Training

Bespoke, responsive to carers needs and delivered by Local Authority and partner services such as the Police, Public Health and Education. Many of our experienced carers get involved with developing and delivering training courses too. After all, they’re the experts!

Skills to Foster

The first training you’ll take part in is Skills to Foster, the pre-approval training course. It’s a standard course that all foster carers in the UK undertake. We deliver it on a variety of days, times and venues across the three Local Authorities. We run it at least once per month.

It’s an exciting, inspiring and very in-depth course which will give you all the basics you need to know about becoming a registered foster carer. You’ll learn all about things such as why children may come into care, the legal process, caring for children safely, record keeping, and how we support you in your role. You’ll take part in some informal discussions and activities with other prospective foster carers that will really get you thinking!

Don’t worry, there are no right or wrong answers, there are no tests and you certainly don’t need to remember every single thing. It’s all about learning the basics and reflecting on your own understanding of the role.

The course is equivalent of 3 days training, but may be delivered as 6 evenings, or during weekends on some occasions for example, to make it as accessible as possible for everyone hoping to become a foster carer. As we’re now working together, you can also attend Skills to Foster in any of the three LAs, and still be assessed and approved by your home Local Authority.

Mandatory Training

There are a number of training courses that all foster carers need to complete, either during their assessment, or within their first year of fostering. They are all 1-2 day courses, held in venues local to you. The mandatory courses vary slightly in each LA, but include things such as:

• Safeguarding
• Safe care
• Record keeping
• Supporting children in education
• Being healthy
• Understanding behaviour

Additional and specialist training

In addition to our mandatory training, we run a full calendar of specialist training, that you can undertake as you wish to, to help build your skills and experience. These include things such as autism awareness, paediatric first aid, ADHD, attachment, self-harm, or moving children on to adoption for example.

‘We loved Skills to Foster, it was a lot to take in but it was so informative, and great to listen to the experienced carers tell their stories. We’ve kept in contact with another couple on the course, and are looking forward to becoming foster carers at the same time as them.’

‘The course facilitator really knew her stuff, really helped me to understand my children better.’

‘The first aid course really gave me the confidence to deal with medical situations if they arise. Very well delivered.’

‘The facilitators and carers engagement was fantastic. It was in-depth and we were given the opportunity to learn from one-another. Really opened my eyes to the child’s perspective.