Ampersand is here to help families & parents & schools.
Everyone wants children to grow up happy, confident and loving to learn.
And every mum, dad and grandparent has moments when they’d like some help.
That’s where Ampersand comes in.
We help families support learning at home through our lively and informative classes and workshops that take place in schools, museums and community venues.
New classes and workshops for summer term 2013
‘Once Upon A Time’ classes for parents and grandparents
Kentish Town Library, London NW5 2AA
Mondays 22nd April to 20th May
1-2.30pm or 4-5.30pm
‘Once Upon A Time’ classes for parents and grandparents
Edith Neville School, London NW1 1DN
Tuesday afternoons 23rd April to 21st May
Clio’s Crafty Workshop: Cans to candle-holders
Saturday 27th April
11am-12pm or 2-3pm
To book your place and find more information click here:
Ampersand is an authorised provider of parenting support for the CANparent scheme in Camden.
Our friendly and informative classes and workshops help make family life more fun and less stressful.
‘Once Upon A Time’
This short course of five classes help parents and grandparents with family life and elarning. We use children’s books to show what being a child is like, build stronger family relationships, support learning at home – and discover wonderful children’s literature. The classes cover subjects such as separation anxiety, giving feedback and praise, boundaries and routine, play and learning, and the importance of making time for parents’ needs – helping families to live happier ever after.
“I learned to place myself in my child’s shoes. This has been an eye-opener!”
‘Easy to Read’
This popular two-hour workshop gives parents easy, practical ideas that take the stress out of reading at home and inspires children to read for pleasure. The ‘Easy to Read’ workshop has been delivered in Camden primary schools since 2009. 96% of parents who attended the workshop in 2012-13 said they would recommend it to a friend.
“Really good practical tips for encouraging reluctant readers… and calming parents!”
Family workshops
These creative and enjoyable sessions are often inspired by a children’s book. We show how activities and games can bring stories to life and help children to develop literacy and numeracy skills. At the same time, parents develop confidence in doing creative activities that help their children learn.
“This session gave me some fantastic ideas.”
The research on the impact of parental involvement on children’s achievement is clear: what parents do at home makes a huge difference to children’s learning at school.
All teachers know this and so do most parents. But many parents lead busy and stressful lives and want practical support and information from someone they can trust with their family and personal matters. Most teachers, even if they had the time to spare, recognise that their expertise is in working with children, rather than adults. That’s where Ampersand comes in.
Our workshops and courses have a real impact on parents with a wide range of experiences. Building on many years’ experience of this successful work, we can develop solutions that are right for your school and community, and build the confidence and expertise of school staff in supporting parents.
“We had wonderful feedback from the ‘Once Upon a Time’ classes. Parents found it really useful to have support from someone outside of school. I also found the sessions really helpful and they gave me an insight into concerns and areas that parents need help with at home.” Clare Watkins, teacher at St Joseph’s School, London WC1
To get ideas about how to improve parental involvement at your school, just get in touch.
“We all know we need to increase parental involvement and engagement and Ampersand did just that. Parents and Grandparents were actively involved with their child for the whole morning. Everyone loved it. If you know that you should and could be doing more, I’d thoroughly recommend Clio and Ampersand.” Kate Frood, headteacher at Eleanor Palmer Primary School,London NW5
We have devised and delivered innovative projects that combine excellent learner recruitment at the same time as building the capacity and expertise of primary school staff in offering information and support to parents and carers as part their extended school services.
We can deliver across the range of SFA-funded family learning provision, from workshops to longer accredited courses. We can offer support on creating robust evidence of progress and achievement to fulfil RARPA requirements as well as on delivery of accredited courses.
We understand the challenges of recruiting and retaining learners with Skills for Life needs, from years of experience of working with families in the London boroughs of Camden, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Southwark.
We also understand LAs’ need for accurate and timely returns on recruitment, retention and achievement. We undertake risk assessments, provide analysis of evaluations and other reports as required in order to fulfil QA requirements.
We place a high value on the quality of the learner experience, and work hard to ensure that the time learners spend with us is rewarding, informative and enjoyable.
Ampersand have proved themselves an excellent provider. They have demonstrated energy and enthusiasm in developing new partnerships with schools to deliver an innovative programme which is effective in meeting the needs of parents and also builds the capacity of schools to sustain in the future.Jennie Lavis, Deputy Head of Service, Camden ACL