Families & Schools Together (FAST), an American programme designed to help children succeed at school, is being rolled out to families in the UK. We went to Liverpool to find out how it works. FAST, which has been running in the USA for over 20 years, aims to strengthen families and parental involvement to make a difference to children's welfare and educational achievement. The approach is multi-family interaction, with the whole family involved and requiring direct engagement with schools. There's a strong community feel to the programme, but how well does its US-style approach translate to the UK? To find out we've come to one of the most challenging areas of Liverpool where FAST is being trialled. Liaison officer Jackie Dunderdale from Beacon Primary in Everton has recruited a group of local families to take part in the 7 week programme. We follow several of them as they get to grips with programme which, among other things, involves coming together for singing and cooking.

Video Series: Working with Parents
Release Date 2009