Kids Matter in the Community
Our Kids Matter programme is a free, friendly group for families facing disadvantages with children aged 1-10 years.
Kids Matter programmes are run in local community settings such as primary schools, nurseries, community centres and church halls.
Group facilitators work in partnership with community links to coordinate small groups of mums, dads and carers of children aged 1-10. By focusing on parental wellbeing and confidence, and equipping parents with the tools to build strong relationships, our programmes aim to give every child in need the chance to thrive in life.
The programme
- For parents and carers of children aged 1-10
- Lasts for 6 weeks
- Small groups of 4-8 parents
- Led by someone from your community
- Suitable for families of all faiths and none
- No flipcharts or experts
- Working together with our user-friendly and evidence-informed booklets
- Sitting together around coffee, tea and food
Sample materials
Want to see some of the programme material? Take a look at Session 1.
How Kids Matter in the Community works
Taster Session:
Mums, dads and carers are invited to meet the facilitator and group helper, and see what it’s like to be in a Kids Matter group.
Session 1:
In this session, we talk about parenting teams (who we parent with) and how our own wellbeing impacts the wellbeing of our children. We also look at meeting the core needs of our children in order for them to thrive.
Session 2:
There are different ways of showing and receiving love (love languages), which we discuss in this session. We also look at different parenting styles (aiming for warm and firm) and how seeing the positives in our children helps build positive connections with them.
Session 3:
Positive words help children’s behaviour by building their self-esteem, confidence and ultimately their resilience. In this session we discuss the impact of good and bad listening with children, and also think about the importance of play and what playing involves.
Session 4:
We focus on routines and their many benefits in this session, including the use of screen time for specific, and limited, periods of time. Also how important it is how to reward children appropriately in order to encourage positive behaviour.
Session 5:
The outcome of this session is understanding the root of children’s behaviour and how giving appropriate consequences that are followed through helps. Recognising and managing angry responses to poor behaviour, and delivering appropriate consequences calmly, are also key to strengthening relationships.
Session 6:
In our final session, we enjoy thinking about long-term hopes for our children as well as the values and beliefs we’d like to pass on, and special traditions that will help our families bond together.
Booster session:
Mums, dads and carers reconnect to celebrate where positive changes are happening in their parenting. It’s also an opportunity to highlight challenges and to be reminded of skills learned from the programme.
If you would like to find out more about running a Kids Matter group in your local community, please contact us on partnership@kidsmatter.org.uk
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Partner with us
By working in partnership with churches, charities and community-driven initiatives to build strong families, we believe it is possible to see children in need flourish.
Kids Matter in Merseyside
We are excited to be partnering with charities and organisations in the Merseyside area, working together to deliver our parenting programmes for long-term impact.
Accreditation
We take our work seriously and we’re passionate about seeing long-term change. As part of that, we are committed to rigorous evaluation of the efficacy of all we do.