Families are Prepared for Life

THE Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton joined children and parents from Dublin 5 and 17 for a celebratory event to mark the conclusion of an eight-year research project into Northside Partnership’s Preparing for Life home visiting programme last week. 

The recently published research, carried out by the UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, has shown that children who took part in the programme
had higher IQ scores, were less likely to be overweight and
had fewer behavioural problems.

From 2008 to 2015, Preparing for Life worked with over 200 families in Dublin 5 and 17.

They equipped parents by offering them the knowledge and skills to help their child develop.

They supported parents in getting their children ready to start school by offering mentoring in the home.

They also offered the Triple P Positive parenting course to parents of children aged two and over. 

The programme worked with families from pregnancy until their child entered Junior Infants.

A research team from the UCD Geary Institute followed the journey of the participating families to determine if the supports would improve children’s school readiness.

The project was funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

 Speaking at the event, Preparing for Life Programme Manager, Emma Byrne-MacNamee described the impressive impact which the research has shown the programme has on the lives of participating children.

“Our research results have shown that children who received the Preparing for Life programme are smarter,” she said. “By age four there was a 10 point IQ gap between the children who received the Preparing for Life programme and those that did not.

“We also found that children whose families took part in Preparing for Life are healthier with better diets and they are less likely to be overweight. Some 23 per cent of children who received the programme were overweight compared with 41 per cent of children who did not receive the programme. 

 Also speaking at the event, former Preparing for Life programme manager Noel Kelly praised the parents for their efforts to improve their children’s lives.

“We know that you, the parents, have made changes in how you parent your children,” he said. “It is clear that the small day to day things that you did as parents have all added together to make a big difference to your children.”

 The Preparing for Life Home Visiting Programme is available to parents living in Belcamp, Bonnybrook, Darndale, Glin, Kilmore West and Moatview.

To find out more, visit www.preparingforlife.ie or call 01-8771509.