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The council promotes mentoring as a development method to help employees achieve their full potential in their current or future role. Mentoring is a developmental relationship in which the mentor provides directive support, whilst maintaining a nurturing element, and shares their knowledge with the mentee to help them discover more about themselves and develop their career aspirations. Mentors will be: more experienced than the mentee, committed to the council values and behaviours, sufficiently skilled to support the mentoring relationship, and prepared to participate in an ongoing mentoring programme. This interactive course will introduce you to the key concepts around becoming a skilled mentor. You will deepen your understanding of the benefits of mentoring, when to mentor, the essential skills needed and how to structure a mentoring relationship.

This course is aimed at practitioners who have an inquiring mind and are interested in supporting children holistically. This is a new course reflecting the increased awareness of the importance of wellbeing for all. Mindfulness is about being fully aware of living, right now, in this moment. Research has shown that being mindful is good for us. It can have long term benefits for our health and happiness. There is an emerging body of research that indicates mindfulness can help children improve their abilities to pay attention, to calm down when they are upset and to make better decisions. In this course we will explore ways to practice mindfulness through being, not doing, and to use our senses in nature. We will consider how to foster an outdoor approach to support the children’s and staff’s wellbeing and mental health. We will be outside whatever the weather, please bring waterproofs, stout shoes and warm clothes.

This network is for all practitioners and room leaders who work with two year olds. As a network we aim to be responsive to the needs of the group on an ongoing basis. In addition, each session will include a specific focus. Each session will aim to include any current research and thinking and will provide you with opportunities to problem solve any issues you may be experiencing through discussion with fellow practitioners. Autumn session – ‘What is different about being a two year old?’ Spring session – ‘Challenges of working with two year olds’ Summer session – ‘Learning spaces for two year olds’

This is a basic practical taster session for any practitioner wanting to build their confidence and find out a little bit more about working outdoors with children. During this taster session we will be exploring the outdoor environment, sharing experiences and developing your own confidence. We will be looking at a range of activities and experiences to take back to your setting. Please note this course does not qualify you to run Forest School sessions. We will be outside for the entire session, whatever the weather. Waterproofs, stout walking boots/welly boots and warm clothing is advised.

This course helps to develop your listening skills and the skills for delivering great service over the phone. The golden rules for great calls.