E-Learning with AKAMAS

23/11/2010

We are pleased to announce the 2nd phase of our E-Learning suite to all Foster Carers, working in partnership with Akamas a leading e-learning provider in the UK.

Akamas is a training provider for the wider children's workforce, specialising in professional development for those working with vulnerable or traumatised children and young people.

Their online training programmes are highly flexible, ensuring that continuing development is accessible to all while accommodating individual needs.

These short courses have been designed to provide you with an opportunity to learn in the comfort of your own home, fitting your learning around your lifestyle. Courses vary in length from 10 hours up to 20 hours, with on-going support through useful website resources and e-books (which you can download and read alongside your course material) as well as a workbook and log book to record your learning outcomes.

All of the courses are mapped across to the Seven Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care (CWDC) ensuring all your on-line work can be transferred over to your CWDC portfolio (which is being launched to you later this year).

E-learning is not something that has to be done alone either, perhaps getting together with other Carers in your area and planning an e-learning evening, where you all get together and work on your courses together on-line, perhaps meeting at your local library and working with a study partner (fellow Carer) would be beneficial. There are lots of ways to complete your on-line course, discuss these as well as other ideas with your Supervising Social Worker in your next supervision or within your local support group.

For the remainder of this Training Calendar year we are offering the following e-learning short courses for you to sign up to and complete, along with our initial e-learning courses we launched back in September:

• Attachment & Loss
• Communicating with Children & Young People
• Preparation for Adult Life
• The Role of the Residential Worker
• The Role of Foster Carer
• Kinship Care
• Resilience & Recovery
• Record Keeping in Foster Care
• Impulsive Behaviour
• Children & Domestic Violence

Original September Launch e-learning courses:

• Child Protection
• Understanding Equality & Diversity
• Understanding Child Development
• Safer Foster Care
• Sexual Development and Sexual abuse
• Promoting Health & Development
• Education & Trauma
• Promoting Positive Contact
• Children & Parental Mental Health Issues
• Children & Parental Substance Misuse

Going forward next year we envisage this list to grow with new courses being added!

Initially each Fostering household had the opportunity to book 2 e-learning courses per Training Calendar year; we have now made the decision that households can complete further e-learning courses, and so if you have already completed your 2 courses please sign up to start your next set of courses on-line. 

E-learning is not mandatory, however we want to be able to offer you as much variety in terms of access to learning and development and to be able to further enhance and develop your skill-sets. If you would like to find out further information about our e-learning courses and how to arrange signing-up for them please contact Julia Charles our Learning & Development Administrator at our Uxbridge office on 01895 200300 or at jcharles@nfa.ws.