Family Learning Week 

 

Family Learning Festival - October 2008

The Family Learning Festival is an awareness campaign which aims to highlight the importance that families can have in supporting each other's learning. This year it will take place throughout October. It began as a day in 1998 and has evolved into a 9 day celebration of learning as Family Learning Week with an estimated 300,000 family members joining in the fun. Organised by the Campaign for Learning, this year Family Learning Week is to become the month-long Family Learning Festival in October celebrating 10 years of Family Learning. In Lincolnshire, any learners taking part in Family Learning activities during October will be given a free guide to Family Fun, stickers and a balloon.

For more information on Family Learning, visit the Campaign for Learning website.

 

History of Family Learning

Family Learning has a rich history which includes adult literacy, early learning, lifelong learning, parenting, school improvement and supporting children's learning. The importance of each element in this mix will differ from area to area.

From the 1970s to the 1990s family literacy, language and numeracy was developed mainly within the contect of adult literacy, spurred on by the 1970s literacy campaign 'On the Move'. During the 1990s, research demonstrated the intergenerational effects of poor literacy and numeracy, resulting in the first nationally funded family learning programmes. By the late 1990s the DfES was giving funds to local authorities, with support from the Basic Skills Agency, to fund Family Literacy and Family Numeracy programmes. In 2000, the Learning & Skills Council (LSC) was set up to fund Adult and Community Learning and, from 2002 onwards, received funds from the DfES to fund Family Learning programmes. The LSC also took over responsibility for the planning of family literacy, language and numeracy provision withh a menu of programmes provided for local authorities. A second stream of funding for 'wider family learning' was created which encouraged providers to respond to the needs of families where literacy, language and numeracy were not the main aims.

Since 2000 various national initiatives have all stimulated the growth of Family Learning. These initiatives include:

• A Fresh Start - Improving Literacy and Numeracy (DfEE, 1999)
• Sure Start Local Programmes
• Skills for Life; the National Strategy for Improving Literacy and Numeracy (DfEE, 2001)
• Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003)
• Children Act 2004
• Government strategies for parenting and parent support
• Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children: a ten year strategy for childcare
• Framework for the Future: Libraries, Learning and Information in the Next Decade
• Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier
• Skills: getting on in business, getting on in work

(Taken from NIACE Briefing Sheet - 74 "Family Learning in Children's Centres, Schools and the Community: literacy, language and numeracy and the broader offer for families).