Best Practice

Case study: Engaging disadvantaged families

An initiative at Catton Grove Primary School is opening up the countryside for its disadvantaged children while also engaging parents with life-skills courses. Emma Lee-Potter finds out more

Catton Grove Primary School is only a 25-minute bus ride from the Norfolk coast but up until two years ago some pupils and their parents had never been to the beach. A number of them had never visited a farm or seen a herd of cattle either.

All that is changing now though – thanks in part to an initiative launched by Fiona Sadler, Catton Grove’s pastoral lead and parent support advisor.

With the backing of headteacher Tim Lawes, Ms Sadler came up with the idea of running a Life Skills course for parents. Ms Sadler had delivered a series of parenting classes at the 750-pupil Norwich school in the past but realised that a new course focusing on practical skills like cooking, budgeting and eating healthily would help the most vulnerable parents – and benefit their children too.

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