Search for Learning and Development Services and Pathways

The Purpose for the support groups

Mavis Mukambirwa will be giving a presentation during this session on '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).

Venue: Kingswood Centre, Room 28 

Please note you have to do this training programme in order.

For SGC staff only:
Additional learning resources here: Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty (Sway resource)
Request to shadow a MCA assessment here: Peer Shadowing Network Yammer Group

South Gloucestershire Council has launched a new interactive training programme that gives Health and Social Care Workers the skills, knowledge, confidence and practice to apply and comply with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The programme is made up of interactive learning workshops. The new skills and knowledge gained from the workshops are then applied in the workplace.

The programme is designed for Care Provider managers, Social Worker and Occupational Therapy staff and managers, nurses and all other professionals working in health and social care.


The standard charge for this course is £49. Please refer to our Course Charges on the Home page for information on discounts and exemptions.

This will be delivered via Zoom and hosted by Suzanne Pearson. 

Please join the meeting prior to the 9.30 start, so you have time to check that the technology is working.

A community based course to increase awareness and challenge stigma about mental health that participants can draw upon in their day-to-day lives and work.

The views of people with ‘lived’ experience of emotional or mental health issues are central to informing the course content as well as up to date research evidence. 

The course is suitable for anyone including staff and volunteers from a variety of settings working with Adults, and/or Children and Families, who wish to learn more about mental health. It consists of a mixture of factual presentation, small group work and large group discussion within agreed ground rules of confidentiality and respecting each other’s points of view. There are extensive handouts available

The trainer Suzanne Pearson is a Registered Mental Health Nurse and CBT therapist with experience of working in the NHS and voluntary sector. She is a qualified adult trainer with extensive experience of delivering high quality mental health training to a range of participants and organisations. She is a Mental Health First Aid instructor (Standard and Youth courses) and an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills (ASIST) trainer.

COSTS: £49

This 3-day practical, practice focused workshop will introduce attendees to key systemic practice ideas, skills and techniques which we can all use in our day-to-day work with children and families. Each day will provide attendees with some systemic theory with practical examples of how these ideas can then be used with children, young adults and families.

This course will be an opportunity to meet practitioners from different parts of the service, learning together and trying and experimenting with new ideas and approaches.

Day 1 – What goes on in families?
Day 2 – How we work with families?
Day 3 – Working with risks and networks

Who is this course for? This course is open to all staff who work either with or supervise practitioners who work directly with children, young adults or families. No previous experience of systemic practice ideas or theories is required – but you are of course most welcome if you have accessed systemic training in the past.

This course sits alongside and compliments the STAR programme and is a key component of our practice model.

Gender and sexuality are two of the most powerful organising principles in our society and as such require exploring and understanding in an empowering and informative way. This training is developed by Freedom, OTR’s LGBTQ+ youth service. Freedom celebrated its 25th year of existence in 2020 and is the longest-running LGBTQ+ youth group in the UK.

This workshop is for people that work with 5–11-year-olds. This session provides awareness of symptoms and strategies to support 5–11-year-olds with anxiety. This will be delivered by local Primary Mental Health Specialists with many years of experience in children and young people mental health.

To improve professional confidence of social care practitioners in Managing Challenging Conversations & Conflict Training to assist in successfully employing professional curiosity in a social care context.

Charges apply for non-South Glos Council staff
Cost: £103.50

PLEASE NOTE: This course is for internal Adult Social Care staff only.

Reflective Practice in Supervision. A two workshop programme for supervisors.

This programme is for Senior Practitioner OT’s and Social Workers and Managers who provide supervision. It will support you in your Supervisor role whether you are a new or experienced Senior Practitioner or manager.

Aim of the Programme and context

Research and practice demonstrate that Social Workers and Occupational Therapists must have access to regular, good quality supervision; it is an importance element to achieving effective practice, providing advice and support as well as promoting professional resilience and wellbeing. Regular supervision is essential to achieve a high-quality service (DoH 2015, BASW 2013, COT 2015) and this is endorsed and supported by the relevant professional bodies and managers in the Department for People. (South Gloucestershire Supervision in Adult Social Care Policy 2021).

This duet of workshops has been developed for supervisors who want to revisit and develop their skills, knowledge and application of reflective supervision as an effective means to meet organisational, professional and individual objectives.

The course consists of two half-day workshops held in person over a two-month period to give participants an opportunity to apply their learning. The workshops will be for a closed group of twelve people, the group size maximising the opportunity to participate; each workshop combines inputs from the facilitator with interactive exercises that promote reflection and application using examples of supervision practice provided by the learning group.

To make the most of this learning opportunity, participants will be expected to read the agency policy prior to the first workshop and between workshops complete short tasks to encourage the application of ideas and theory to their current supervisory experiences. Participants will be provided with material electronically, after each workshop to complement and reinforce messages from the sessions.

Course content is informed by the Knowledge and Skills Statement for Practice Supervisors (DOE 2015), Post-qualifying Standards for Social Work Practice supervisors in Adult Social Care(DHSC 2018) the Professional Capabilities Framework (SWRB2012), Employer Standards (particularly Standard 5) all of which promote the principle that staff should receive quality supervision that provides opportunities for challenge and reflective learning; this will enable them to sustain standards of professionalism, competence, credibility and currency.

Better Understanding of Young Asylum Seekers and Refugees
The Training will be provided by members of 1625 independent peoples Asylum and Refugee Intensive support team who have been providing support for young asylum seekers for over 8 years commissioned by Bristol and South Glos Social services and have provided support for a number of young people in fostering placements. We recently provided training to 80 Social workers as well as working with a Team from the Children’s Commissioners around good practice for accommodation providers.

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.