A number of families of Grades 4 to 6 students attending Palmerston Public School have been participating in the Families and Schools Together Program, better known as FAST.
Families have been coming to the school one evening per week for the past few months to have dinner as a family, do family-focused activities, and build friendships during a parents’ support group and cooperative children’s activities. Although it is a family fun night out, the program offers the structure, support, and activities needed to build stronger connections between families, the school, and the community, while at the same time strengthening the family unit.
The program runs weekly for nine weeks, and then continues for two years, one evening monthly, where FAST families join each other for a variety of family activities in the community, such as skating, craft night, pizza and a movie night, etc. With guided leadership and monetary support for the activities, families are encouraged and supported in organizing these events on their own, with the goal that over time, they will have created a network of support and lasting friendships.
Parents who attend FAST are more inclined to become involved in their children’s schools, attending school functions, volunteering at the school, etc, organizers note.
“Through the program, not only do families feel the safety and comfort that comes with knowing other families in their school, they also get to know teachers at a more personal and trusting level creating a relationship where parents and teachers work as partners in offering the best chances for their child’s success,” school officials state.
The program was founded in the United States, by Dr. Lynne McDonald, a professor of social work, and is currently offered across Canada and internationally in thirteen countries. In 2010 it was ranked by the United Nations as 12th in the world out of 150 evidence-based families skills programs.
In Guelph/Wellington FAST is offered for three different age groups: preschool, junior kindergarten to Grade 3, and Grades 4 to 6. It has been offered through Family Counselling and Support Services of Guelph/ Wellington in partnership with Upper Grand District Schools and the Wellington Catholic District Schools for over 10 years and has benefitted more than 350 families in our communities.
It is a collaborative program offered with the support of other local service providers, which over the years have included the OPP, Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington, Family and Children’s Services, Big Brother’s Big Sisters, Guelph Police Services, County of Wellington, City of Guelph, Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition at the University of Guelph, Wellington-Dufferin Public Health, Guelph Community Health Centre, Trellis Mental Health, United Way, Homewood Foundation, Ministry of Community and Social Services, and many other community supports, private donors, and volunteers.
Just as offering the program in the school community strengthens relationships between families and schools, a collaborative team drawn from local resources allows parents to have “warm” contacts in the community, someone they can trust and turn to if ever in need.
As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” In a time where families are increasingly isolated, at times not even knowing their neighbours, officials say FAST helps create that village.
For more information contact Lucy Ferguson, Program Coordinator/Certified FAST Trainer at lucyferguson@familyserviceguelph.on.ca., or visit the Families and Schools Together Website at www.familiesandschools.org.
