Training & events programme

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.

EARLY BIRD SALE ENDS SOON
The kinship care conference is a key event in the calendar of social work practitioners working with kinship families. With a focus on developing better support for kinship families, our programme focuses on bringing together researchers, sector organisations, carers, young people, and practitioners to network, discuss and explore how local authorities can continue to build support for kinship families in their area. Early Bird Sale now on.

The safety of children in care is paramount. Therefore it is essential we investigate and respond to allegations, complaints and concerns about foster carers in a timely way and ensure children’s voices are heard and their needs met. This course will provide an opportunity to consider how we can manage allegations and concerns, with the rigour and challenge needed, whilst also considering the need for foster carers to receive sensitive support, that enables them to manage risks and keep everyone in the fostering household safe. 

Been a medical advisor in the UK a while ? Already attended our child and adult health assessment workshops previously?
Feeling like you’re not sure what’s going on outside your patch? Wanting to learn from others in your role?
Then the Medical Advisor Update day is for you!

In this session, two social work managers and independent social workers, Nargis Khatun and Halima Mostofa will share their experience of placing children in Bangladesh from Tower Hamlets Council initially on a SGO and then on a local Guardianship Order. Covering all aspects from viability to placement, we will explore the challenges practitioners face in a real-world setting and how to navigate them successfully. Although focused on Bangladesh, participants will pick up tips on how to navigate overseas cases in general and on cultural considerations in particular. 

FREE FOR MEMBERS
Our social work practice must be guided by the values and principles of anti-racist practice and cultural humility. This means embedding them into all aspects of our work with families, bringing self-awareness of our own biases, assumptions and privileges, and centring families’ lived experience. 

This course is an opportunity to understand key concepts and consider why anti-racist practice and cultural humility matter. You will be supported to explore how you can build relationships with families that honour diverse perspectives and recognise unique needs, and explore tools to enable you to better understand the identities of children and their families. You will then consider how this understanding can be applied to your practice to develop culturally appropriate assessments and interventions that reflect the lived realities of children and families and take account of their intersecting identities.

This two-day open course will provide practitioners and particularly those who may be new to undertaking, quality assuring or considering fostering assessments with an opportunity to develop knowledge, skills and practice in completing fostering assessments. This workshop may also provide a refresher for those wanting to reflect and build on knowledge skills and best practice in the completion of fostering assessments.

FREE FOR MEMBERS
This webinar presents findings from Michelle's doctoral research at the University of Leeds, a qualitative study exploring parental contact in special guardianship families. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the PhD examined the lived experiences of special guardians and parents, and this presentation focuses on the second study and the accounts of two mothers - Nicola, whose son is being raised by her own mother, and  Rachael, whose son is being raised by his paternal grandmother.

The responsibilities of a Chair can be considerable. Whereas some duties may be clearly outlined in related practice guidance along with the qualities that ensure effective chairing, not all Chair responsibilities are so helpfully detailed or provided. This workshop will explore general planning for and facilitation of panels and complex meetings in the children’s sector. It will explore time management and group facilitation whilst holding the child at the centre of thinking, recommendations and decision making. It will enable Chairs of meetings to consider good practice and approaches to effectively managing the flow of information, summarising and the formation of key action plans.

OPEN TO ALL
CoramBAAF is delighted to be running this Private Fostering Awareness Day briefing. The Breakfast Briefing is particularly relevant to social workers new to this area or colleagues working in health, education and other partner agencies. For social workers, reflection on this session may contribute to your continuing professional development (CPD).