Single Parent Groups
Good Afternoon all,
My name is Ayse Adil and I am a Parent Support Adviser at Oasis Academy Hadley in North London, Enfield.
I am hoping to start a 'Start Parents Group' in a couple of months.
I would really appreciate any suggestions and idea's as to:
-How best to encourage parents to attend the group meetings
What workshops I should include
What to avoid etc etc
Thank you in advance :)
Posted on: January 26, 2012 - 5:33pm
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Hello Ayse
I have moved this to the Parenting section because although your group will be a local one, what you seem to be seeking is GENERAL advice re setting up a group. I am sure the parents will have their own ideas but I would just like to say that two things I have found very helpful are:
1.On your publicity, include a mobile number and say "for more information, text GROUP to this number" (then you can phone parents; many people prefer this rather than phoning up themselves and not quite knowing how to start the conversation
2. Make sure the parents have a named contact and offer to meet them beforehand so that they do not have to walk into the room on their own.....this is particularly important for people who join after the group is already established and where it may feel a bit cliquey.
Another idea is to offer some sort of incentive, whether that is a particularly interesting activity in the first few weeks or just advertise free tea/coffee and cake.
Good luck!