Early Intervention Strategy

Schools’ Parenting Toolkit

The Strengthening Families 10-14 Parenting Programme


Strengthening Families 10-14 Parenting Programme

This programme has a strong evidence base and is one of thecore parenting programmes run in Southampton.

The long-term aim of SFP10-14 is reduced alcohol and drug use and behaviour problems during adolescence. This is achieved through improved skills in nurturing and child management by parents, and improved interpersonal and personal competencies amongst young people. Parents of all educational levels are targeted and printed materials for parents are written at a suitable reading level. The SFP10-14 makes extensive use of DVD material portraying pro-social behaviours, and the programme is suitable for families from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

The SFP10-14 has seven two hour sessions for parents and young people, who attend separate skill-building groups for the first hour and spend the second hour together in supervised family activities. Four booster sessions are designed to be used six months to one year after the end of the first seven sessions, in order to reinforce the skills gained in the original sessions. Youth sessions focus on strengthening goal setting, dealing with stress and strong emotions, communication skills, increasing responsible behaviour, and improving skills to deal with peer pressure. Youth Booster sessions focus on making good friends, handling conflict and reinforcing skills learned in the first seven sessions. Parents discuss the importance of both nurturing their youth while, at the same time, setting rules, monitoring compliance, and applying appropriate discipline. Topics include making house rules, encouraging good behaviour, using consequences, building bridges, and protecting against alcohol and substance misuse. Parent Booster sessions focus on handling parents' stress, communicating when partners don't agree and reinforcing earlier skills training.

Each session contains a variety of activities:

  • Parent sessions include viewing and discussing DVDs that portray negative and positive interactions with youth, skill-building activities and group support.
  • Youth sessions include game-like learning activities, discussions and skill-building activities.
  • Family sessions include parent-youth discussions, games, projects, skill-building practice and videotape viewing.

Within Southampton we have found that the best attendance and feedback has come from programmes run in the early evening from about 5.30 to 8pm, allowing both working parents and pupils to attend. Serving food, especially a hot dinner, to break up the 2 sessions has had additionalpositive impact on the families.

Further information can be found on

Session Information:

Each session contains a variety of activities:

  • Parent sessions include viewing and discussing videos that portray negative and positive interactions with youth, skill-building activities and group support.
  • Youth sessions include game-like learning activities, discussions and skill-building activities.
  • Family sessions include parent-youth discussions, games, projects, skill-building practice and videotape viewing.

Parent Sessions 1-7 Topics

  • Using Love and Limits
  • Making House Rules
  • Encouraging Good Behaviour
  • Using Consequences
  • Building Bridges
  • Protecting Against Substance Abuse
  • Using Community Resources

Youth Session 1-7 Topics

  • Having Goals and Dreams
  • Appreciating Parents
  • Dealing with Stress
  • Following Rules
  • Handling Peer Pressure I
  • Handling Peer Pressure II
  • Reaching Out To Others

Family Sessions 1-7 Topics

  • Supporting Goals and Dreams
  • Appreciating Family Members
  • Using Family Members
  • Understanding Family Values
  • Building Family Communication
  • Reaching Our Goals
  • Putting It All Together and Graduation

Parent Boosters 1-4 Topics

  • Handling Stress
  • Communicating When You Don't Agree
  • Reviewing Love and Limits Skills
  • Reviewing How to Help with Peer Pressure

Youth Booster 1-4 Topics

  • Handling Conflict
  • Making Good Friends
  • Getting the Message Across
  • Practicing Our Skills

Family Boosters 1-4 Topics

  • Understanding Each Other
  • Listening to Each Other
  • Understanding Family Roles
  • Using Family Strengths