1. Kirstie Pye, Research Officer NWORTH Clinical Trials Unit Bangor University

2. Growing numbers of children arrive in school without social and self-regulatory skills A lack of skills can predict low academic achievement and poor relationships Early intervention in preschool years is an effective way to prepare children for school success Need for a shorter, universal programme, delivered to parents as children start school The IY School Readiness Programme The effectiveness of the programme has never been researched

3. Universal programme Parents of preschool children aged 3 - 5 years Four weekly 2-hour sessions Discussion, video-clips, role-play, rehearsal of techniques, group problem-solving, homework assignments AIMS: Improve children’s school readiness Prevent conduct problems & underachievement Enhance home-school links AIMS: Improve children’s school readiness Prevent conduct problems & underachievement Enhance home-school links

4. PART 1: Child-directed play Strengthening social, emotional, and cognitive skills Emotion coaching and problem-solving Encouraging language skills and creativity PART 2: Interactive reading Encouraging social, emotional, academic and problem solving skills Having fun with books and letting the child be the storyteller

5. 1.Establish a battery of measures to evaluate the IY School Readiness programme 2.Explore the effectiveness of the IY School Readiness programme for parents of 3 - 5 year old children 3.Detect any difficulties or barriers in implementing the programme

6. Pre-test post-test repeated measures pilot study Control and intervention groups assigned on a ‘first come first serve’ basis 10 schools in Conwy and Gwynedd 2 trained leaders per school 46 parents (32 intervention 14 control) Parents with a child aged 3-5 years in the nursery or reception class of a participating school Home visits to families at baseline, 6 months, 12 months

7. Parents PDHQ (Hutchings, 1996) PDHQ (Hutchings, 1996) PAROT (Pye et al, in preparation) PAROT (Pye et al, in preparation) ECBI (Eyberg & Robinson, 1978) ECBI (Eyberg & Robinson, 1978) Parent SDQ (Goodman, 1997) Parent SDQ (Goodman, 1997) PSOC (Johnston & Mash, 1989) PSOC (Johnston & Mash, 1989) End of programme questionnaire End of programme questionnaire Semi-structured interview Semi-structured interviewParents PDHQ (Hutchings, 1996) PDHQ (Hutchings, 1996) PAROT (Pye et al, in preparation) PAROT (Pye et al, in preparation) ECBI (Eyberg & Robinson, 1978) ECBI (Eyberg & Robinson, 1978) Parent SDQ (Goodman, 1997) Parent SDQ (Goodman, 1997) PSOC (Johnston & Mash, 1989) PSOC (Johnston & Mash, 1989) End of programme questionnaire End of programme questionnaire Semi-structured interview Semi-structured interview Group leaders Focus group Focus group Group leader evaluation questionnaire Group leader evaluation questionnaire Time and cost diary Time and cost diary Group leaders Focus group Focus group Group leader evaluation questionnaire Group leader evaluation questionnaire Time and cost diary Time and cost diary

8. Play And Reading Observation Tool (PAROT) Direct observation of parent-child interactions at home 15 minutes shared play and 15 minutes interactive reading Frequency of parent and child verbal behaviours 5 parent composite categories: Academic coaching, socioemotion coaching, problem-solving coaching, encouragement/praise, reflection/expansion 3 child categories: Positive response, negative response, spontaneous vocalisation

9. Demographics Control (n = 14) Intervention (n = 32) Mean child age in months (SD) Mean parent age in years (SD) No. boys No. fathers No. Welsh speaking No. single parents No. teenage mums 47.21 (1.28) 30.50 (5.22) 9 0 4 2 1 45.25 (5.38) 34.56 (6.74) 13 1 17 6 7 No significant differences between the two conditions at baseline for any of the demographic characteristics and outcome measures

10. p=.008, d=0.89

11. p=.013, d=0.87

12. p=.020, d=0.78

13. PAROT problem-solving coachingPAROT reflection/expansion

14. PAROT positive response PAROT negative response PAROT spontaneous vocalisation

15. SDQ total difficulties ECBI intensity PSOC

16. Intervention (n=25) and control (n=6) comparisons from baseline to second follow up (12 months) No significant differences between the intervention and control conditions for any of the parent verbal behaviour categories No significant differences between the intervention and control conditions for any of the child verbal behaviour categories No significant differences between the intervention and control conditions for the SDQ, ECBI, or PSoC parent-report measures

17. 89% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that the relationship between themselves and the teachers who ran the programme had improved after attending the programme 85% of parents reported a positive effect on the relationship between them and the school. 100% of parents attended at least one session, 53% attended all 4 sessions The overall mean attendance was 3 sessions Parents (n=27), group leaders (n=14 from 7 schools) All parents said they found the programme supportive and useful All schools agreed or strongly agreed that the relationship between the parents and the school had improved since the programme Schools were likely (n=1) or very likely (n=5) to run the programme again in the future

18. This was the first known evaluation of the IY School Readiness programme The programme was effective in increasing key verbal parenting behaviours in the contexts of reading and play Short-term improvements in parent verbal behaviours (academic coaching, socio-emotion coaching and encouragement/praise) were not maintained over 12 months Strengthening home-school links Preliminary evidence that providing support to parents through schools can change parent behaviours