Search for Learning and Development Services and Pathways

A course designed by the Educational Psychology service in South Gloucestershire to help foster carers develop positive connections with children and support them to regulate difficult feelings, understand their emotions, and find moments of calm. The course will briefly touch on attachment theory but the focus will be on exploring a range of practical strategies to support children in foster care. This will include relationship building strategies as well as how to manage big emotions, rage, and conflict.

Supporting adult relationships.
Arguments in relationships are part of everyday life, evidence suggests that arguments between parents/carers is normal, but if exposure is frequent, intense, and poorly resolved, this can have a damaging impact on children, resulting in long-term mental health issues, emotional, behavioural, and academic problems as they grow up.

Foster Carers- Children and Young People Health and Wellbeing Event

During the interactive workshop we will:

Explore food and healthy eating for children and young people.

Consider challenges around food including eating problems.

Reflect on wider helpful and unhelpful coping strategies.

Signpost to related information, advice and support

After lunch we will invite a range of health and wellbeing providers, to share information and advice around a variety of children and young people's health related topics.

Light lunch will be provided

Cadbury Heath Children’s Centre

Online

The WAYPOINT (Working Alongside Young People & Others In Networks Therapeutically) Team is part of the Fostering Service. WAYPOINT provide therapeutically informed support to children, families, foster carers, and professional networks. This support is additional to the support provided by your supervising social worker and children’s social workers.

The monthly WAYPOINT Drop-in sessions are facilitated by Dan Charnock, WAYPOINT Senior Social Worker and are open to all mainstream foster carers. The aim of the WAYPOINT Drop in is to provide a reflective and open space for foster carers to come along and discuss issues or concerns you may be facing. While each session includes a space to reflect on challenges, there is also a significant focus on sharing strategies and thinking about therapeutic approaches to difficult situations and celebrating successes.

You don’t have to be going through a difficult time to attend – peer support, learning and reflection is always valuable, and there is no pressure for anyone to share within the sessions. Topics for each session tend to arise on the day, ensuring the focus is relevant to the content brought to the drop in. However, there is also the option to agree a topic for a future session to enable a more in-depth focus. Discussion often includes topics such as attachment, trauma, and use of therapeutic approaches such as PACE and NVR, and ideas come not only from Dan but from within the group.

The Purpose for the support groups

Topic: short presentation by Mavis around “working with disabled children, challenges and self-care”.  

We realise that fostering can be really difficult at times. Perhaps the only people who really understand it are other foster carers and so therefore we want to give you a place to meet up.

There will be biscuits and/or cake, coffee, tea, and an opportunity for an informal chat at all of the meetings.

Although these will be informal meetings, each session will have a brief agenda, attendance list, and agreed group rules. This is to help those who don’t know anyone and feel awkward about coming along to a new meeting, to feel that they won’t be left alone on the side-lines.

These sessions should be recorded on your Personal Development Plan (PDP).

The Purpose for these Support Groups: 

6pm-6.30pm Share The Care discussion group with Jakie Dyer *ONLY FOR SHARE THE CARE CARERS*

6.30pm-8pm *OPEN TO ALL Carers* - Topic TBC

We realise that fostering can be really difficult at times. Perhaps the only people who really understand it are other foster carers and so therefore we want to give you a place to meet up.

Although these will be informal meetings, each session will have a brief agenda, attendance list, and agreed group rules. This is to help those who don’t know anyone and feel awkward about coming along to a new meeting, to feel that they won’t be left alone on the side-lines.

These sessions should be recorded on your Personal Development Plan (PDP).

The Purpose for the support groups


We realise that fostering can be really difficult at times. Perhaps the only people who really understand it are other foster carers and so therefore we want to give you a place to meet up.

There will be biscuits and/or cake, coffee, tea, and an opportunity for an informal chat at all of the meetings.

Although these will be informal meetings, each session will have a brief agenda, attendance list, and agreed group rules. This is to help those who don’t know anyone and feel awkward about coming along to a new meeting, to feel that they won’t be left alone on the side-lines.

Sometimes there will be speakers and topics as requested by the group, this will hopefully make it as relevant to your fostering as you like.

These sessions should be recorded on your Personal Development Plan (PDP).

• What is mental health?
• What are the specific challenges for children and young people?
• What are the inequalities relating to mental health for children and young people?
• Mental Health v's Mental ill Health
• Models of Mental Health
• What impacts Mental Health?