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Working with Asylum Seekers and Refugees:  A 5-part course for Foster Carers, Social Workers and Teachers.

These 5 sessions will be spread out throughout 2019 from March until November.  They are being faciliated by Nese Davidson-Birch & Alison Clarkson Webb From Tamarisk Training.

Do you come into contact with refugees and asylum seekers in your work context, and struggle to know how best to help?
Are you caring for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people and want to follow best practice?
Are you confused by the rhetoric surrounding migraton and want to know some facts?
Are you concerned that your clients are getting lost in the maze of the UK asylum system?

This course may be what you are looking for.

About the Course:

We will start by exploring what it feels like to operate outside of your own culture, and to lose all that is familiar to you. From a positon of empathy we will then look at some fundamental ways in which cultures di?er from each other, which may give us insights into the behaviour of our clients. We will consider the bigger picture of global migraton to try to understand why refugees and asylum seekers might end up in South Gloucestershire, and what they may have experienced on their journeys. We will then zoom in to the details of the UK asylum system and how it works (or doesn’t work) both for adults and for children. We will map service provision for refugees in our area and how we can e?ectively signpost our clients. We will gather as a mult-disciplinary learning community to dialogue and learn together through a variety of simulations, games, discussions, case studies and other actvites on this highly interactive course.

About Us Tamarisk Training design and facilitate bespoke training events to promote intercultural awareness and understanding of issues facing asylum seekers and refugees. Nese Davidson-Birch and Alison Clarkson Webb have been running training together since 2016. Please find out more about us at www.tamarisktraining.co.uk Attendence is expected at each session, as the days will build on the previous one.

The sessions will run in the following order:

1. Culture Shock - 20th March
2. Hot and Cold Cultures - 22nd May
3. A Refugee's Journey - 10th July
4. The UK Asylum System - 18th September
5. Unaccompanied Children - 6th November

4 day course for prospective social work practice educators. Open to registered social workers with at least 2 years post qualifying experience who have agreed to take a student in the next six months. Please discuss with Sian Smith before enrolling. Cost £300. South Glos, Bristol and N. Somerset free of charge.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are negative experiences in early life and childhood that can have an impact on health and wellbeing throughout life.
South Gloucestershire is committed to developing a co-ordinated and consistent ACE-informed approach, with a focus on recognition, prevention and early intervention and the cultural change that may be needed to support that. An ACE-informed approach is moving away from asking ‘what is wrong with you’ to asking ‘what happened to you’. It is more than just knowing about ACEs; it is using that knowledge to work together to:
- Prevent ACEs in future generations, including breaking the cycle within families
- Recognise the signs and symptoms of ACEs to enable appropriate early intervention to build resilience
- Recognise the impacts of ACEs already experienced in children and adults and help them to receive support
- Support and build resilience in communities, families and children who are at risk of exposure to ACEs

The ACE Ambassador Network includes professionals from across public sector agencies, VCSE organisations and communities, and experts by experience. As well as delivering ACE-awareness raising sessions, the network offers opportunities to share updates and best practice and to build professional relationships and support. We hope that this network will be the mechanism by which cultural change will occur.

This half day training session is for participants who have signed up to be ACE Ambassadors from a variety of settings and backgrounds. Participants will already have basic awareness of ACEs and their impacts across the life course. This session is aimed at managers or staff in any sector who work with adults or children and would like to know more about how to facilitate the culture change needed to become ACE-informed. This half-day course is FREE of charge. If you would like to find out more about joining the network but are unable to deliver training, please contact aces@southglos.gov.uk

Participants should have been identified within their organisations as ACE Ambassadors and have notified aces@southglos.gov.uk of their interest in the role prior to attending.

This one day training course is organised by South Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Board Training Group 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 Inter Agency Child Protection and Advanced Inter Agency Child Protection.

This course is for South Glos Council INTEGRATED CHILDREN'S SERVICES Staff only. Investigating any safeguarding issue is the classic search for the truth, and building evidence is essential. Some people have hidden agendas and mislead, some people construct lies to avoid scrutiny. How then do we teach staff to identify and capture lies? What strategies do we have to challenge lying behaviour and also maintain working relationships?

This one day training course is organised by South Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Board Training Group 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 Inter Agency Child Protection and Advanced Inter Agency Child Protection.

Overweight children are more likely to have poorer mental and emotional health, with many experiencing teasing and bullying linked to their weight. They may have low self-esteem, be socially isolated and be regularly absent from school. They are also more likely to become obese adults with a higher risk of chronic ill health, disability and premature mortality.

Professionals & practitioners in health, education and social care have a professional responsibility to help families recognise and acknowledge the importance of a healthy weight.

Like many sensitive subjects, it is often the way in which the issue is talked about rather than the issue itself that causes problems for both practitioner and family. The stigma attached to obesity makes it harder for practitioners and families to talk openly and constructively about it.
A key first step in supporting families to make lifestyle changes is initiating a conversation. This course aims to build confidence in raising the issue of weight with parents and carers and how to support them to take steps towards positive action.

This training is for people who will be using the Signs of Safety approach in their day-to-day work with children, young people and their families or carers. It is also relevant for people who will be supervising others who are using the approach. The two day Signs of Safety Introduction training is provided by accredited external trainers and places are limited. Key Integrated Children's Services staff to attend are those who chair key meetings and who undertake statutory assessments gathering information from other agencies and where the outcome has a considerable impact on the life of a child/family.
Course Duration: Two days
Course Aims: This training provides practitioners and managers with the skills and knowledge to be able to start to use the Signs of Safety approach in their practice.

Well-being and resilience are developed in the context of both our internal sense of self and the external context we find ourselves in. When we work in jobs which involve us in engaging with people who are experiencing emotional and psychological trauma, this will inevitably have an impact on our own resilience and well-being. 

Developing well-being and resilience is more than just a set of tools or strategies. It is a holistic approach to life and work, based in our values and beliefs, which integrates daily practices to support ourselves in the challenging work we have chosen to do.

This workshop has been developed to provide a space for you to reflect and share with colleagues. In recent years an extensive evidence base has begun to emerge demonstrating the important beneficial effects on mental health of engaging with our natural environment. The venue for this workshop has been chosen specifically because of the proximity to one of the city’s beautiful green spaces. Except in the case of extremely bad weather part of this workshop will be conducted outdoors amongst the trees and green spaces of the Oldbury Court Estate.

About Penny:

Penny has worked for over twenty five years in a child-care social work context. She continues to be involved in this sector providing individual and group supervision, practice education for student social workers and professional and personal development sessions. She also works with a group of like-minded professionals from a variety of backgrounds, to develop workshops and exercises which harness the natural environment as a source of emotional and psychological nourishment for those who work in frontline services.

PLEASE NOTE:

· Please wear outdoor clothes and bring a waterproof jacket and/or umbrella, as we will be spending some time in the park.

· Please can you bring a packed lunch. If the weather allows we will picnic in the park. There is a café at the Vassall Centre where you can order sandwiches in the morning to be picked up.

Child Protection Update Effective child protection depends not only on reliable and accepted procedures for all staff involved with children, but also on their skills, knowledge and judgment 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.