Social Worker Training
We offer Social Worker training in a variety of ways; through formal conferences and by giving talks at Team Meetings and staff training.
Content includes ensuring Social Workers are fully aware of changes to school approaches so that they can discharge their duties regarding education; how to complete effective ePEPs which drive forward attainment; updates on research into best practice around the achievement of CiC and details on interventions offered by the Virtual School.
We invite Guest Speakers to give insights into different aspects of the education of CIC.
The role of the Foster Carer and Supervising Social Worker in Supporting and promoting the education of
children looked after in Key Stages 1 and 2
Supporting the education of the children in their care, special guardianship and adoptive parents is a key
function of carers. It requires understanding and skills beyond those needed by parents in the everyday
help they provide to their birth children because of the additional needs of children looked after and
previously looked after.
The course will include,
- Thinking about what education actually is
- Educational Outcomes for Children Looked After
- The role of the foster carer and what research tells us about that role
- How attachment trauma impacts on education and what you can do to mitigate the impact
- Practical strategies for supporting home learning
- The carer’s role in making the Personal Education Plan effective
- Supporting attendance and decreasing exclusion
- Special educational needs
- Transition from Nursery to Reception and Year 6 to Year 7
- The importance of extra-curricular activities
The role of the Foster Carer and Supervising Social Worker in Supporting and promoting the education of
children looked after and previously looked after at Key Stages 4 and 5
Supporting the education of the children in their care is a key function of foster carers and adoptive
parents. It requires understanding and skills beyond those needed by parents in the everyday help they
provide to their birth children because of the additional needs of children looked after.
The course will include,
- Thinking about what education actually is
- Educational Outcomes for Children Looked After
- The role of the foster carer and what research tells us about that role
- How attachment trauma impacts on education and what you can do to mitigate the impact
- Practical strategies for supporting home learning
- The carer’s role in making the Personal Education Plan effective
- Supporting attendance and decreasing exclusion
- Special educational needs
- Transition from Key Stage 4 to 5 and beyond
- The importance of extra-curricular activities
Managing Challenging Behaviour- Foster Carers, Supervising Social Workers, Special Guardians and
Adoptive Parents
As a foster carer, adoptive parent or special guardian – as for any parent or carer, from time to time, you
may need to manage your child or young person’s challenging behaviour. This course will help you to
better understand possible causes for this behaviour and how best to manage behaviour in a safe, positive
and effective way. This course will also explore how you can best work with the other professionals who
work with your child in order to ensure the best educational outcomes for your child.
- To understand the role of the Virtual School
- To better understand their role as a Foster Carer or adoptive parent, particularly in relation to
- supporting their child to manage and regulate their behaviour
- To be better able to enforce clear and consistent boundaries in order to manage their child’s behaviour
- To feel equipped to keep their child safe online.
- To feel equipped to ensure the wellbeing of their child and themselves.
Supporting the education of your looked after children - training for social workers, personal advisors and
independent reviewing officers
This course will be both informative and participatory, and aims to share good practice.
The course will create discussion on ways in which we can fulfil our statutory duties and what we learn
from research and statistical data on educational outcomes. It will support participants in the variety of
educational placements there are, their different functions, the different educational pathways they offer,
key staff and what they are bound to offer our children and young people.
The course aims to equip social workers with the tools necessary to be able to interrogate schools as to
whether a child is attaining in accordance with national expectations, their own starting point and whether
they are making adequate progress. In addition, by acquainting social workers with the strategies schools
can and should use to support our CLA, they will be better able to advocate for our children.
There will be time spent on the effective use of the Personal Education Plan so that PEPs are working
documents, targets are SMART and monitored and lead to better outcomes.
It is important that those with responsibility for our children and young people in care understand the
ways in which SEN works, especially when seeking an EHCP.
The course will cover how to source educational provision, including for children with an EHCP and how to
support children