than mothers’ on children’s aggression, particularly sons’ (Chang et al, 2003).

In particular circumstances, the importance of fathers’ engagement for their children’s outcomes can be especially salient: there is some evidence that in areas of high social and economic deprivation, fathers’ involvement can be important in ensuring that children (particularly boys) gain educationally and have a counterbalance to peer influences (Harding 2005). In sum, not only are fathers important in securing better attainment for all children in school, but amongst the most vulnerable families, it may be crucial that they are involved from an early age if their children are thrive in education.

Overview of opportunities for parental engagement in establishments catering for children and young people 0-19

Settings 0-19

Pre-school (0-5) School (4.5/5-16-18)

Sure Start Children’s Centres Primary (4.5-10); (First-Middle where service hubs incl. childcare for working parents; appl. – Year 4/5)parent education, information and support services;play centres/activities for children 0-5;engagement programmes for Transition: Year6/7‘hard-to-reach’ parents, including fathers

Playgroups Secondary (11-16/18)(Middle-Upper where appl. Year 8/9)

Nurserieschildcare and education provision for under-5’s (various school leaver transition points)

Transition: Reception Higher Education (16/18-21)

Sixth form collegeHigher Education InstitutionsUniversities

The period 0-19 covers diverse care and educational provision with multiple opportunities for engaging mothers and fathers. Clearly the needs of parents and their children vary over time and between types of parents, in terms of the type of engagement programmes which may prove most effective, and their goals in terms of student achievement and parental satisfaction. There is a consensus in the literature that it is generally at transition points – as children move from one stage or form of provision to another – that both mothers and fathers are most likely to be engaged, and that it is especially important that they should be, in order to promote and preserve their involvement throughout their attendance in each setting (e.g. Hedron 2008). Transitions often present ‘teachable moments’, with the move from one setting and status to another

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focussing both children’s and mothers’ and fathers’ minds on what they need to know to make the most of the next stage in their lives.

As the research evidence has already made clear, it is early engagement of mothers and fathers that is the most important predictor of ongoing engagement and positive child outcomes. Therefore the pre-school services represent a golden opportunity to put in place good practice that can endure for life. Sure Start Children’s Centres have been increasingly encouraged to promote involvement of hard-to-reach groups, including fathers, and we have recently recommended to Ofsted that such establishments should be inspected against targets in these areas in order fully to enshrine best practice, and to encompass the responsibility for equality of all service users demanded by the Gender Equality Duty in the Equality Act 2006.

There is further consensus that both mothers and fathers are more difficult to engage in education services as their children get older. DCSF-commissioned research on parental engagement in schools commissioning illustrates this well, alongside the growing intent to change this in future:

parental engagement is perceived to be far easier with parents of younger children than those of secondary school age and beyond. Engagement with parents of pre-school children is perceived to be relatively good and has been enhanced by government initiatives over the past 10 years e.g. SureStart/ Children’s Centres. The undertaking of an audit, and drawing up of a parental participation strategy has led to one authority to actively look for ways to build on this early years contact to strengthen engagement later on. (Hedron, 2008: 29)

There are likely to be multiple reasons why parents of older children are harder to engage: including higher employment rates (especially for mothers); older students being held to be responsible for their actions and attainment in their own right; rising complexity both of topics covered in school and in school life in general (i.e. more time-consuming and demanding to be involved for parents; harder to explain needs for children); adolescence as re-balancing the parent child relationship, including opportunities for conflict between students and their mothers and fathers, as well as for enrichment of their relationships. These issues underline the importance for schools of establishing patterns of engagement early, and taking advantage of transition points to do so.

A further issue in sustaining engagement as children get older is that their experiences may be less unified. Whilst most young children experience the start of school at around the same age and in similar settings, the transitions experienced further up school diversify: some children move from first to middle schools and have a later move to upper school; some children may be delayed in moving between stages for developmental reasons; not all leave secondary school at the same age. Indeed, as children age, the nature of their transitions is more likely to be associated with attainment to date, and so parental involvement may be increasingly important as an element in their success, albeit at a time of life where it may be falling away for the reasons outlined above.

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Overview of models of father engagement

Before concentrating on current issues in father engagement it is important to make some observations about the evidence relating to parental engagement in general.

Although the two words are often used interchangeably, in the most robust research a distinction is made between parental involvement and parental engagement. Parental involvement applies specifically to ‘spontaneous’ or ‘independent’, predominantly home-based activities which encourage and reinforce children’s learning: for example, creating an environment conducive to learning and study, reading to children, helping with homework, taking a general interest in schooling and encouraging children to report on their knowledge and experiences. Parental engagement, on the other hand, refers to proactive strategies and programmes originating chiefly from care and education settings, aimed at informing mothers and fathers about their role in supporting their child in a specific setting and encouraging their participation in that setting, both as an aid to children’s learning and as a supporter of the establishment’s work (i.e. volunteering; becoming involved in governance; attending at specific events/meetings). A review of evidence (Desforges 2003) concluded that while parental involvement was a proven predictor of children’s higher attainment, the effect of parental engagement programmes on outcomes was not possible to measure conclusively, due to the paucity of evidence available. Arguably, an important focus of parental engagement is to foster involvement, especially among hard-to-reach groups of parents (including fathers).

As outlined in the research evidence section above, there may be specific barriers to the engagement of fathers in their children’s care and education settings. Some of these barriers are institutional (e.g. the need for the workforce to be aware of the importance of fathers and trained to include them in all communications and interventions); some are practical (e.g. the greater participation of fathers in long-hours paid employment making them less available at key times, such as the end of school days); and some are related to the nature of modern families (e.g. the greater tendency for children to live with mothers post-separation and for fathers to be treated as ‘absent’ rather than non-resident).

DCSF’s own review (DCSF, 2008) has indicated that implementation of father-inclusive policies by children’s services was patchy and that key barriers included: absence of systematic, routine engagement with fathers; lack of training and skills for managers and workers; many fathers thinking children’s services are ‘not for them’, and not feeling included by communications aimed generically at ‘parents’. Our own work suggests that this patchiness persists, but that examples of excellence are being established in care and education settings for children aged 0-19. Our case studies will demonstrate this.

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Models of father engagement: structure and content

Structure Pros ConsDads only programmes: Address fathers directly, can marginalise

Identify settings as ‘for them’ fathers by givingGive men confidence in them one thing

parental role (generally rather than integratingbecause the facilitators their needs fully;are positive about this; provides a limited service; men who attend often value the mainstream setting andthe experience greatly); other staff do not necessarily

change their attitudes/practices,

provides safe space for men and this can undermine the work done with fathers;

mothers are not necessarily made aware of the value of including fathers (which can undermine work done with fathers)

Dad & Mums together Encourages collaborative Can be more difficult to parenting; integrates men arrange (childcare) –

fully; can address parenting although fathers and issues together; mothers can attend separate

causes mothers to reflect sessions of a rolling on issues around fatherhood programme)

which can facilitate Workforce needs trainingchange in some households; in couples work and in

father-inclusivenesscan lead to more sustained Whole culture needs toengagement by men and change – i.e. initially more women expensive/challenging More sustainable in times

of economic challenge When separate services squeezed

Content Education based Fosters paternal May not attract (supporting child’s learning involvement at home hard-to-reach groupsdirectly) more obviously May be difficult to Father’s and school’s goals sustain over time more easily aligned Can chime well with fathers’ aspirations for their children Social/event based More easily attracts men in Expensive; needs work to

sustain and transfer skills into involvement/learning

May define fathers as ‘playmates’ rather than as partners in learningAdult education/support Attracts men in Needs work to sustain

and transfer skills intoinvolvement with children’s

learning

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Volunteering May be difficult to May be difficultInvolve men initially to sustain over time

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In order to respond to this call for examples of positive parental engagement we sent out an e-shot and drew on our existing knowledge of good practice in father inclusion and engagement in relevant settings. The examples below show that it is possible to get schemes aimed at fathers up and running, and how, with effort and imagination, the barriers and disadvantages identified may be overcome.

Case studies

Getting started: Children’s Centres work with fathers

Children’s Centres are beginning to develop a strong remit in father engagement which should aid in sustaining their involvement in children’s learning throughout life. We had more responses to our e-shot from Children’s Centres than any other form of provision serving children 0-19.

The most innovative services were involved in reaching out into the community and to other services in their area. Several Children’s Centres mentioned to us that they had begun to address the issue of father engagement in ante-natal settings, where they discussed its advantages with women attending midwife appointments. A playworker in Stratford summed up this approach:

‘I explained how [if] the father brings a young baby to the centre [it] would give him extra confidence and responsibility with his new child, and make him feel like a ‘real hands on dad’

Others noted that the antenatal period was one that they increasingly recognised as key to engaging men and planned to address this in future. Our own work with the Hit the Ground Crawling programme, evaluated in Children’s Centre’s in Staffordshire, shows an effective way of engaging men antenatally and forms our first case study

Case study: Hit the Ground Crawling (HTGC) The HTGC sessions are one-off events for dads and dads-to-be, which work because they build on these insights: • The best time to engage with dads is around the birth, when they are most open to information and support• Most fathers are in contact maternity services in the ante-natal period• Fathers gain greatly in confidence and skill when they learn alongside – and from - other fathers • Most men prefer informal services which they feel in control of, and prefer to make a short-term commitment to one session (which can then be built on)

Specially trained Children’s Centre staff, health visitors, midwives etc facilitate the sessions, which are very informal and are designed to provide space for the dads-to-be to discuss their thoughts and concerns with other dads in a relaxed setting; to watch their peers caring for their babies; and to have a go at changing nappies, cuddling, massaging, etc.  The result is more confident, less-isolated dads….and a great opportunity to ensure local fathers become familiar and comfortable with the full range of local services.

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HTGC is already up and running as a pilot in Staffordshire (featured in a Radio 4 documentary broadcast on 15 September 2008). 3 of the 4 sites in Staffordshire are open to all dads, and the other site focuses on young dads. 

One of the facilitators in the pilot, a community development worker at East Staffordshire Children’s Centre says: "We have really positive relationships with our dads, and seeing them building up relationships with their children is easily the best part of my job. This approach is brilliant - it was great to see the dads so keen to come along and I was surprised how open they were. Some of these dads know a lot of stuff, and many of them are staying at home while the mum goes back to work – a lot of the time it’s just giving them the confidence to know that they’re doing ok."

The dads in this pilot have stressed how much they valued the opportunity to learn from experienced dads in mostly male environment. One dad-to-be said:

“Well at first I was very nervous and I hold my hands up…I was panicking [about fatherhood]. But this session has given me EVERY confidence and [done] me the world of good. I am full of confidence now.”

The Staffordshire Evaluation shows clearly the importance of embedding the programme as a routine part of antenatal provision – so that fathers and mothers are informed systematically about the programme, and see it as an expected and normative aspect of service provision, delivered ideally by familiar staff. It also has great potential as a stepping stone for engaging fathers in other mainstream early years provision.

Case study: Barking and Dagenham Children’s Centres – bringing men in

The Children’s Centres in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham established a few years ago that there was limited support for dads during the early years of a child’s life. A number of initiatives were created. Firstly Children’s Centres took time to look at the work they were doing and how they were engaging with fathers in their communities. A survey was carried out to find out what experience staff had with working with fathers. When this audit had been carried out a number of consultations took place with fathers to find out what type of services they would access and at what time. The past few years has not been all successes: on a number of occasions services were arranged that had little or no attendance, however the amount of dads vocally explaining that there was not enough for them was increasing. As time past and father engagement grew the need for a more co-ordinated approach was evident. In 2008 LBBD tendered its Fathers Inclusion project to a third sector organisation in the borough. This project is now in its 3rd quarter and looking good.

The monitoring of fathers and male role model engagement within Children’s centres in Barking and Dagenham is an in-grained, routine process. Male data is collected in the same way as females’, and includes data such as employment status, religion and smoking behaviour. This data has been routinely collected for over 3 years, and has enabled the centres to monitor which services are engaging with men, and which services need more work to positively engage.

One particular success is “Sports Fit” run by William Bellamy Children’s Centre. Sports fit works in partnership with Dagenham and Redbridge Football club and is aimed at getting families active. The session runs on a Saturday morning when “The Daggers” play at home. Dads access this service and then a walking bus walks to the football ground in Dagenham where families access reduced priced or sometimes free tickets to home games. The football club have been key in the engagement of the dads accessing this service.

Across Children’s Centres in the borough we have many innovative approaches to engaging

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dads into services. Particularly successful services are Health and Benefits advice services. Since 2007 dads engagement across the borough has raised from 200 to 550 individual dads accessing per year.

Case study: Greenwich Children’s Centres: reaching out to other servicesWe carried out a survey of registered fathers, from which we analysed their preferences and how this matched ECM outcomes and EYFS frameworks. We found from the survey that as long as family learning was encompassed in a fun activity that appealed to males (construction, paediatric first aid, sports, arts projects) it would engage them. In addition, we carried out extensive research into activities on a what works, what doesn’t basis and came up with a template of activities that Children’s Centres could use.

We felt it equally important to provide a forum where fathers could lead on strategic development of activities to engage fathers. We did this by recruiting fathers with under 5s from around the borough to form the Dads Advisory Group ensuring that each post code was represented. The advisory group has now been running for a 15 months and has achieved the following notable successes:

The number of children’s centres offering activities for fathers and their children across the borough has increased to 13 over the last twelve months.

The activities of the DAG and activities for dads in Children’s Centres has been regularly covered in Greenwich Time, which has carried the message that Children’s Centres are a place for dads too.

The ‘Message to Dads’ flier innovated and designed by the group now goes into Bounty Packs to reach 9,000 families a year and is also distributed to all new Council tenants in welcome packs. London & Quadrant Housing Association and Triangle Homes are also distributing this flier to all new tenants.

The DAG’s concerns about the local NHS provision of services for fathers has been fed back and joint working arrangements have been reinforced and NHS staff have met with Early Years to look at services for fathers.

Publicising the DAG – Links have now been made with Housing, NHS, other dads groups and service providers. We are currently advertising the DAG in, fliers, the new ‘Toolkit for Dads’, the CAFC match programmes, Greenwich ‘What’s On’ magazine and Greenwich Time.

Links have been made with the NCT dads group (now independent SELondon dads group) and we are now working more closely and will extend membership to SEL dads.

A further important process has been to design a training programme to equip Children’s Centre staff to feel confident about engaging dads and recognise parenting differences and dispel myths. Part of training to staff is to ensure that data about fathers is captured to see whether we are having an impact. In early 2008 only 8% of registered fathers attended Centres, but this has now increased to over 30% and rising.

New methods of publicity are always being tested, such as local mail shots and library based information. Nurseries getting children to invite their dad to take them to an event works well. The next stage will be to focus more resources on young fathers and BME groups. In addition we have a clear gap in ante/post natal activities (group starting in February) and groups for separated fathers.

Campaign for Learning: multi-agency work in a Children’s Centre setting

Campaign for Learning (CfL) in Solihull has worked with other agencies to promote father engagement in Children’s Centres, and to ensure both that men have access to other services, and that other services and agencies market to fathers and learn to see them as clients in their own right. They have achieved this through a number of innovative strategies in father engagement, including the ‘Putting Dads in the picture’ project and the promotion of a website specifically for fathers as service users: ‘Activ Dads’. ‘Putting Dads in the picture’ offers fathers a free photo shoot with their child, and has been very successful in involving

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fathers. When the men turn up for their photograph, local services and agencies are invited to promote their activities, and the men learn about what is on offer for them.

As part of their submission to us, they included a checklist for father-inclusive practice, drawn up in co-operation with Dads using their services. The fathers themselves stressed the need for men to feel welcome: this is achieved by ensuring that they are addressed in all correspondence (to Dear ‘mothers and fathers’ not ‘parents’) and through images of fathers and children being clearly displayed in venues. If men feel that they belong and have specific activities on offer, they can be engaged. The best advert for good engagement is word-of-mouth recommendation from other Dads, so it is important that men are encouraged to recruit others and feel comfortable to do so. The men also thought it was important that mothers knew about fathers’ events at the Centres and passed on the information to their partners.

Through the ‘Putting Dads in the Picture’ project CfL built a working relationship with NCH and the two organisations have obtained funding for a new Early Learning Partnership Plan, to take forward their work with fathers. This includes the target of having a Father’s Family Support Worker available in every centre during stay and play sessions. They have involved the fathers themselves in drawing up plans and objectives for expanding fathers’ service in their area.

Multi-agency strategies: Local Authorities invest in father engagement

Two respondents to our e-shot showed what can be achieved when a council is motivated to join up father-inclusive practice across services and professional disciplines

West Berkshire: A Commissioner’s overview

West Berkshire Council has recently appointed a Fathers’ Champion at Commissioning level in their CYP directorate. The first task was to conduct a mapping exercise across all local services (Education, Health Social care and voluntary agencies) This confirmed that father engagement was a key area of activity in Children’s Centres, education and health visiting and encouraged other services to produce strategies for future engagement.

The Council has publicised a ‘Dads Aloud’ breakfast club for fathers and children, aimed at hard-to-reach Dads, and providing bacon rolls and play space for young children. This has attracted fathers from across the district who are followed up to encourage attendance each month.

The Council is ensuring that all service providers are aware of Father’s events throughout the district and are establishing consistency in what is offered. They have organised an Engaging Fathers Steering Group which promotes father-inclusive practice and runs events for dads. They have also run a ‘think family’ conference which included opportunities for fathers to talk to service providers about their needs, and explored further opportunities for organisations to co-ordinate father engagement throughout the area.

South Lanarkshire: a whole service approach

The Home School Partnership (HSP) had been established in South Lanarkshire in 1991 to engage all parents and carers in children’s learning and saw a need to concentrate on fathers with the introduction of the Gender Equality Act in 2007. A ‘Father Figures Survey’ provided information for how best to encourage male participation. The survey showed that men were often involved at home, but not using services attended by mothers. Therefore wording on publicity materials was changed to mention fathers specifically, and an HSP website was developed so that fathers could access information at home. HSP staff were briefed on fathers’ needs and attended relevant training. Women in the community were consulted

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about father-inclusion and encouraged to promote fathers’ involvement and attendance of programmes in community venues or schools. The HSP gained funding for father engagement from the Fairer Scotland Fund which enabled them to offer events and trips to fathers and children, including days out to the Scottish Museum of Football at Hampden Park and a visit to Louden Castle and a Celebrating Fatherhood trip to Durham’s National Railway Museum. A children’s writing competition resulted in the ‘My Main Man’ publication of poems written about fathers and other male family members or father figures.

Overall, the proportion of male carers in HSP activities has increased from 12% to 18% since 2007. The numbers of men engaged has increased from 409 in 2006/7 to 1065 in 2008/9. This is a notable success in a deprived area which relies on 6 key elements: a consistent Whole Service Approach; managerial support at All Levels (including funding and resources); staff buy in (feeling that they are involved and concerns are addressed); communication (feed back and celebrate successes and impacts); getting families on side (mums can do the hard sell for you if they are brought on board and valued in the process); getting partner agencies on side.

Engaging fathers at school

The Fatherhood Institute has collated examples of good practice in father engagement in schools as part of the ‘Think Fathers’ initiative, which encourage public services, including schools to complete the ‘Dad test’ so as to audit their provision for father-inclusiveness at all levels. Coopers Lane and Kensal Rise primary schools in London have proven that father engagement is possible and productive. At Kensal Rise, fathers whose children have educational and/or emotional difficulties are targeted (through the school’s Behaviour Improvement Project). The main carer (usually the mother) is invited in and asked about other family members. Details of non-resident fathers are obtained where possible. The school then telephones the fathers and follows up with a letter. Fathers are encouraged to be involved in their children’s work at school through an ‘open door’ policy whereby they can come and discuss their child’s progress at a convenient time, and they can also receive telephone reports. The school has successfully engaged non-resident fathers through this programme.

At Coopers Lane, a more general outreach programme, ‘Dads Matter’ has successfully increased fathers’ presence around school, and participation in their children’s education. Monthly meetings in a local pub were convened to show dads how important their involvement is for their children, and to come up with ideas for involvement. These have included sessions on how to help with reading and homework; maths booster sessions, taught by fathers themselves, and schemes to get dads to share activities at home with their children, which they then discuss with the group. Both schools celebrate fathers’ involvement with annual ‘Bring your Dad to School’ days.

Two other outstanding examples of father engagement have come from our e-shot, and show that even where there are issues of deprivation and language barriers, involving fathers is manageable, and pays dividends

Stepney Partnership: engaging hard-to-reach fathers

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The Stepney Partnership brings together five schools in East London. Four primary schools - Ben Jonson, Cayley, Halley, Redlands and one secondary school - Stepney Green Maths and Computing College. Each of the five schools has 90%+ children from a Bangladeshi background. The Stepney Partnership organised a programme for fathers and Year 1/Reception children from October-December 2009. This involved five trips for fathers and their children to various places in London.

A total of 49 fathers and their Year 1/Reception children participated in the programme. A total of 12 staff members across the partnership primary schools participated in the project including Teachers, Teaching Assistants and a Deputy Head Teacher. In each session we had translation support from one of the staff members.

Fathers reported that the programme positively impacted both themselves and their children in a number of ways:

children have been happier, more confident and more motivated to learn; the project created quality time for fathers and children to spend together, something which fathers felt they did not have previously; fathers discovered ways they can support their children to learn outside the classroom; fathers said they would take more trips with their children in the future; children benefited from first-hand learning experiences, and learned a range of new skills; barriers between fathers and their schools have been broken down.

The project has led to a fathers’ group being set up in each partnership primary school with the aim to reach a wider group of Fathers and children. The project is having an impact beyond the Stepney Partnership schools

● The Fatherhood Institute has approached the Stepney Partnership to shape a national initiative around involving Fathers in their children’s learning.

● C-Beebies has approached the Stepney Partnership to run a focus group with fathers and children to help make their programmes accessible to a range of parents

● The Stepney Partnership has submitted evidence to the DCSF about the project ● The Museum of London Docklands has committed to programming more activities

specifically for fathers.

Pen Pych Superdads Group: generating pride in fatherhood

Pen Pych Superdads was started in 2001 at the Community Primary School, following the Head’s and Community Development Officer’s observation that there was no specific provision for fathers to participate in activities with their children. The aim of the group is to allow fathers or male carers of pupils to spend quality time in a well-controlled and supervised environment. This enables ongoing assessment of fathers’ roles, including how they can effectively support child development and enhance their relationship, regardless of family circumstances.

Children’s responses have been very positive, including observed improvement in their academic progress and general behaviour. We have identified these improvements as emanating from a real pride in their fathers’ involvement. Pride has been in very short supply in the Valleys and this programme creates as opportunity to correct that.

The group meets weekly after school for 2 hours and provides opportunities for men to discuss their own feelings about fatherhood as well as giving the children space to play. The Group has been recognised as successful in many different ways: through positive school inspections; through fathers’ facilitating courses for other bodies interested in father engagement; through the school’s attainment of ‘Investor in Families’ status; and through a variety of positive media coverage. Pen Pych has contributed to the Welsh Assembly Government Parenting Plan and has produced a DVD which has been well-received by education professionals. Every child joining the school now receives a ‘Superdads Pen Pych Welcome Bag’ containing promotional materials and information on support services.

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Conclusions: the way forward for father engagement

Father engagement matters because research shows that it benefits children throughout their life, and it gives fathers the space to spend positive time with their children in a way they might find difficult to create independently. It also matters because all children’s and public services are obliged by legislation to include all parents equally, irrespective of gender or family status.

Our overview has shown that there are some real barriers to father inclusion in services and to father engagement, but the case studies demonstrate that these are not insurmountable. All types of fathers – including non-resident fathers and those with English as a second language - can be positively involved. The key features in successful father engagement programmes are that they are systematic in their approach to gathering data about and where appropriate assessing the needs of both men and women in families; that they have in place strategies that ensure both men and women are consulted and involved in decision-making about the development of local services; that they are interdisciplinary and open to developing father inclusiveness across services; that they are systematically publicised in targeted ways to men; that they are overseen by well-trained staff who understand both the importance of father engagement and the sensitivities of bringing men into female dominated services; that they are adequately funded; and that good practice is properly monitored, evaluated and disseminated.

At what is, in most cases, a relatively early stage in engaging with fathers, the focus is often on father-only activities, the value (and limitations) of which have been described above. While these can be a useful first stage in opening practitioners’ and parents’ eyes to the importance of engaging fathers, are an appropriate service for some fathers who feel more comfortable addressing certain personal issues in a male-only setting (and can provide a ‘safe space’ for fathers in environments which are usually, or are assumed to be, unwelcoming of them) research shows clearly that these only flourish and are sustained, and that fathers only become engaged more widely, if a whole service/school is committed to drawing the dads into the full range of activities and services directed at ‘parents’ (Burgess: 2009).

Furthermore, as our case studies – and wider evidence – reveal, services for children aged 0-19 cannot take a gender-neutral approach and hope to engage a substantial percentage of fathers, particularly fathers who are less confident and well resourced. Rather, it is their duty to develop specific strategies and manage father engagement systematically and positively in every context. Today’s patchy provision of services, even where there is clear ideological commitment to father involvement, must transform into a universal ethos backed up by practical strategies and whole-setting commitment. Only then will the benefits to children of their father’s involvement at home and engagement in educational and childcare settings, be fully realised. References

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