Many families have taken part in Fusion, helping the whole family by providing strategies, skills and ideas to promote positive behaviour inside and outside of school. The course covers areas such as becoming a responsible adult, encouraging listening, the importance of family time, discipline and communication. It changes family power struggles and develops more honest and respectful relationships within the family. Parents do not feel isolated; they become aware that there are others who have similar problems and offer peer support. This has had a positive impact for children and the whole family.

Children and their parents have had their self esteem raised, they have a more positive view of themselves and children start the school day with an improved attitude, ready to learn.

Within Conifers, Fusion has opened up relationships with some of our parents, they are able to have regular contact with our Pupil and Family Support Worker, who runs the course and will often track her down at the beginning of a school day to celebrate successes and share problems.

R. Hiscock
Primary School Head Teacher

As a year 1 class teacher at Conifers Primary school I have come into contact with the Fusion course and its results.

During parents evenings issues concerning the child’s behaviour at home are regularly raised.  I can suggest systems that could be put in place such as sticker charts but I don’t have the time or experience of a family to help any further.  I have been able to suggest the Fusion programme to a number families.  Those that have completed the course have commented on how wonderful it was to work through the material and talk with other parents about how they had solved similar problems.  All the parents that have completed the fusion course have talked about the improvements at home.

As a result of the fusion course I have seen:

• Families grow closer together and become tighter and more supportive units
• Single parents regain control
• Children become more secure in themselves because their home lives have improved and as a result their capacity to learn was increased.
• Children’s behaviour at home and in school improve dramatically
• Parents attitude towards the school and its staff improve
• mproved communication between parents and school staff.

A. Hutchinson
Primary School Teacher

Fusion has offered us a dynamic and appropriate opportunity to affect change in our parent community. The training we had was of a high quality and both responsive to the needs of the school and to the individuals who took part. It was cracking!

A. Eardley
Junior School Deputy Head Teacher

I have been in teaching for over 25 years of which 8 years have been as Head Teacher. The Fusion training and materials are, without a doubt, the best I have ever seen. For some years, I have been trying to find user friendly resources for the school and parents and Fusion is perfect. I am going recommend that our whole locality of 17 schools introduces these resources, which will means so many families will benefit from this excellent material.

J.Elliott
Junior School Head Teacher

As a class teacher, I have witnessed the positive results of working alongside parents to improve the relationship that they have with their children.

At the beginning of the school year, I was confronted with a distraught single parent who was struggling to cope with her son’s behaviour at home. She said that the situation was out of control and he had no respect for anything she said. He would not do as he was told and was incessantly rude and disruptive at home. The child also displayed these traits in the classroom – although to a lesser degree - so I understood what the parent was trying to deal with. The parent was in tears and was at a loss to know what to do for the best. I arranged for both the child and the parent to have weekly sessions with our behaviour support assistant, who also runs the school parenting course.

The parent attended this course as well as her individual sessions and over the following weeks there was a clear transformation in both parent and child. They learned to develop a relationship based on mutual respect and honesty and because their self-esteem grew so rapidly, they were able to recapture the loving mother-son relationship that had previously been allowed to lapse. Furthermore, the child’s attitude and behaviour in class improved dramatically, thus allowing this very bright individual to work to his full potential.

Having witnessed such positive change in such a short space of time, the benefits of supporting both the parent and child simultaneously were more than palpable.

L. Jeffery
Primary School Teacher