What Works for Children’s Social Care recently released its evaluation of Our Skills, an intervention offered to parents of Reception and Year 1 children who have had a social worker, to help their children to read and learn at home. This course is delivered over 20 sessions, 10 of which are for parents and carers only and 10 where children take part. Specialist tutors support children and families with phonics, reading strategies, story-telling, and learning through play. Across the trial period, 100 parents and 103 children from 33 schools across the country took part, with Covid a barrier to recruitment of schools, parents and carers. Covid also meant the course was delivered online, having originally been conceived as a face-to-face programme. The evaluation highlighted these challenges, but among those parents and carers who did attend the majority of the sessions, and the schools involved, feedback was positive. Where the programme was delivered as intended, it demonstrated evidence of promise, boosting confidence of parents and carers and understanding of how phonics is taught as well as impacting enjoyment of reading with children and among children. There was a suggestion that these changes could impact on behaviour and reading attainment. It recommended a review of the delivery model to improve the offer.
https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/research-report/pilot-evaluation-ofour-skills/