Sutton Council launches an online parenting course to support parents, carers and professionals to build positive relationships with children and young people.

Sutton Council will provide universal parenting support through the Solihull Approach parenting programme. The programme has been developed by a team of registered professionals within the NHS, practitioners across the children’s workforce such as teachers, psychologists and also with parents.

The training provides resources to guide parents, legal guardians and carers to support emotional health and wellbeing by promoting positive relationships with all children and young people aged 0-19. 

The programme’s modules are a great resource for professionals working in health, education, voluntary organisations and social care. The course can be used as additional training for practitioners as part of a structured piece of work to undertake with families either one to one or in small groups. The training has a number of short videos to explain child development and common parenting milestones. Practitioners can work through the programme with those who may need more support to complete it. The programme is accredited by the Department for Education. 

A local parent who has completed the programme said;

‘I completed the Solihull course on your recommendation a few weeks ago and found it really helpful. The course was really simple to do and not too long, so achievable with a busy family life. It explained all about child development in an easy to understand way without lots of jargon which I found really helpful.

‘Completing it has left me with much more understanding of what my children need from me and how I can effectively parent them. This has given me lots more confidence in my ability and made me much happier and calmer too. I would definitely recommend it.’

Dr Imran Choudbury, Director of Public Health at Sutton Council said;

‘We all face challenges with parenting throughout our child’s life and sometimes it’s a good idea to get some help! This programme will support people to understand why those challenges may have arisen, while also providing strategies to work through them. It has come at a time when families have had to adapt to a different way of accessing support and I am confident this will help in the future.’

Councillor Marian James, Chair of People Committee at Sutton Council said;

‘It is important that we continue to support parents, carers and professionals through this programme to make sure that our children have the best start in life

‘These courses will provide people with the tools and techniques to do this, while also making sure that they have more confidence during challenging times. I would encourage parents and professionals in the Borough to complete the training which will benefit them, their families and the people they work with.’

The programme is available online, to access these go to www.inourplace.co.uk and enter the access code, ‘TREE’.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the Solihull Approach, email solihull@sutton.gov.uk.