The Learning and Development Offer for kinship carers is provided by the Fostering Training Team. The team offer a range of courses. They are delivered both online via Microsoft Teams and in-person at various locations across Cambridgeshire. There are also e-learning options available that you can complete at your own pace.
If you need help accessing any training or have a specific learning need that isn't covered, please get in touch with the team at fostering.training@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.
Becoming a kinship carer
As part of the assessment and approval process, we offer all applicants three training courses.
Face-to-face courses that run throughout the year are as follows:
- Attachment
- Child criminal exploitation and missing from care (new)
- Compassion focussed foster care (new)
- Co-regulating the dysregulated child (new)
- Domestic abuse and the impact on children
- DDP/PACE (‘Dyadic Development Psychotherapy, Parenting and Practice Model’ and ‘Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy’) informed workshop: how food related issues manifest within developmental trauma (new)
- Inclusive language for equality, diversity and inclusion (new)
- Life story
- Menopause awareness
- Neglect (new) Play and Theraplay
- Preparing for independence
- Recovery through Relationships (new) - specific kinship dates to be added
- Safer caring
- Sensory integration training and how 'Buss Ideas' can help children in care
- Supporting the grieving brain: loss and separation for children and the neurobiology of grief (new)
- Understanding intra-familial child sexual abuse training (new)
- Vicarious trauma Online training courses
These digital courses are available on the ME Learning LMS (Learning Management System) booking system and you can book directly, or the training team can book you on.
- Autism awareness
- Bullying and cyberbullying
- Child sexual exploitation levels 1 and 2
- Domestic abuse and intimate partner violence (new)
- Eating disorders
- Effective communication with children and families
- Emotional abuse
- Equality and diversity
- Gangs and youth violence (new)
- Gypsy and Traveller cultural awareness (new)
- Hidden harm: parental substance misuse, parental mental health and domestic abuse
- Medication awareness and safe handling of medicines (for carers with children with regular medication)
- Neglect (new)
- Online safety risk to children
- Online safety risk for parents and carers
- Physical abuse
- Safeguarding children levels 1 and 2
- Safeguarding children with disabilities
- Sexual abuse and recognising grooming
- Substance misuse
- Understanding behaviour of children and young people
Training from the Kinship care charity
As part of the new Kinship Peer Support Service supported by the Department for Education, the Kinship care charity has launched a new free online workshop series for kinship carers.
Workshops can be booked online and any kinship carer in England can access them by registering in advance on the Kinship website.
- An introduction to kinship care
- What financial help am I entitled to as a kinship carer?
- How to improve challenging behaviour
- Better communication and the teenage years
- Preparing for sensitive conversations with kinship children
- Understanding trauma and attachment
- Overview of the EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) and SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) process
- Self-care for kinship carers
If you are a kinship carer and would like to receive an up to date training brochure please write to fostering.training@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.
