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The Purpose for the support groups

Jakie Dyer will be giving a presentation during this session on 'Chronic Sorrow'.

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 Virtual School value the time they spend with carers, and to enable this to be an even more successful partnership between school and home, have arranged four sessions to take place over the school year.

This fourth session is a being held as a twilight 'Drop in'.  There is no specific focus for this session, rather it is a means for you to have access to the Virtual School and to raise any questions/concerns that you may have.  Equally if there are any Virtual School updates or developments, these will be shared with you at this session.

Do you have the technical knowledge to help manage young people’s phone’s, this includes app’s and practical know how on changing settings in phones etc? 

The premise is to help you keep young people safe while they use their phone.

Felix Lester of Avon and Sommerset Police will offer hints and tips on how to manage a young person phone

This is a 3 hr workshop to explore direct work skills that can be used when working with young people.

The focus of these sessions will be to give awareness of Therapeutic life story work as well as general life story work which can help children understand their life story and promote their identity and attachments.

The workshop will be facilitated by Rhian Phillips and Grace Beckett who will use principles from Richard Rose’s Therapeutic Life Story Work Diploma.

This course will provide an introduction to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) for staff in front-line caring roles.

The course gives many practical examples of how we apply the principles of the MCA in our day-to-day work and how this links to our practice values. It outlines the legal knowledge needed to understand when the MCA applies or does not. Your responsibilities for seeking advice and support to take formal steps will also be addressed.

Richard Newall (Detective Sergeant, Child Protection Team, Avon and Somerset Police) will host this online workshop.

Please take some time in advance to have a think about any questions you might want to ask Richard on the day.

Click here to join the meeting

Eligibility: This course is intended for Social Workers who fulfil specific eligibility requirements.

This course is tailored for Social Workers who have been post-qualified for at least two years and have confirmation that they are working at the Experienced level of the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF). Participants must also have approval to provide a placement within their team.

This introductory session will guide you through the initial process of setting up a placement. You will learn about the matching process with a Social Work learner and be guided through completing a Placement Opportunity Form. The session will clarify your role in this process and the role of the Practice Education Lead.

We will cover the entire 'placement journey' from start to completion, ensuring you are aware of diary commitments and the need to begin your induction planning. Additionally, the session will provide an opportunity to connect with fellow trainees.


Click here to join the meeting

Please click here to view and download the course handouts

Please have a digital copy (or print if you prefer) of the course WORKBOOK to bring along to the session. (All other resources are available for digital download and storage via the same link should you wish to use them during or after the event)

Also, please be aware that some of the resources contain sensitive content, that you may find upsetting. This training aims to educate and raise awareness, but it can evoke emotional responses, particularly for individuals with personal connections to child or adult bereavements, or the incidents themselves.

If you find the content overwhelming, we encourage you to prioritise your well-being. Take breaks, reflect on your boundaries, and seek support from trusted individuals or professionals as needed. For assistance during or after the training, please reach out to the trainer or your line manager in the first instance, contact Interchange the staff counselling service, or you can also access Thrive.

We are committed to creating an inclusive learning environment and promoting empathy and respect for all.

The training is organised by South Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership and is targeted at all staff from all agencies who are working directly with children, or adults who are parents. Effective child protection depends not only on reliable and accepted procedures for all staff involved with children, but also on their skills, knowledge and judgement and the ability to work together co-operatively. Staff with lead roles in child protection require specialised training in order to carry out their work with abused children and families. Please note it is recommended to leave a minimum of 3 months between attending Introduction to Child Protection and Advanced Child Protection.

Please DO NOT book onto the Advanced Child Protection course, unless you have attended the Introduction to Child Protection course. The knowledge needed for this course is dependent on you having attended the previous session. Thank you.

This session is aimed at both Adult and Childrens Social Care. It is about making everyone aware of Young Carers, in particular the Young Carers Protocol, and trying to ensure that they do not remain hidden, but are made visible and receive the help and support that they require and are entitled to. This session is led by three very experienced trainers;

Kay, one of our young ambassadors who was and still is a carer to two family members,
Joss, who is the Young Carers Service manager for the Carers Support Centre
Kathryn, a social worker in our Connected Care Team, who carers deeply about raising awareness around young carers.

They have put together a session that looks at:

• Myth Busting
• Young Carers Protocol
• Young carers - who are they?
• Young carers roles
• The positive and negative impact on young carers/parents
• What is 'No Wrong Doors' and why it is needed
• Identifying hidden young carers
• What caring tasks are inappropriate or excessive
• Assessment, guidance and monitoring
• Support for young carers
• Young Carers Charter
• All documents and resources relating to Young Carers can be accessed through this link:  Young Carers Resources

Please click here to view and download the course handouts.

This training is organised by South Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership and is targeted at all staff from all agencies who are working directly with children, or adults who are parents.

This training session will cover: The laws and policies that relate to safeguarding children and YP What we mean by safeguarding and how some children can be harmed What signs to look out for How ACE's impact families and children Local and inter-agency procedures that are in place The role of early help Appropriate information sharing Responding to allegations

Requirements for training via Zoom:

• Participants must be provided with protected time, in an environment free from all work-related duties and distractions to successfuly complete the training
• Participants require access to a camera and microphone to be able to fully engage in the session
• On the day of training, should the above requirements not be possible, participants should rebook for a different date when they are able to meet the requirements, failure to full engage in the session may result in non-issue of certificate and a request to repeat the training session.