The Strengthening Families Programme 10-14 (UK): engagement and academic success at school

The changes that young people experience during early adolescence increase the risk that they may not reach their full potential. Poor parenting skills and an adverse family environment exacerbate existing behavioural problems and often result in academic failure. There is an expanding body of research supporting the important role of parents, family and community in determining young people's academic success in school. Parent and family-mediated interventions that target parenting skills have been shown across multiple intervention studies to be the most effective for reducing risk behaviour and preventing the development of later problem behaviour in adolescence. This article reports on the implementation of one such family intervention -the SFP10-14 (UK)- in a school in the north of England. It suggests a number of ways that practitioners working in the community can engage with families through family-mediated interventions to promote academic success in early adolescence.