This training is aimed at developing the skills and knowledge of anyone who has to chair meetings.

Circle of Friends

on-request

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Circle of Friends is an approach to enhancing the inclusion, in a mainstream setting, of any child or young person who is experiencing difficulties in school because of disability, personal crisis or because of their challenging behaviour towards others. The ‘circle of friends’ approach works by mobilising the young person’s peers to provide support and engage in problem solving with the person in difficulty.

Whatever your position in the team, good communications skills are vital. They are at the centre of every work place interaction and can make a real difference to your work environment. Here’s a worthwhile day to increase your skills in this area. These skills will not only help your personal growth but they will increase job satisfaction and in turn relationships with adults and children.

In this course we explore how we have attempted to build inclusive circles of support around individuals and contrast this with a radical approach to hospitality and community building – the Community Circle. The purpose of community circles is to bring people from a local community together to share their skills, talents, gifts and resources. This idea is based upon the premise that ALL of us need three things in our lives to make us happy and fulfilled: these are money, friendship and meaning. We believe that everyone needs community, everyone needs to be heard and everyone needs to have fun.

This day is relevant to anyone involved in the task of developing an Inclusion Policy. How to create a real policy built around shared vision with true community commitment. Participate in this very practical workshop to take your first very real steps forward. The day gives those present opportunities to reflect on their attitudes and practice in relation to the inclusion of pupils who are different and the policy and practice which currently exist.

This is our latest lead workshop/training day and is an extremely innovative, participative and practical guide to successfully creating a truly inclusive classroom in mainstream school settings for children and young people of all ages. This engaging day will equip participants with ways of thinking and planning for the inclusion of all pupils within the curriculum.

How can we interrupt the isolation of disabled, challenging and other ‘different’ children and adults? This is our lead workshop/training day and is both a values primer and a practical guide to successful strategies for developing inclusive practice in educational and non educational settings for children and young people of all ages. This is practical plus being a ‘hearts and minds’ day.

So you appreciated a Keys to Inclusion day? Wondering what next? The Next Set follows on from our lead workshop/training day and is both values driven and a practical guide to successful strategies for further developing inclusive practice in educational settings for children and young people of all ages.

In this lively interactive workshop we will explore the challenges faced by leaders of schools when tackling inclusion issues. We develop the concept of the leader as being central to the web of an organisation and the web of inclusion. Information flows freely to and from the leaders and interconnections are a premium. We explore shared leadership and consensus building using the Native American ‘Medicine Wheel’ to guide and structure our management of change.

Local authorities are being encouraged to seek the views of young people in relation to the services they receive. Schools and the whole range of support services (e.g. behaviour support, youth offending teams, social services, CAMHS etc.) are being expected to routinely ask young people for their views. This goes beyond involving young people in plans that concern them e.g care plans, individual education plans, pastoral support plans etc.

Many leaders and managers working on the front line of inclusion lack emotional support from Local Authority staff or anyone else despite the challenging nature of their work. There is a massive need for active listening, containment and opportunities to problem solve and reflect confidentially with someone trusted.

In this practical and engaging workshop there is input on team building, problem solving as a team, improving communication and handling conflict. This is participatory day of paper, pens, graphics, music and activity. There are no PowerPoint slides or even a projector and screen!

Come backstage! – This day will explore the processes underlying our inclusive training. We are often asked how we do what we do on our training days and in response we have put together this new training day. If you are looking to reinvigorate your approach to training this is the day for you.

This is a workshop focused on getting the welcome right for children who are starting for the first time at a new school when we know the welcome will be difficult. Perhaps they have been excluded from elsewhere, they are new to this culture, they have complex needs or they are just very different or highly anxious?