Training & events programme

OPEN TO ALL
The Permanently Progressing study has been looking at the lives of all 1,836 children who became looked after (either at or away from home) in Scotland in 2012-2013 when they were aged five and under. In this seminar, the research team will explore key findings and what these mean for decision makers, policy makers, professionals who have important roles in children’s lives (including teachers and social workers), and children and their families.

In the year ending March 23, according to the Department of Education data, there were 7290 unaccompanied-asylum seeking children and young people in care. We know there are more who are illegally placed in hotels or incorrectly age-assessed as adults. Many of these children and young people are vulnerable and experiencing discrimination. In this open course, we will explore their legal rights, think about their needs, how these can best be met and with what support.

This course is aimed at social care professionals who are engaged in the assessment of prospective adoptive parents, foster carers and kinship carers and who wish to increase their awareness and confidence in considering gender issues in assessment, analysis and decision making. 

This half day course is aimed at professionals who work with children and families who may benefit from a therapeutic intervention and would like to increase their understanding of different therapeutic approaches. Foster carers, kinship carers and adoptive parents who are considering different options for therapeutic support may also benefit from this training.

Cultural competence involves ensuring our attitudes, communication and behaviours recognise and respect cultural differences. As social workers, in whatever our role, it’s essential we are continually working towards cultural competence in our practice. In this open course, you will be supported to explore some of the key concepts within cultural competence and anti-oppressive practice, and then apply this learning to your practice. It will include exploration of how personal and professional identities can impact on the decisions we make in our professional roles.

This course is an opportunity to explore the legal and practice framework of private fostering, including thinking about how to identify and work with this often unseen group of children.

This course is an opportunity to consider what we know about staying in touch from research, including what works well, the voices of those with lived experience, and aspects that may present challenges or need more support.

This course is designed to support those who have previously attended “The role of the supervising social worker in supervising and supporting foster carers” and now looking to develop their practice further.
On this course you will explore how good quality, challenging supervision can contribute to a high quality of care provided by foster and kinship carers and to establishing and maintaining effective working relationships. We will explore the balancing the potentially conflicting role of the supervising social worker, who needs to balance providing support with the need to sometimes have difficult conversations too.

This course is an opportunity to consider what we know about staying in touch from research, including what works well, the voices of those with lived experience, and aspects that may present challenges or need more support.

The good practice guide, Safeguarding children living with foster carers, Adopters and Special Guardians: Learning from case reviews 2007–2019, is based on a UK wide study of 52 case reviews concerning 98 children who had experienced serious harm while living with foster carers, adopters or special guardians. The study spans 12 years and is the first to focus exclusively on reviews of cases of children in alternative family care. It shines a spotlight on those issues particular to these children – selection and assessment of carers; support for children and carers; and the supervision and management of arrangements.