Early help training for practitioners

This one-day course is for professionals working with children and families in Lancashire and will support you to further develop and enhance your knowledge and skills when working with families. The course allows practitioners to consider key skills required to provide support to families in effective and strength base ways, whilst also ensuring that professional boundaries are maintained.  Some of the aspects explored throughout the day include communication skills, professional challenge, reflective practice and building resilience. The aims of the course are:

• To provide an awareness of the issues professionals may experience that can impact on working effectively with families and how to manage these
• To further develop an understanding of some key professional skills required to become a more confident practitioner when supporting children and their families

To book a place please follow the link: Key skills for working with children, young people and families in Lancashire

This is a two-day course, delivered as 2 separate days that are booked as individual sessions to allow for flexibility in attendance as we know that for many practitioners it can be a challenge to be away from regular duties for two consecutive days together. Please ensure that you book onto a 'day 1' session and a 'day 2' session when booking your place.

Over the 2 days practitioners will be supported:

• To explain the importance of strength-based practice, be able to recognise and build on protective factors when analysing support needs and addressing risk
• To know what constitutes a good quality assessment and plan
• To access resources and tools that capture the voice of the child/family and know where and how to reflect this within the assessment process.
• To develop an awareness and confidence in applying:
• Trauma Informed Approaches
• The Cycle of Change
• Motivational language
• With practical support in completing an Early Help Assessment

To see the list of available dates follow these links, remember to book both sessions when booking your place:

• Day 1 - Early Help Assessment principles and approaches
• Day 2 - Early Help Assessment principles and approaches

This is a one-day programme that will support practitioners to:

• To understand parental conflict and what the research says about its impact family functioning and outcomes for both adults and children.
• To recognise that there is a difference between domestic abuse and parental conflict.
• To feel more confident about couple relationship quality enquiry in everyday practice
• To become familiar with the with Amity Relationship Solutions toolkit and its contents
• To understand the variety of tools, pre and post programme assessment and how to use them within the context of parental conflict support
• To confidently assess, plan, implement and review parental conflict support with couples and/or individuals

To see the list of available dates and to book a place, click this link:

Relationship toolkit - reducing parental conflict

This is a one-day course that will support practitioners to:

• Understand the rationale for transforming Children’s Services in Lancashire and where change is happening
• Demonstrate familiarity with Lancashire’s threshold document ’Working Well with Children and Families’, and the updated Continuum of Need.
• Describe how thresholds are applied in practice and what factors may influence decision making

To see the list of available dates and to book a place, click this link:

Transforming Lancashire's Children's Services: thresholds and strength based approaches to practice

This half-day course is aimed at any professionals who are working with children, young people and families at an Early Help level and want more knowledge and an understanding of what Early Help in Lancashire means.

The workshop will explore what the ethos of Early Help in Lancashire is and how this can be applied to your roles in terms of affecting positive change when interacting with children, young people, and their families. It will explore the benefits of building positive worthwhile relationships with children and their families in your setting at the earliest opportunity- as well as your role in multi-agency partnership working essential to the ethos and success of Early Help.

Aims

• To develop knowledge, understanding and skills that will help you explore and better understand the ethos of Early Help in Lancashire and how this applies to you in your role Objectives
• Define 'Early Help’ and describe the benefits of this for children, families, and yourselves
• Explore approaches to working with children and their families which build positive worthwhile relationships at the earliest opportunity
• Practice the skills required to affect positive change when interacting with children, young people, and their families
• Recognise your role in multi-agency partnership working and be able to state why this is essential to the success of Early Help

To book a place please follow the link: An introduction to early help in Lancashire

This half day training is aimed at early help partners who are lead professionals as part of the Early Help Assessment process. It will support practitioners to build their confidence and skills in the role of lead professional- with a particular focus upon co-ordinating and managing team around the family (TAF) meetings.

At the end of the course participants will be able to:

• Have confidence in ensuring that there is a co-ordinated and multi-agency approach in supporting the child/ren and family in relation to the action plan.
• Ensure parents/carers and children/young people have an equal role in agreeing their goals and the actions- and their central role in meeting the needs of the child/young person is acknowledged.
• To develop delegates skills and confidence in completing the TAF paperwork.
• Understand the TAF recording and storage processes and responsibilities.
• Use their skills and gain confidence when co-ordinating, chairing and managing a TAF meeting.
• Further their understanding and skills in reviewing progress against the plan and having clear next steps including closure processes.

To book a place follow the link: Early help lead professional and TAF role and responsibility

This 3-hour workshop is aimed at any professional providing early help support to children, young people and families with particular focus on developing skills for working with teenagers and young people.

It will further increase knowledge and understanding around adolescent development and approaches to engaging effectively with young people including those with additional needs and will support practitioners to further develop their confidence and skills in capturing the voice of the young person and their lived experience. 

The aims of the course are:

• To further develop an understanding of child development in relation to teenagers and young people.
• To explore support needs and approaches to engaging and working alongside young people including those with additional needs.
• To consider how you can capture the young person's voice and how this should influence and reflect the work that you do

To book a place please follow the link: Understanding the young person's world – working with teenagers

This 3-hour workshop has been developed for professionals working with children and their families in Lancashire.  The course will support professionals to increase their awareness and understanding of the impact that Domestic Abuse has on children and young people's lives.  This includes exploring the physical, psychological and emotional effects which can be long lasting.  It will also explore the impact domestic abuse has on parenting.  Information about resources and specialist sources of support for children and their families will also be shared. 

Please note that this course has sensitive content which some people may find triggering.

The aims of the course are:

• To develop an awareness of the effects of domestic abuse on children and young people
• To develop an understanding of the long-term impacts that domestic abuse can have and how children can be supported
• To get an understanding of where you can access specialist support for children affected by domestic abuse

To book a place please follow the link: The impact of domestic abuse on children

This 3-hour workshop is aimed at any professional providing early help support to children and families. It will support practitioners to build their confidence and skills to capture the child's voice and lived experience. The aims of the workshop include:

• The importance of capturing the voice of the child
• Using resources and skills to understand a child's thoughts and feelings
• How to evidence the voice of the child in an Early Help Assessment

To see the list of available dates and to book a place, click this link:

• The voice of the child

This 3-hour workshop is aimed at any professional providing early help support to children and families. It will support practitioners to build their confidence around securing consent and maintaining engagement. The aims of the workshop include:

• Increasing understanding and the importance of gaining consent
• Approaches to gaining consent and maintaining throughout the support
• Approaches for establishing rapport and building a trusting relationship
• Using communication skills to sustain relationships
• Understanding barriers to engagement and how to manage these

To see the list of available dates and to book a place, click this link:

• Securing consent and engagement with families

This half day workshop is aimed at any professional providing early help support to children and families. It will support practitioners to build their confidence and skills to complete their professional analysis as part of the Early Help Assessment.

The aims of the workshop include:

• Developing delegates analysis and critical thinking skills to be able to use information gathered to be able to draw explicit conclusions; identify key strengths, impact and next steps.
• Using resources and skills to be able to understand information collated and be able to process this with clear outcomes.
• Develop critical thinking skills and confidently use anchor principle in practice to form clear and concise analyses as part of assessment process. Objectives

At the end of the course participants will be able to:

• Explore and utilise analysis and critical thinking skills when carrying out assessments.
• Identify 'good assessments' and share key principles of effective assessments and analysis.
• Confidently use Anchor Principles in practice.
• Reflect on current skills and identify areas for improvement in practice.

To book a place follow the link: Analysis workshop

A brief introduction to motivational interviewing (MI):

• To experience the basics of MI
• To be familiar with the fundamental spirit and principles of MI
• To be acquainted with relevant evidence of using MI
• To directly experience the MI approach - MI is a respectful stance with a focus on building rapport in the initial stages of relationships with parents and carers. It supports your ability to examine and resolve ambivalence about changing behaviour.

This introduction will help you understand the process of MI and utilise techniques and strategies that are responsive to your service user's needs.

To book a place follow the link: An introduction to motivational interviewing

Trauma is a term for a wider set of experiences or events that can happen at any time of life and includes some of the adversities in childhood known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

By attending this workshop, you will not be trauma informed but will have more awareness around trauma, explore the impact of trauma and help to develop this knowledge into practice.

Becoming a trauma informed county requires everyone to understand that different life experiences shape the options available to us and our way of being and we can use this understanding to influence our interactions and decisions in work and daily life.

This training will extend any knowledge of trauma and develop a trauma informed awareness when working with children, young people, and families.

The learning outcomes of the workshop are to:

• consider what is a trauma aware approach
• begin to explore how trauma affects our body, brain and behaviours
• be able to recognise how trauma may present in people we work with and alongside
• consider how a trauma informed approach can impact on individuals and communities that we work and live in
• begin to consider what changes we can make to our working practice and service to be more trauma informed

To book a place please follow this link - Basic trauma awareness training

It is crucial for children with SEND that their needs are identified as early as possible. Giving them the support they require from the earliest stages, will help them achieve their full potential.

This workshop is an introduction to SEND, what it is, legal obligations, different models of disability and how to create an inclusive environment for all and create effective partnerships that will benefit children in your setting who have SEND.

The workshop is aimed at anyone involved in supporting children with SEND – this includes but is not limited to: teachers, teaching assistants, community, voluntary and charity sector, pastoral support, learning mentors, welfare staff and others.

This workshop aims to give practitioners supporting children and families with SEND, a basic understanding of how to best support them, how to ensure their environment is psychologically safe and their responsibilities towards the SEND child and family.

 The learning outcomes of the workshop are to: 

• identify key legislation and guidance for supporting children and families with SEND
• explore what is meant by a 'graduated approach' and know how this supports early identification of SEND
• know how to create SEND safe environments
• identify, and signpost to, external support networks and resources

To book a place please follow this link - SEND awareness for non SENCOs

Before attending the Virtual Reality Attachment and Trauma Training you must have completed Basic Trauma Awareness training.

The immersive nature of Antser’s Virtual Reality (VR) programme allows the user to experience the impact of trauma, abuse, and neglect through the eyes of the child. It is designed to enhance the practitioners understanding of a child’s emotions, trauma, and potential triggers to improve the care, support, and guidance they provide. This unique development opportunity is designed to build upon previous attachment and trauma knowledge and training.

This is multi agency training for organisations and agencies that work with children, young people, and families. Schools/nurseries are invited to request the training specific for your staff. To find out more e-mail: virtualreality-traumatraining@lancashire.gov.uk 

Please include: • School/nursery name and address. • How many staff would require training. • When you would like the training

To book a place please follow this link - Virtual Reality Attachment and Trauma Training