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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).

One day workshop for those working towards PEPS Stage 2.

This course helps practitioners know how to apply the MCA statutory requirements, principles and legislation and case law in practice.
Be confident in assessing and recording a Mental Capacity Assessment and making Best Interest decisions and the role of the Independent Mental Health Advocate.

Please complete the two pre course exercises  in advance of attending the training, which can be found on pages 3 – 5 within the workbook.


Please click following link to access course handouts

Link to join meeting

Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 388 095 697 51
Passcode: UZ3ap7jy

Link to join meeting

Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 319 291 243 568
Passcode: Cb6kr3Vq

These sessions are for members of the South Gloucestershire Council Coaching and Mentoring Service and is open to external coaches.

We ask that all members attend two sessions of group supervision per year. Please see full details below for more information.

Full details:

What is coaching supervision?

Coaching supervision is the practice of reflecting upon your work as a coach, usually with a trained supervisor in either a 1:1 or group basis. It is often emphasised as ‘SUPER-vision' providing you with an enhanced ability to see your work from multiple perspectives. If not viewed like this coach supervision could be misconstrued as a more managerial practice by someone with more power than yourself 'checking' that you are 'doing it right'. Far from this, the relationship is more of one of equals, where the supervisor and coach (supervisee) sit 'side by side' in a safe, non-judgemental space getting curious about the your work as a coach. Through this process you gain insight into yourself, the client and the work you do together. Regular coaching supervision will enable the coach to explore these areas and in doing so improve their coaching effectiveness and ensure best value for coachees. Coaching supervision is an essential part of a coach’s ongoing learning and development.

It is free for internal coaches and we will charge external coaches £100 per session or £300 for four.

New booking website launch: We will be hosting courses on the new Learning and Development Hub from 1st July 2025 which you’ll be able to access at: www.southglos.gov.uk/learning once we switch over to the new site. If you have an existing booking on a course, we will transfer your booking. You will receive details of how to login when the site is live as well as a course booking confirmation email once your booking has been transferred.

Charges: If a charge applies to the course you are booked onto, we will contact you separately to arrange payment.

Support we will be offering: We have designed the Hub to be an intuitive system we hope will be easy to use. There will be a Frequently Asked Questions page which will provide guidance and further information to help you navigate the new website.

What you need to do: If you require a copy of your training record, please log in to the existing learning and development website and visit the My Account – My Learning Events page as access to this will be removed in July.

Please send any questions or comments you may have to: training@southglos.gov.uk.

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).

This session is designed to equip foster carers with essential basic coaching techniques and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) strategies to effectively support children in their care. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how patterns of thinking, body language and the words we use can impact on how effectively we communicate with others. This practical training will equip carers with tools to enhance their communication, understand and respond to children's needs, build trust, and create stronger, more supportive relationships. Whether you're new to fostering or looking to deepen your skills, this session offers techniques to help carers navigate the complexities of communication with confidence and compassion.

Our tutor Rachel McCoubrie is a Doctor, coach, NLP Master Practitioner, author, aspirational poet

The multi-agency South Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board oversees the Joint Policy and Procedures for Safeguarding Adults in this area. It is essential that a wide range of staff working in local authority, health and social care agencies are fully aware of the key issues in safeguarding vulnerable adults and of how the policy affects them in their front-line roles. The half-day Raising Safeguarding Concerns course is essential training for all front-line staff and managers who are involved in providing services to adults at risk and who work directly with service users. The course content is mapped to the learning outcomes in the local Safeguarding Adults Training Standards (published Dec 2017) as well as to relevant national occupational standards including the Care Certificate (Standard 10). Course attendance is monitored by the Safeguarding Adults Board. The standard charge for this course is £49. Please refer to our Course Charges on the Home page for information on discounts and exemptions.

We are restricting numbers from each organisation to 4 individuals per course.

If you organisation require a large number of individuals to complete this course, then it maybe possible for in house training to be organised.
Please contact HRlearninganddevelopment@southglos.gov.uk with your requirements.

The aim of this blended course is to enable all managers recruit and retain staff effectively. Even if you have recruited in other organisation, it is important for you to attend, to learn best practice for South Gloucestershire Council. All hiring managers are expected to attend this course.

If you have recruited in other organisations you may also find this useful as a refresher or to find out the council approach.

The course will familiarise you with the council’s recruitment guide and you will explore essential and additional criteria for posts, options regarding advert content and where adverts are placed, how to identify appropriate selection processes to use alongside the recruitment interview, shortlisting, preparing for interviews and other assessment tools, how to make fair and unbiased recruitment decisions, giving feedback and the steps you need to take to induct a new starter through to probation.

Please ensure that you have completed the Recruitment Onboarding and Induction e-module before attending this course.

Please log onto the Enable website and visit Learning > Available Learning. The Recruitment Onboarding and Induction e-learning is within the Management & Leadership section.


The day itself will consist of some group discussions and self reflection time to aid your learning. As this course covers South Gloucestershire processes it is for internal staff only.

This course is for first line and middle managers only.

If you are unable to attend Team’s meetings due to a disability we will provide you with a face-to-face induction. If you need this please email HRlearningandDevelopment@southglos.gov.uk.

It sets out the foundations of knowledge and skills needed for development within a management role, and enables managers to identify further training and development needs. The programme consists of 5.5 days over a six month period with ten hours of self-directed learning. It will be delivered through a blended solution including face to face and online training, psychometric assessment, 360 review, action learning sets, individual coaching, individual reflection, skills practice and e-learning. The topics included are personal development as a manager, leadership and communication, developing individuals and teams, managing employee performance, decision making and managing change, resources and stakeholder relationships. This six month First Line Management Programme provides participants the opportunity to go through the following topics with a cohort of council peers, rather than as standalone training days. The benefit of this can be enhanced networks and greater learning as reflection and improvement is an integrated part of the programme. Participants also benefit from a 360-degree feedback to inform their development and a MBTI psychometric profile.

Please note there is a charge to attend this course for external delegates of £900. South Gloucestershire Council employees individuals teams will be recharged £200 to cover costs.

New booking website launch - We will be hosting courses on the new Learning and Development Hub from 1st July 2025 which you’ll be able to access at: www.southglos.gov.uk/learning once we switch over to the new site. If you have an existing booking on a course, we will transfer your booking. You will receive details of how to login when the site is live as well as a course booking confirmation email once your booking has been transferred.

Charges: If a charge applies to the course you are booked onto, we will contact you separately to arrange payment.

Support we will be offering: We have designed the Hub to be an intuitive system we hope will be easy to use. There will be a Frequently Asked Questions page which will provide guidance and further information to help you navigate the new website.

What you need to do: If you require a copy of your training record, please log in to the existing learning and development website and visit the My Account – My Learning Events page as access to this will be removed in July.

Please send any questions or comments you may have to: training@southglos.gov.uk.

Core Skills 6: This is a training course for Foster Carers and Adopters that will build on your knowledge and understanding of attachment. Training includes:- Introduction to attachment theory, its significance in normal infant development The impact of attachment experiences on brain development The impact of trauma on child development Different attachment styles The meaning behind children's behavior, understanding and responding to complex emotions and behaviours such as the need to be in control, pervasive shame and extreme anger Interventions in managing family atmosphere The impact of children's behaviour on parents and carers. Looking after yourself and your emotions. This course will help you to understand, survive and facilitate change in the behaviours of the children you care for.

Please note: By booking onto this course, you are consenting to your contact details being passed onto the trainer. This is so they can send the Zoom invitation to you.