Powerstown Families!

We’re very happy to say we have been invited to get involved with The Family Literacy Project which starts on September 26th. 

We’re looking for interested families, parents/ guardians and children to participate in the programme which will take place  in St. Lukes National School in Tyrrelstown. The programme will run every Monday from 3:30pm – 4.30pm  for 6 weeks on the following dates – 

-September 26th at 3.30pm

–October 3rd at 3.30pm

–October 10th at 3.30pm

–October 17th at 3.30pm

-October 24th at 3.30pm

Below is some information on the programme and what’s involved in this fantastic opportunity for families. 

If your interested in this great opportunity email info@powerstownet.com

The Fingal Mobile Libraries have very kindly agreed to be present at St Luke’s for the following dates and times:

–October 3rd at 2-4pm

–October 10th  2-4pm

–October 17th 2-4pm

-October 24th 2-4pm

The family literacy programme aims to instil parents (the primary educator) with the necessary skills to become part of their child’s education. We also highlight the importance of parents being part of their child’s education as the research states that this leads to a greater academic journey when the parents are involved. 

To support this, we mirror the children’s classroom practices (with a focus on the early literacy skills) and highlight how the parents can help support with this development through a wide range of fun activities. 

Whilst the parents are learning to harness such skills, their children are also learning new things as they are working with another teacher on the very skills that are being presented to them. Here the children work with my colleague from the programme and they get the experience of the skills being presented so when the parents begin to work on the skills taught, the concept is familiar to the children. 

Following the completion of the 5 session programme, parents have expressed how assured they feel now when working on challenging concepts such as phonics, phonological awareness, comprehension, vocabulary etc. They have also expressed in their feedback how the children have enjoyed learning through the fun activities presented within the workshops. Furthermore, they are also able to use these skills through book activities which is wonderful as they can instil a love of reading which is really the primary aim of the project.

Overall, I feel there is a plethora of positives in terms of implementing our programme as it ticks many boxes. We have recognised that there is niche for this as it helps bridge the gap between parents and school practices. Parents from all backgrounds will benefit from this, with particular reference to parents who have English as an additional language as it breaks down the early literacy skills of literacy development into succinct stages, thus making the concept less daunting when presented with activities at home.