Acorn Early Years Training, (part of CJ Associates), runs courses on:
* How children think and behave. This is a half-day introduction to child development.
* Child protection in early years. This one-day course looks at how accidents occur, assessing and responding to children's needs and safety concerns, communicating with parents, shaken baby syndrome, and law and policy.
* Managing children's behaviour. This is a one-day course on techniques adults use to control children's actions and to reinforce positive behaviour.
* Working with challenging behaviour. This one-day course covers staff attitudes, prevention not cure, and crisis behaviour management.
* Assessment framework in practice.
* Child protection conferences, core groups and report writing.
* Child protection and domestic violence.
* Parents and their child's development. This one-day course for parents includes working in partnership with early years carers.
* Even better. This is a one-day course for parents wanting to gain a better understanding of their children.
* Customer care in early years. This is a one-day course on good service, telephone techniques, body language, giving and receiving information and controlling aggression.
* Stress management. This is a two-day course.
The Aswan Learning Centre in Croydon, Surrey is running courses on:
* Raising self-esteem and achievement in young children, on 16 October and 3 December.
* Understanding behaviour management, on 25 November.
Children in Scotland runs courses on:
* Anti-bullying practice. This one-day multi-disciplinary workshop will consider developing anti-bullying policy and practice.
* Developing whole school anti-bullying policy and practice. l Promoting positive behaviour in the early years. Topics include helping children develop strategies for managing anger, and how to resolve conflict without violence.
* Participation: Spice it up! This introductory workshop, led by Dynamix, is for those looking for practical ways to involve children and young people in any setting.
* Introduction to play therapy.
* Fathers Direct. This two-day training workshop in association with Fathers Direct is designed to support practitioners' working with fathers.
* Parenting matters. This three-day course in association with Parent Network Scotland is for professionals who are parents, and who work with parents.
Children in Wales runs the following courses and events:
* Rights into Action 2003, at Swansea University from 30 June to 4 July.
This is the First International Congress of Young Disabled People, with the Welsh Assembly Government, the City and County of Swansea, the Disability Rights Commission, and the British Council
* Setting the standards: Promotion of the national standards for the provision of children's advocacy services, in Llandrindod Wells on 2 July.
* National Eisteddfod Children in Wales, in Welshpool from 2 to 9 August.
* Annual general meeting and conference, in Llandrindod Wells on 17 October.
* National parenting conference, in mid-Wales on 21 October.
The Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE) offers units within the CACHE Level 3 Certificate of Professional Development in Work with Children and Young People, including:
* Influences on the behaviour of children and young people.
Within its various courses, CACHE offers Professional Development units on:
* Contributing to the protection of children from abuse.
* Supporting families in distress.
* Protecting children.
* Child protection.
CACHE also runs:
* The CACHE Level 2 certificate in playwork. This nationally-recognised qualification is based on the Take Ten for Play model.
* The CACHE Level 3 diploma in playwork, also based on the Take Ten More for Play.
* NVQs in Playwork.
* CACHE Level 3 certificate in childminding practice.
The Common Threads Consultancy runs courses on:
* Playwork basics.
* Playwork NVQs.
* An introduction to child protection.
Crechendo Training runs a workshop in London on:
* Effective communication and assertiveness. This interactive workshop looks at different methods of communication we use and their effect on relationships.
* Individual professional development. This is a compulsory course for anyone completing the CPD qualification. It introduces the skills needed to reflect on practice and to create a professional development plan.
Participants must complete 60 hours of teaching and tutorial time, and an integrated assignment. The assignments are verified by CACHE.
Crisis Training Education Counselling (CRI-TEC) runs day schools on:
* Working with disastrous events, in Guildford on 2 July, Edinburgh on 9 July, Cambridge on 30 July and Chester on 6 August.
* Coping with a sudden death, in Leeds on 3 September and 16 December, Bristol on 29 October and Edinburgh on 3 December.
* The emotional cost of caring, in Edinburgh on 15 October, Guildford on 22 October, Leeds on 5 November, Birmingham on 19 November and Cambridge on 26 November.
Direction Training and Management runs courses on:
* Behaviour management.
* Child protection.
* Assertiveness.
* Brain-based learning.
* Working with parents.
* The role of the SENCO.
* Managing bullying positively.
* Consulting with children.
Educare is a distance learning process that guides participants through a chosen subject. Each module is accompanied by a multiple-choice questionnaire and participants work through the programmes at their own pace. Topics include:
* Planning for business.
* Supervisory management childcare.
* Health and safety.
* Stress management.
* Personal safety.
* Safe food handling.
The Hannan Consultancy offers a child-centred inclusive approach that incorporates up-to-date research, theory and practice. It runs a course on:
* Safeguarding young children. This course aims to provide early years managers and practitioners with basic information and awareness about child abuse, and how to respond if there are concerns about a child's safety. It includes information on legislation and guidance, management, support and building relationships with families.
Other programmes tailored to meet individual organisations' needs, include:
* Promoting resilience in young children.
* Health check: Preparing for inspection.
* Safeguarding young children.
* Disability awareness and inclusive play.
* Communicating with disabled children.
* Securing positive outcomes: Assessing the impact of severe parental difficulties on babies and young children.
The Kids' Clubs Network works with a number of key partners, including out-of-school clubs, local and national government, childcare providers, employers and Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships (EYDCPs).
The Network offers the following consultancy services:
* Strategic planning of children's services: Childcare plans and audits, funding for out-of-school childcare.
* Delivery of children's services: Providing holiday playschemes, and developing clubs in areas of disadvantage.
* Children's centres and extended schools: Reviewing children's services, feasibility studies, and consultation with parents and children.
* Good practice programmes: Working tax credit and promoting sustainable childcare.
* Workforce development: Promoting the playcare profession, and recruitment and job fairs.
* Quality development: Developing a strategy for four- to 14-year-olds, and assessor and mentor training.
* Childcare business support: Promoting childcare as a business, start-up workshops and business packs.
* Business development support: Providing business support services to out-of-school clubs.
Kidscape runs courses on:
* Anti-bullying. Topics covered range from reducing incidents, changing behaviour, and supporting and empowering victims, to peer support.
* Child protection.
* Stress management.
* Ofsted preparation.
* School management.
Kinderquest Support Services runs courses on:
* Practice makes perfect: Working with the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, on 8 July. This course looks at the relevance of the SEN Code of Practice, which came into force in 2002.
* Managing challenging behaviour. In this practical course, participants will consider the implications of inclusion for their setting, discuss developing a framework for responding to behavioural and emotional difficulties, and receive sources of help and advice.
Learning Curve in Barnoldswick was set up three years ago by a group of local colleges in Lancashire who were keen to make good-quality distance learning material more widely available. It is now run as a separate education provider and offers a range of specialist distance learning courses, each of which has been written and developed by subject experts.
Course materials are revised regularly and the courses offered include:
* The childminder's course. This is an introductory ten-module course covering a wide range of topics, including social, emotional, physical and cognitive development, physical care, food and nutrition, early learning opportunities, childhood illnesses, managing behaviour, safety, social issues, child protection, working with parents, and more.
* The nanny's course. This course covers similar topics to the childminder's course above.
* Family support work. This course is for childcare professionals working with families in a wide range of contexts.
Men in Childcare Scotland was formed by One Parent Families Scotland and Children in Scotland in 1996. It provides information, organises training events and promotes networking among male workers and those interested in issues of men and childcare.
It aims to increase awareness that childcare is a job for both men and women, publicise training opportunities for men, promote good practice in the recruitment and support of men working in childcare, counter negative attitudes about male workers among staff, parents and management, and to encourage local authorities and other employers to recruit more male childcare workers and to develop positive guidelines about men working with young children.
Following the liquidation of the National Early Years Network in February, the Early Childhood Unit of the National Children's Bureau has taken over its training programme, and intends to continue its tradition of high-quality courses specifically for the early-years sector. Subject to discussion with the Network's independent trainers, the unit hopes soon to offer a range of training, including:
* Anti-discriminatory practice.
* Conflict resolution.
* Children's participation in decisions about services.
* Working in partnership with parents.
* Inter-agency partnerships in early years.
These courses can be customised for individual areas or settings.
The National Day Nurseries Association believes good-quality childcare can only be delivered through a workforce that is well-qualified, highly-valued and appropriately trained. Its three-strand training programme aims to equip childcarers with the necessary skills and attributes needed for the job and to provide supporting knowledge for those undertaking NDNA's Quality Counts accreditation scheme. The NDNA runs courses on:
* Planning for visits and welcoming visitors into childcare settings.
* Working in partnership with parents.
* Operational planning.
* Preparing for accreditation.
* Child protection.
* Policies and procedures.
* Observing to inform practice in childcare settings.
* Observing adult and child interactions.
* Working in partnership to recognise and support children's individual needs.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) aims to meet the growing demand from organisations by providing a training and consultancy service to support organisations working with young people. It has helped develop policies, guidelines and training for many sporting and voluntary organisations, including consultancy to childcare and early years organisations. NSPCC courses for early years practitioners include:
* Domestic violence. This course aims to raise awareness of domestic violence and tyeh impact it can have on children. It explores how legal remedies can be used more effectively, and examines inter-agency issues.
* Working with parents of children who have learning disabilities. This course aims to develop an increased understanding of the range of challenging behaviours and their possible causes.
* Multi-agency assessments. This course explores a multi-agency model for the assessment and provision of services to children and families.
* Protecting young children: A guide to recognising and responding to child abuse, is one of the NSPCC's learning materials. It can be ordered directly from NCB at www.
ncb-books.org.uk.
The New Learning Centre runs a series of workshops for parents and childcare professionals in London on topics including:
* Resolving child and parent conflicts: How to talk so that children will listen and listen so that children will talk.
* Parents who do too much: Fostering self-reliance and self-confidence.
* Dyslexia and dyspraxia: Positive approaches.
* Enhancing co-operation, confidence and motivation.
* Positive alternatives to punishment: Skills for increasing co-operation and self-reliance.
* Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and hyperactivity: Helping children to thrive, not just survive.
* The bullies and the bullied: How teachers and parents can change the culture.
* Parenting skills classes.
NIPPA: The Early Years Organisation runs training courses in Northern Ireland that can be delivered in-house to staff in childcare settings or to parents. They include:
* Managing challenging behaviour in children. This course is designed to give practitioners the confidence and practical strategies needed to manage challenging behaviour in children. Participants will gain skills in how to support parents and carers faced with children who exhibit challenging behaviour.
* The pre-school child with autism. This 12.5-hour course will look at how to develop a visually-structured approach.
* Working with children who have special needs. This 20-hour course will help participants develop skills to enable them to plan structured programmes to help children who have special educational needs, in consultation with parents, carers and other professionals.
* Working with children with specific special needs. This new 20-hour course focuses on cerebral palsy, autistic spectrum disorders, Down's Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and visual, hearing or language impairment.
* Involving parents and carers: Creative partnerships in action. This 12.5-hour course enables practitioners to develop skills to create effective partnerships and value the role of parents in children's learning, with parents being consulted, informed, supported and involved.
* Consulting with young children. This nine-hour course will introduce early years staff to a variety of methods of consulting with young children, consider research on the subject and to reflect on the practical application of their new knowledge and skills.
* Introductory course in play and care for young children. This 20-hour course includes hands-on experience of a variety of play materials.
* Promoting children's learning through adult and child interactions. This six-hour course looks at how to enhance early years workers' interaction with children.
* Observation and recording tools. This course is particularly suitable for early years professionals working with children aged three to five. It is also a preliminary to the NIPPA curriculum planning and evaluation course.
* Curriculum planning and evaluation. This course covers the development of short-, medium- and long-term plans, the use of observation notes to inform planning, and how resources can be collected and utilised to support children's learning.
* Developing children's creativity: Art and design. This 15-hour course combines practical ideas with knowledge of art principles, enabling practitioners to learn how to release the creative potential in every child.
* Practical workshops in developing the curriculum. This series of 15-hour workshops covers knowledge and appreciation of the environment, science and technology, early maths, physical play, outdoor play environments, and compiling play props and resources.
The Northern Ireland Childminding Association (NICMA) is running courses on:
* Introduction to childminding, in Magherafelt in September.
* Promoting equal opportunities, in Carrickfergus in October.
* NICMA annual conference, in Bangor, Co Down, on 11 October.
* Basic child development, in Ballymoney in November.
The Playgroup Network works with CACHE and NCFE to develop courses appropriate for workers in community-based childcare settings. The courses are designed to support playgroups in the many different forms that now exist, as well as parent and toddler groups. The independent local associations offer a range of training opportunities, including:
* Introductory courses for new or inexperienced workers.
* Underpinning knowledge and assessment for NVQ.
The Network also offers professional development for experienced workers.
These include:
* Preparing for inspections.
* Operational planning.
* Inclusion.
* Valuing diversity.
* Administration.
* Managing staff.
* Committee work.
* Health, safety and First Aid.
* Foundation Stage activities.
* Parenting support and working with toddlers.
One local association in Cleveland has developed a quality assurance package, Forming Firm Foundations, which enables individual workers in participating settings to collect their own evidence for NVQ, and for experienced qualified workers to demonstrate their continuing professional development.
The Pre-School Learning Alliance runs courses and workshops on:
* Managing children's behaviour. This ten-hour course explores what is meant by challenging behaviour, its causes and the role of adults in developing a positive framework for change.
* A behaviour workshop to help those involved in early years settings to create an environment in which children can develop self-discipline and self-esteem.
* Special Educational Needs: A briefing for everyone. This new course aims to make sure staff know and understand their part in ensuring that all children can have their needs catered for in pre-school.
Courses that lead to the CACHE Level 2 and 3 vocationally-related qualifications for pre-school and playgroup assistants include:
* CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Pre-school Practice.
* CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Pre-school Practice.
* CACHE Introduction to Pre-school Practice. This is the first unit in the qualification route for pre-school and playgroup assistants.
* Getting started in a pre-school setting. This is a short course for parents and pre-school workers in their first posts. It aims to explain how to provide safe pre-school activities in ways that help children to learn through play.
The Riverside Early Years Training Centre has courses in Tyneside on:
* 'CHOMP' - Feeding under-fives training for staff in daycare nurseries.
This course provides early years staff involved in food and meal preparation with an understanding of the varied nutritional needs of children.
* Making choices. This is a 12-hour signposting course for students considering working in childcare, education and playwork.
* Introducing Childminding Practice. This 12-hour course is for newly-registered childminders and people considering a career in childminding.
* Protecting children. This 60-hour course, which includes tutorials, is for qualified candidates wishing to acquire in-depth knowledge and understanding of the principles and practice of the care, education and protection of children. Topics include emotional security for children and awareness of abuse, social and legal issues relating to child protection and abuse, statutory, voluntary and private services to support children and their families, and the role of the family.
* Good business practices for childminders. Topics covered include a record and book-keeping session, and quality assurance advice.
* Multiple abuse in the childcare profession: Use of case study examples.
This course will help early years professionals know the signs and indicators of child abuse, learn how children express that they are being abused, have an awareness of how paedophiles operate, and whistleblowing.
* CACHELevel 2 certificate in Playwork. This 40-hour course will benefit anyone working with school-age children in a variety of settings, including playscheme workers, out-of-school club workers, lunchtime supervisors and sports centre staff. Topics covered include the role of the playworker, health and safety, teamwork, playwork practice, planning and promoting play, building relationships, and legal responsibilities and other relevant legislation.
The School of Infant Mental Health offers integrated educational and training programmes for professionals working with under-fives, career training, primary care and specialised psychotherapeutic skills. It also runs workshops and courses of various lengths related to working with under-fives and their parents on topics including:
* Home intervention: Techniques in entering fragile and healthy home environments.
* Early intervention. This workshop integrates cognitive, emotional and social communication techniques effective in handling the different dimensions of home environments.
* Intervention supports.
This four-week course offers a step-by-step guide to the most effective environments for handling infants and parents.
* Readiness programme. This certificate-level course is for home visitors, teaching all aspects of home visiting. Options include a study day, a four-day course or a two-week course.
The School also runs short courses, including:
* The mother and infant bond and attachment.
* The effects of parenting on brain growth in infants.
* Life's first feelings.
* Violence and babies: Reducing risks.
* The premature baby.
* Early autism and autistic behaviour: How to help.
* Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD): Early diagnosis and remedial action.
* Dyslexia: Early pointers of learning difficulties and language disorders.
* Sensory defensiveness.
* Touchpoints programme: Understanding development and regressive behaviour as a possible precursor to rapid growth.
* Knowing and managing the child's temperament.
* Special needs, Part 1: Discovering a baby's strengths, developmental capacities and challenges.
* Special needs, Part 2: Encouraging emotional and intellectual growth.
* Special needs, Part 3: Working with family and nursery.
* Early loss and attachment in fostering and adoption.
The Scottish Out-of-School Care Network is running:
* A health and well-being conference, on 19 September.
Tinies Childcare runs courses in London for nannies and nursery nurses on:
* Child protection. This certified course is for any childcare professionals who work with children and want to update their knowledge in this area.
The Working Group Against Racism in Children's Resources (WGARCR) runs day courses to enable people who work with children to act as advocates on behalf of children and their families in resisting exclusions and ensuring that children are properly facilitated in mainstream schools.
