AN innovative course designed to strengthen the bond between parents and their children has received a cash boost after fears it may be forced to end.

Lowbourne Infant and Nursery School is the only school in the county to take advantage of the Nurturing Programme.

The course's future was on a knife-edge when funding from the local education authority dried up, but a £6,000 grant from the Parents in the Community Millennium Awards means it is safe for at least another year.

Money for the course, which has been running for the last three years, has been used to train a group of seven parents and teachers on how to communicate better with children.

They will now organise workshops so the information they have learnt can filter down to the rest of the school.

The 10-week programme, developed by Oxford-based charity Family Links, covers a wide-range of subjects dealing with emotional and social skills, such as positive ways of improving links between school and home, reducing bullying and how to create a safe, calm environment.

Lowbourne headteacher Netta Hemmins said: "It was a relief to get the funding and I would like to see the programme used more widely.

"It benefits the school because it offers a consistent approach to the children, showing how to talk to them, nurture them and cope with behavioural problems. The methods used at school are the same at home."

Ginny Anderson, mentor for the Nurturing Prog-ramme group at the Melksham school, said the programme created a better environment both in class and at home because parents, teachers and children all received the same training.

"It is all about improving communication and opening up discussion," she said.