SPACE (Supporting Parents Alongside Children’s Education) is a programme for families, mostly first time parents and their babies.  

 

SPACE is about place, creating a great space to meet as a group once a week for the first year of their lives. Lots of effort goes into making the meeting place welcoming, somewhere that is really good for parents and babies to be.

 

SPACE for thinking, the programme is run by trained facilitators who can help parents think about the choices they have about parenting. It is designed to help people become less anxious about the decisions they make and grow in confidence.

 

SPACE is about connection, between parent and baby, between participants, the church supporting the programme, and wider community. SPACE naturally enables people to build networks and access additional support where needed. Evidence shows that making connections has a positive impact on wellbeing. This is one of the particular strengths of the SPACE programme.

 

The SPACE programme runs for 3 terms (approximately 30-40 weeks). The length of the SPACE session times vary but are typically around 2 ½ hours. Babies joining a new SPACE session are generally between 3 weeks and 4 months of age and parents stay on session with their infants. Older babies can join in with an existing SPACE session depending on the availability of places.  As well as trained facilitators / support people we have a SPACE co-ordinator (Barbara Bryan) and a great team of volunteers who help serve refreshments and look after the babies during the sessions.

 

The SPACE programme has two focus areas, the first being the heart of parenting and the growing child. The second focus is on exploring play and concentrates on providing play experiences for the infants alongside their parents.

 

The discussion topics are constantly evolving in response to what parents are facing. This keeps the curriculum relevant and up to date.

 

A typical SPACE session involves an informal time of welcoming, relaxing and interaction· Thoughts and sharing moments· Songs, music/movement, rhymes and books· Discussion or guest speaker on the topic of the week· Continuing opportunities for play throughout the session; including Heuristic play, playfulness and tactile experiences· Making resources· Social time.

 

If you are interested in joining SPACE please contact Barbara Bryan through the office.