At every monthly visit, the trained project worker will chat with the mother about her pre-schooler, informally check-off “developmental milestones”, and give her ideas about how she can encourage this stage of her child’s progress (see box). She also provides an understanding ear for the frustrations and dilemmas of parenthood.In the US, where there are no health visitors, PAFT workers also do health screenings Here, it is an entirely educational programme. However, workers will encourage mothers to have their babies checked, if they suspect a problem with something such as hearing.”We have our own training, and everything is very carefully structured,” says Pam Holtom, who retired after 17 years as a head to become PAFT’s national development officer “It’s such a high-class programme. There are 36 months of plans for visits, with four plans for each month, in case a worker is visiting more than once a month. They are clearly set out, with guidance on rapport-building, and on observation of the child. And all the neuroscience is now embedded into these plans, too.

So we can tell parents what’s happening with their children’s brains, and why it’s important to do the things we talk about.”Group meetings vary from something as simple as going for a walk, to discussing a topic such as sibling rivalry, or how children see themselves. Janice Saunders, a project worker, opening a group discussion on creativity at King’s Wood Infant School, in High Wycombe, invites views on why children need to be creative, and how mothers can help them. The 10 or so mothers sitting in the circle volunteer their experiences. They talk about the robots and drawings that their children have made, how they like to ice biscuits or bang saucepans, and – ruefully – about their own shortcomings as creative parents. “I always think, mmm, why don’t we wait until it’s summer and we can do it outside!” says Dee Snudden.The discussion is relaxed and full of laughter, but in a short time covers an amazing amount of ground – why creativity matters, the different things children can do at home, and practical ways to make it all bearable, from using old shirts turned backwards as aprons, to the joys of a plastic tablecloth. “I’ve found that you have to make the time and give yourself to it,” says Fiona Grimmett. “When I’m trying to squeeze it in, that’s when I get stressed out.”After the meeting, the children come in from the cr?e, everyone rolls up their sleeves and decorates pillowcases with fabric paint The group could not be more mixed.

Mothers with postgraduate qualifications rub shoulders with mothers who look like children themselves, and there is an assortment of racial backgrounds. But it is an essential part of PAFT that it is free and available to everyone – project workers point out that just because someone lives in a nice house doesn’t mean that they don’t struggle over setting boundaries for their children, or need reassurance that their role as a parent is worthwhile. On the other hand, where problems are acute, project workers will offer additional support, and midwives and health visitors will encourage families to join if they feel they could especially benefit.But the hallmarks of the programme – its low-key approach and openness to all-comers – mean projects can struggle to find funding. For the past seven years, the Turners Court Youth Trust, a small charity that supports innovative ways of meeting the needs of children, has backed its development work, while in deprived areas, PAFT can now find funding under the Government’s Sure Start programme But in other areas, its financial future is fragile. Yet the demand is clearly there, and the project has proved its worth many times over, not only in the States, but also in countries from Canada to New Zealand.In Missouri, where it all started, the state government took the decision to fund it nearly 20 years ago. Here, in contrast, things are still so far behind the times that only a few weeks ago, this newspaper, which helped start PAFT off in this country, had to run a leader pleading, yet again, for more Government recognition of the fact that the best educational investment it can make is in the pre-school years.education independent.co.uk’If a parent has a problem, the visitor is always able to say “well, I just happen to have this…” ‘Ros Hill tucks a cardboard box of play things under her arm, crosses the quiet residential street in Aylesbury, and knocks at a small front door.