‘Children Act 1989 and Children’s Services Overview’ Tom Owens

A foundation course giving a systematic overview of this major piece of legislation, which underpins both public and private law relating to children and young people in England and Wales.

There is also a full explanation of the structures and practice arrangements of Children’s Services Departments post Children Act 2004.

‘Conducting Child Protection Investigations (S47 Children Act 1989)’ Tom Owens

A review and re-statement of good practice in this key area of work highlighted in many serious case reviews of recent years. The course looks at the legal framework, thresholds for intervention, and the demands and complexities of the investigative role.

‘Court Skills for Children’s Services’ (1) and (2) Gillian Geddes

This two day course is delivered by a Family Law Barrister and is designed specifically for social workers in Children’s Services undertaking statutory child care work. The course will provide a thorough grounding for those preparing to undertake work in the Court arena, or for more experienced practitioners the chance to further develop their skills.

‘Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Minors’ Gillian Geddes

A Family Law and Immigration Barrister outlines the legal and practice framework in this often complex area of practice. The course also deals with age assessments and child trafficking.

‘Adoption – A Legal and Practice Overview’ Gillian Geddes and Sheila Draper

A Family Law Barrister and a senior social work practitioner look at the Adoption process, from Care Proceedings, through matching with adopters, to placement.

‘Working Together in Child Protection (1) and (2)’ Mary Jacob or Tom Owens

This two day course offers social workers the opportunity to develop their knowledge and competence in child protection and safeguarding practice. Participants will work through a series of case studies, update their theoretical base and examine the complex issues associated with child protection and safeguarding work.

‘Child Development, Assessment and Planning’ Mary Jacob

This course offers the opportunity to understand the relationship between child development and making good assessments and plans. This course will examine some of the most important theories of child development and how to use these practically in initial and core assessments, Court reports, s47 investigations and child protection/child in need planning.

‘Lessons from Serious Case Reviews in Child Protection’ Mary Jacob or Tom Owens

This course is an in-depth review of serious case reviews that have taken place in the last 10 years. We focus on the lessons from these reviews so that participants can identify how to achieve better outcomes in child protection cases.

‘Working with Difficult to Engage Families’ Mary Jacob or Tom Owens

This course looks at the reasons that families are difficult to engage and how lack of engagement affects assessments. Most importantly it aims to equip participants with a range of strategies for working with and responding to these behaviours.

‘Understanding and Responding to Child Sexual Abuse’ Tom Owens

This course examines the nature and prevalence of child sexual abuse and goes on to consider perpetrator methods and behaviours. The impact of sexual abuse for the child and their family is considered, and the policies, procedures and legal frameworks are outlined.

‘Understanding Childhood Trauma’ Mary Jacob

Understanding the child’s right to be heard, and developing skills for effective communication and listening

‘An Introduction to Autistic Spectrum Disorders’ Juliette Merrett

An overview of autistic spectrum disorders in both children and adults, including the incidence of these disorders and methods of diagnosis. The course goes on to consider the assessment of need and care planning, with a specific focus on the role of the social care professional.

‘Family Group Conferences – In Practice’ Janette Tompkins

A review of how this key tool in care planning is moving forward, including a growing role in the Court process. The origins of the FGC movement are outlined, and there is a clear exposition of the model of empowering families to devise and carry out children’s plans in partnership with statutory services.

‘Joint Working Between Adult Mental Health Services and Children’s Services’ Keith Revoir

A large proportion of referrals to Children’s Services arise from mental health problems experienced by parents. The course examines the legal and practice frameworks of both services, and how to promote better understanding and effective joint working between the services.

‘Listening and Communicating with Children and Young People’ Chrissie Anderson or Peter Sadler

Serious case reviews in recent years have noted an increasing emphasis on process and procedure in statutory child care. This has meant less time spent listening and communicating with the children and young people we work with. The course aims to help redress this imbalance and enable professionals to review the skills for effective listening and communication.

‘Assessing Potential Foster Carers – An Introduction to the F Form Process’ Chrissie Anderson

The course examines this comprehensive process from initial enquiry, through assessment to the decision on approval as foster carers, and post approval support.

‘The Skills to Foster’ Chrissie Anderson and Peter Sadler

‘Achieving Best Evidence (ABE)’ Helen Thomas

This five day foundation training is designed to equip practitioners with the skills necessary to interview children and vulnerable adults in a format which will be acceptable in the criminal justice system. ABE is an assessed course.

‘Strengths Based Social Work Practice’ Lori Goossen

This course aims to provide social workers with the knowledge and skills required to work with clients from a strengths based perspective.

‘An Overview of Substance Misuse’ Cliff Hoyle

This introductory course considers the range of substances, the legal framework, and the interface between 'substance misuse' on parenting, mental health and offending.