Only two per cent of people who currently work in early years are male. Do you think there should be more effort to increase the numbers of men working in childcare and early years?
Parent Champions are parents who have experience of using childcare and who act as advocates and peer advisers in their community - particularly where the use of formal childcare is not widespread - to help other parents to find out about and take up formal childcare and financial help to pay for it.
A great deal of research - from quantitative DCSF-commissioned surveys to Daycare Trust's own current qualitative study entitled ‘Listening to Parents' - shows that parents use other parents as a key source of information about culturally appropriate and quality childcare, as well as types of benefits and services available.
This innovative project developed the ‘Parent Champion' model as an invaluable resource to provide information and support to parents who have not previously used childcare.
From August 2007 to March 2008, Daycare Trust led the delivery of Parent Champion pilot schemes in three London boroughs; Camden, Newham and Tower Hamlets.
The Parent Champion pilot schemes were designed to test whether, with support and armed with full information, parents with good experiences of childcare can act as advocates in their communities and influence the choice of parents they may not have previously known. This project was an opportunity to test a variety of methods of reaching and engaging with parents about the benefits of childcare through the work of ‘Parent Champions'. The project also considered the effectiveness of a Parent Champions model in increasing take-up of formal childcare.
Daycare Trust worked in partnership with three organisations to deliver the project locally. These organisations were Community Links, Women Like Us and Working Links.
For more information about the results of the project, download a copy of Parent Champions: Project Highlights.
For a full evaluation of these schemes and other similar parent outreach pilots, download our Report on Parent Champions for Childcare pilot schemes.
Following the success of the pilot schemes, Daycare Trust were commissioned by DCSF to produce a toolkit for local authorities outlining the processes and resources needed to set up a Parent Champion Scheme.
The toolkit is available as an online resource at www.dcsf.gov.uk/campaigns/parent_champions
The toolkit includes:
Daycare Trust has set up a partnership with Pinnacle People - a community engagement service provider - to implement Parent Champions schemes.
Daycare Trust is able to tailor its consultancy support to your particular requirements - whether you need someone to set up, run and administer the scheme, or if you want a consultant to advise you on your own Parent Champions scheme.
To find out more and to obtain a quotation, email consultancy@daycaretrust.org.uk or call 0845 872 6260 (020 7940 7510).
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