Family Support Worker’s
Report
Summer Term
2015-2016
Family Support Worker’s
Report
Family Learning
I continue to liaise closely with external providers to help expand on our Family
Learning programmes. These enable the parents/carers to help co-educate their
children.
As many of our parents have English as their second language I came with the
conclusion that to enable our parents to support their child’s learning the
Academy would need to help support our parents progress in their own learning.
By bearing this in mind I carried out a lot of research and made contacts with
Joseph Chamberlain College, Worker’s Educational Association (WEA) and
Birmingham Adult Education Service/Family Learning (BAES) to see if they
would come to ARK Tindal Primary Academy and deliver classes on site to our
parents.
In order to hold these classes I liaised with the external organisations and
colleges and held several Information and Enrolment session and we gained a lot
of interest. During these session parents/carers and members of the local
community carried out assessments to see what levels they were at. By doing
this we could gain a better understanding at what levels our parents were at.
At ARK Tindal Primary Academy we have been successful in gaining the following
FREE classes for our parents to participate in on site;
Organisation/Colleges Days/Time
WEA
(Pre Entry)
Joseph Chamberlain
College
(ESOL Entry Level 2)
BAES/Family
Learning
(Pre-Entry)
Tuesday and
Fridays
1.30 – 3.30pm
Wednesday and
Thursdays
9.15am – 11.45am
Thursday
1.30 – 3.30pm
Number of
Students
15
Number of ARK
Tindal Parents
that attend
13
15
8
14
14
As we only had the facility to run one class from Joseph Chamberlain on site we
have had to liaise with other schools and centres to enable our parents to
proceed with their own personal learning. The following classes run within the
community and have the following number of ARK Tindal parents that attend;
Organisation/Colleges Level
Venue
Joseph Chamberlain
College
ESOL Entry
Level 1
Heath Mount
Primary School
Joseph Chamberlain
College
ESOL Entry
Level 3
Topps Community
Centre,
Stratford Rd
Number of ARK
Tindal Parents
that attend
5
3
I have continued to build stronger links with BAES Family Learning and Wider
Family Learning who have continued to support the Academy with providing us
with tutors to deliver family learning programmes. This Academic Year we have
had ‘Body Matters’ delivered by one of the Family Learning Tutors. The course
helped encourage parents to co-educate their child with providing them with
knowledge and understanding on how to live a healthy lifestyle. The parents and
children were encouraged to carryout set activities to expand on their
knowledge.
In house Family Learning:
Since qualifying as a Higher Learning Teaching Assistant (HLTA) in the Spring
Term I am now qualified to deliver Family Learning Programmes for the
Academy. I have liaised closely with Hafsha Dadabhai-Shaikh (Head of Family
Learning – Birmingham City Council) and her team and will now be delivering two
Family Learning Projects in the Summer Term; Play and language in the Early
Years and Dads and Lads Project with KS2. Both projects have funding attached
to them which I can apply for to help us deliver the programmes successful
With the Play and Language Programme I will be working closely with Mrs
Aucott (Early Years Lead) to support our families that are currently attending
our Nursery ensuing that they will be prepared to join us in September when
their children will be attending Reception.
In the Dads and Lads Group, we will be encouraging the dads to help expand on
their child’s learning by carrying out fun activities with their children. Some of
these activities will include; gardening, sports, reading and cooking. By carrying
out these activities we will also be incorporating literacy and numeracy skills
within the weekly sessions.
Employability – Employable Parents Course
As we are part of the Sparkbrook Ward of Birmingham, our unemployment rate
is one of the highest in the city. To help tackle this issue we have been very
fortunate as an Academy to have gained funding to run a 10 weeks Employability
– Employable Parenting Course with an organisation called Smart Lyte in
collaboration with Birmingham City Council family Learning Department. The
facilitator Salim Shaikh delivered the programme to help our parents/carers
build on their confidence, gain new skills, knowledge on looking for work. He also
offered support with writing a cover letter and C.V to help them get into the
workforce. Smart Lyte has links with many work forces and can offer our
parents the opportunity to gain experience in working in different settings.
The parents were fortunate to gain advice and information from Nyron (Flourish
Education Agency) who shared tips and support with the group on what
employee’s look for when employing staff.
The programme has encouraged the parents to apply for vacancies. Three
members of the group have been very successful and have gained employment.
One member of the group has recently joined a Jobs Agency.
I continue to support Parents with C.V support, Job Search and completing
application forms to help them gain employement.
Parents First Aid Course
During one of the coffee morning sessions parents requested that they would
like a First Aid Course to help gain an extra qualification. This was made
possible, where they participated in a 6 hours course and all of the parents
passed.
Parent Mentor’s
Some of our Parent Mentors were invited to an Information Sharing and award
Ceremony in collaboration with Balsall Heath Children’s Centre, where they were
celebrating the Sparkler’s Parent Mentor Programme, which recently achieved a
National award in London.
We are in the process of trying to gain funding to allow our Parent Mentors to
access this training and gain an accreditation for all their hard work. At the
ceremony that took place on 17th December 2015, the parents had the
opportunity to meet the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and Councillors Salma
Yaqoob and Victoria Quinn (ARK Tindal Governor).
.
Coffee Mornings
I hold weekly coffee mornings every Tuesday mornings 9am – 10am. To date we
have covered the following topics in our weekly sessions;

How can ARK Tindal Primary Academy support our Parents

Raising our Academy’s Attendance – lead by Mr Rahman (Attendance
Worker)

Employability Information and sharing session – Lead by Salim Shaikh
(Smart Lyte)

MacMillan Cancer Coffee Morning – supported by our Parent Volunteers –
we raised £250.00 selling cakes for this worthy cause.

Friends of ARK Tindal Primary Academy – setting up a committee to help
support our school. Fifteen parents attended this coffee morning and are
happy to start supporting the school. We will meet once every half – term.

International Breakfast – inviting parents to attend and get to know
other parents whilst sharing breakfast with one another.

Bharosa Women’s Organisation – informing P/C of their services they can
offer

Year 6/7 Transfer forms

Balsall Heath Children’s Centre and Odara Representatives

Larri – Acting Head Teacher

Visit to Odara Women’s Organisation – Moseley Rd

Friends of ARK Tindal Committee – organising the Christmas fair and
Summer fair

Chair of Governors

Inclusion Manager – Special Educational Needs

Parent Governor – Introduction and Any concerns/issues
Parent/Carers Drop in sessions
These are carried out on a daily basis where the parent/carers have the
opportunity to drop in to see me and gain some support with any concerns/issues
they may have. Parent/ carers have the opportunity to see me at the beginning
and end of the day. Some of the issues that I have supported the parents with
have been;

Benefit support

Applying for a bus pass

Admissions (Reception and Year 6 for Sept 2016)

Housing Applications

Completing Application Forms for Jobs

Job Search/C.V support/Application Forms
Friends of ARK Tindal Parents Committee
The committee consist of 12 parents who are committed in supporting the
Academy with offering their support with volunteering their time as well as
holding fundraising events. This term the committee have help two fundraising
events;

MacMillians Cancer Coffee Morning Cake Sale – where they raised
£250.00.

Christmas Fair – where they raised £610.00 to help support the children
who attend the Ark India School buy Winter uniforms and raise funds to
help Ark Tindal Primary Academy set up a Stay and Play in the Spring
Term.

Summer Fair (Tuesday 12th July 2016 at 2pm) – The Parents are in the
process of organising and planning for this event.
The Parents of Friends of Ark Tindal Committee where invited by Hafsha
Dadabhai-Shaikh (Head of Family Learning – Birmingham City Council) to attend
a strategies meeting at the Balsall Heath Children’s Centre where they were
encouraged to share the experiences, views and opinions of what support is
available to welcome newly arrived families in Birmingham and what services are
unavailable and that are desperately needed. A representative from Birmingham
City Council was present to make notes and take feedback to the strategic
committee.
Approachable Parenting ‘Guiding Muslim Families to better Parenting’ – This
is a recognised Parenting Course (Can Parent Quality Mark) that was established
in response to the needs of the Muslim families. The course is available to both
Muslims and Non-Muslim’s where the facilitator’s draw knowledge from both
psychology and Islamic principles in helping to develop the characteristics of
the family which will later have a positive impact on the family structure.
Parent Governor
We have recently elected a new Parent Governor Saima Aslam who will be
holding regular Coffee Morning sessions to hear from the parents and raise any
concerns they may have in the Governors meetings.
Health Week
The week commencing Monday 18th April 2016, was our Academy’s Health week.
The Parents were encouraged to participate in activities throughout the week to
help raise awareness in living a healthy lifestyle. The parents had the following
activities to participate in;
Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
Friday
Morning
Health Caravan
Afternoon
Odara pampering Session
Odara Health Checks
Health Exchange –
Health checks
Positive Parenting
Breakfast Club
ARK Tindal Primary Academy continues to provide a free breakfast club to our
children. We are still being funded from the Magic Breakfast organisation but
this funding will be coming to an end at the end of this financial year. In April
2016 we will need to pay £1200 to subscribe to the Magic Breakfast
membership on an annual basis.
Through my Breakfast Club Co-ordinator role I have managed to secure
£400.00 through the Kellogg’s foundation to help support the breakfast club.
We currently have about 60 children on roll at the Breakfast Club but on a daily
basis we have 52 children that attend.
We are also currently supporting the siblings of the Year 5 and Year 6 children
who are currently attending the SATs Booster Groups. We are currently
supporting a further 70 children. To reduce on the number of children in the
main hall we are currently offering the children library club, Mathletics,
dancing, board games and Art and Craft Activities.
New Starters
The pastoral Team continue to offer their support with delivering a smooth New
Starters programme to ensure the children have a successful transition into
school. Since September 2015 we have had over 109 new starters (including
Nursery Children), from all over the world. Many have settled in the UK to get a
better way of life, have fled war torn countries or have gained a scholarship and
are studying in Birmingham.
I now work closely with the Registrar and we jointly carry out the New Starters
interviews on a weekly basis. This has helped with the Pastoral Team gaining a
better understanding about the new families joining the Academy.
On-going support:

Parents/Carers – Drop In sessions – every day from 8.45am – 9.15am and
from 3.30 – 4pm.

Building Closer Links with ODARA – new women’s centre that has opened
up recently in the local area.
Training;

Higher Learning Teaching Assistant (HLTA) – I have now completed my
training and I am awaiting my results from my assessment.

Person Centred Review (PCR) – I am the Academy’s lead facilitator to
run the PCR. Person Centered Review is a thinking tool to explore what is
happening from the person’s perspective and from other peoples’
perspectives. This results in outcomes and actions for person-centered
change. This enables the practitioners to work together to ensure that
the child’s needs are being met.

Well Comm – This is a Speech, language and communication programme
designed to deploy a unique traffic light system that clearly identifies
children requiring immediate intervention, as well as those who show
potential language difficulties. The innovative system has the additional
benefit of banding children by placing them into one of three categories,
thus enabling the practitioner to proactively respond to any needs
identified

Diversity Training

Female Genital Mutilation: Recognising and Preventing