General

This half day course aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed for anti-oppressive social work practice. They will gain an understanding of key concepts related to anti-racism and anti-discrimination, recognise the effects of systemic inequalities, and apply relevant legal and ethical frameworks. Participants will also develop practical strategies to challenge bias, foster inclusive practices, and engage in continuous self-reflection to support equitable and just service delivery.

Sundowning, or late-day confusion, is a common phenomenon affecting individuals with dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease. As daylight fades, those experiencing sundowning may become increasingly confused, agitated, or restless. This shift in behaviour can be distressing for both the individual and their caregivers. Although the exact cause remains uncertain, research suggests several contributing factors, including disrupted circadian rhythms, sensory overload, physical exhaustion, and environmental changes. Understanding sundowning is crucial for Social Workers, CareStaff and family members as it can significantly impact quality of life and care strategies. This presentation will explore the science behind sundowning, its symptoms, causes, and practical techniques to manage and alleviate its effects. Delegates will gain valuable insights into how structured routines, calming environments, and professional interventions can help improve outcomes for individuals affected by this condition.

This Assessment & Analysis Training course aims to develop practitioner’s knowledge and understanding of assessment and analysis and the importance of multi-agency working. This course uses Morrison’s reflective model of experiential supervision to develop practitioner skills in undertaking assessments in a variety of settings. This model is currently used across adult and childcare services, health provision, and education. The course considers the need for assessment including relevant underpinning legislation, theories, models and methods of assessment for multi-agency settings. It will include areas such as who is being assessed, what is the purpose and how will the assessment be used in planning around children’s needs. Safeguarding and equality and diversity are key themes that exist throughout course and any issues in relation to safe practice will be addressed during the course and by post course consultation if required This course content may change dependent on the knowledge, skills and requirements of the group. All areas will be addressed but additional information may be included if necessary. This will be negotiated with the group. This course is designed to enhance learning on a number of levels including cognitive processing and connecting with emotions, emotional intelligence and critical thinking

To raise awareness of LGBTQ and how this is relevant to your work setting

By completing this course it will enable you to support any LGBTQ+ individual within your services more effectively. We'll explore the concepts of Sex, Gender and Attraction and why these are essential in understanding the experiences of the LGBTQ+ communities. This course will cover the different areas of LGBTQ+, its history and discrimination as well as talking about stereotyping and heterosexual normality. During the session, you will be given a safe space to ask those questions that you may not want to ask in fear of getting it wrong or offending someone. The course also covers person-centred care planning and how to ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals are supported effectively

The purpose of one day session is to introduce participants to the concept of neurodiversity, what that means for our practice and how we can make our services more accessible and our interaction with neurodiverse customers more engaging and productive. The course will include information on areas such as Autism, Autistic Spectrum Disorder (Including Asperger’s Syndrome), ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia amongst others and will allow discussion on what these conditions mean for those experiencing them, but also what we can do to engage with and be more engaging for our neurodiverse customers/clients

In this session we will be exploring what intersectionality is, some of the key concepts and principles and what we can do to take an intersectional approach when working with people

This Life Story Work training programme equips participants with a clear understanding of what Life Story Work is and its importance in supporting a child to understand their history, develop a sense of identity and emotional literacy. It emphasises keeping the child’s story central in all work, recognising the roles of the wider team, and working collaboratively with families to build a shared narrative. The training explores common barriers, introduces practical tools for building trust and safety, and guides participants in using creative methods to share a child’s story. It also covers the purpose of life story books and later life letters, and highlights resources and support available for ongoing practice.

Motivational Interviewing has its origins in the alcohol field in the 1980’s and is one of the best validated and widely used of all psychosocial interventions for alcohol use problems (Miller & Rose, 2009). Dr William Miller observed practice where people accessing treatment and support were often subject to authoritarian and confrontational approaches which resulted in people feeling let down by treatment. Consequently, he developed MI alongside Stephen Rollnick. MI uses a conversational approach which works with people’s motivations to grow and change. The MI practitioner on this 2-day Motivational Interviewing Training course is trained to use a guiding style to empower the service user to consider both their internal motivations for change and grow as well as the impact of external factors (family, friends, society and media). The service user benefits from this approach through being placed in control of their decision making as the expert of their situation. There is a strong focus on the practitioner and service user working in partnership in moving towards change and growth.

The session aims to support practitioners to undertake a good quality, analytical, evidence-based assessment to inform the decision making and care planning for children, young people and their family. It covers the theory, principles and value base that underpins best practice in assessment and care planning, including SMART outcome focused objective setting.

The focus of this course is to explore racism and discrimination and its impact on black and minority ethnic children and families. This interactive course will inform and assist practitioners to work in a culturally sensitive way, ensuring that stereotyping and prejudice do not affect safe practice.

This one day course is to help participants understand different types of behaviour and how to use these in a positive way

Taking a neurobiological view – how do we work with Trauma within our perspective roles?

Having to communicate directly with children and young people as a social care worker requires a specific and important skill set. This course sets out to guide the social worker to understand the relevant process and dynamics involved and develop reflective and reflexive skills to enable them to master the art of difficult conversations.

This course will provide children's social care staff with the ability to increase their knowledge of child and adolescent development

This course aims to provide an introduction to contemporary attachment theory in the context of other theories. The focus will be on enabling participants to use this knowledge to inform their understanding of parent/child interactions and formulate effective interventions.

This interactive one-day course will enable delegates to develop their knowledge and confidence in working with resistant parents and carers to improve the welfare and outcomes for children and young people. This course will develop skills in identifying disguised compliance, why families are resistant, how to identify and evidence this in assessments and understand what they can do to move things forward.