About PPEY

The Parents Plus Early Years Programme (PPEY) is a practical, solution-focused and evidence-based course that builds on parent strengths.

It can be delivered over 6-12 sessions to groups of parents or to individual families.

The Early Years Programme can be delivered as a universal programme for parents of children aged 1 to 6 years including those with additional needs such as ADHD, Autism, and other developmental differences.

Supporting Parents

By attending Parents Plus training to become a facilitator for the Early Years Programme, you will learn how to support parents to:

• develop good attachments and relationships with their children 
• understand and manage tantrums and meltdowns
• build their children’s communication and learning
• problem-solve challenges as they arise
• reduce their own stress as parents
• promote their children’s self-esteem and well-being
• establish positive daily routines for their family

Making an Impact

Studies in preschool, mental health and early intervention settings have shown that families who complete the Parents Plus Early Years programme report:

• Increased child positive social behaviour
• Increased school readiness
• Reduced emotional problems
• Decreased parents stress
• Increase parental confidence

The Parents Plus Programmes are backed by over 25 years of research and have a strong evidence base that demonstrates positive outcomes for families who complete the programmes. Learn more about the Parents Plus evidence-base and research.

“We see the evidence.
The Parent Plus Early Years Programme has proven to be very successful for the parents we work with and is now a valuable and regular part of our multi-disciplinary team work.”

Kathleen O’Hara,
Early Intervention

What will you learn?

The Early Years Programme facilitator training is practical and solution-focused and will provide you with the essential skills to achieve the best outcomes for the parents and families who attend your service.

You will learn how to deliver the Parents Plus Early Years Programme as:

• One-off short workshops tailored to the needs of your parents
• A six to twelve week group intervention, combining group and individual sessions
• An individual programme delivered to parents in the home over a period of up to one year.

By the end of the training, you will:

• Understand the core components of the Early Years Programme and be ready to use the programme with parents and children, both in groups and individually.
• Demonstrate key skills in solution-focused group facilitation including engagement, retention and responding constructively to challenges; strengthening inter-agency and community partnerships; and using solution focused video feedback with parents.

The training is interactive with lots of opportunities for participation and group learning.

Read the module training description for more information.

Who is the training for?

Training as a Parents Plus facilitator is open to qualified education, mental health and community professionals who work with families.

Parents Plus programmes are successfully delivered with impressive outcomes in a variety of Primary Care, School, Health, Disability and Mental Health settings.

Attendance at our facilitator training for this programme is compulsory prior to delivering it to families attending your service.

Parents Plus programmes must be co-facilitated, therefore, at least two facilitators need to be trained before a programme can be delivered to families in your agency.

Facilitators who go on to complete our accreditation process are licensed to run the programme without a co-facilitator.

The Parents Plus Early Years Programme package includes a wide range of materials to ensure it’s effective delivery.

• Access to video clips with 2.5 hours of footage of real family interactions, with comments from professionals and parents.
• A comprehensive facilitator’s manual with detailed guides to plan and structure each session, for all delivery formats.
• Parent Book – Bound parent book for six to nine session group course format, containing all the programme handouts and worksheets for participants.
• Parent Pack – Folder of handouts to be given one by one to parents for the Core Delivery format.
• A copy of the book ‘Parenting Preschoolers and Young Children‘ by John Sharry, Grainne Hampson and Mary Fanning.
• Posters to highlight key programme concepts.

When running subsequent courses, trained facilitators can purchase additional parent books at cost price. Trained facilitators are also licensed to copy worksheets and handouts from the parent books, as an alternative.

What supports do Parents Plus offer?

Parents Plus provide a comprehensive package of supports to our facilitators, including:

• Implementation support to get groups off the ground, including planning workshops and coaching for managers.
• Individual and group supervision sessions with an experienced Parents Plus Trainer.
• Advanced training workshops on specific topics.
• Extra resources to facilitate delivery, e.g. fliers, posters, certificates, practice articles, parenting articles, supplementary handouts.
• Support to promote your Parents Plus courses in your community.
• Advice and guidance on evaluating and monitoring outcomes in your agency to ensure your groups are effective.
• Access to two individual supervision sessions free of charge in the first year post-training.

Sponsorship for further supervision is available on application.

How do I become an accredited facilitator?

For facilitators who want to take their practice to a higher level, Parents Plus also has an established accreditation process which supports you to refine your facilitation skills and professional practice and reach a high standard of delivery.

Representing a major CPD achievement, accreditation allows you to deliver our programmes independently and to work towards becoming a Parents Plus supervisor. You can read more about our accreditation process in the resources section.

The Parents Plus Quality Protocol is the basis of becoming an Accredited Facilitator. We recommend that facilitators continue to follow the Quality Protocol post-training and post accreditation to ensure fidelity to the principles.

• NHS and HSE Primary Care Teams (e.g., Psychologists, Public Health Nurses)
• Family Resource Centres
• UK Family Hubs
• UK Family Support Workers
• Family Practitioners
• Early Years Educators
• Parenting Leads/Teams
• Early Help Hub Teams/Coordinators
• Family Hubs Teams/Managers

• Parenting Support Teams/Team Managers
• Teachers/Educators
• Early Intervention Coordinators
• TUSLA Parenting Support Champions Project
• Social Care Workers
• Speech and Language Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• TUSLA Child and Family Agency Child Protection Teams
• Progressing Disability Teams

• Area Based Childhood Programme (ABC)
• HSE Sláintecare Healthy Communities
• GP Services
• Children and Young People’s Services Committees
• Family-focused Charities (e.g., Barnardos, Focus Ireland)
• Regional Parent Support Networks
• County Childcare Committees
• Family Liaison Officers
• Preschool Teachers

Parents Plus are here to support you every step of the way in your implementation process.

We provide coaching to managers and project leads, and can facilitate planning workshops for large multi-agency community roll outs.

If you are a manager, service commissioner, or a lead facilitator and you would like to avail of our tailored training or discuss your service needs and programme implementation, please contact our Impact Lead, Vicki Byrne at vicki@parentsplus.ie.