Training
The Virtual School provides training for:
- Designated Teachers
- Social workers
- Foster carers
- Teacher Training students
- School staff
The Virtual School works with a small group of Warwickshire schools at a time to help them become attachment aware and trauma informed, providing training and support to enable them to develop better relationships within their settings leading to improved academic outcomes.
We continue to share good practice and ideas through our termly network meetings.
To book any of the sessions please email virtualschool@warwickshire.gov.uk with the desired session(s) and the email of the person attending the training.
New to Designated Teacher (DT) training
Are you new to the role of DT? This training will cover understanding the roles and responsibilities of being a DT, including the ePEP online system.
New to DT training will be delivered via Microsoft Teams.
| Date | Time |
|---|---|
|
Thursday 18 January 2024 |
9.30am-11.30am |
|
Thursday 22 February 2024 |
1pm-3pm |
|
Thursday 21 March 2024 |
9am-11am |
|
Monday 15 April 2024 |
1pm-3pm |
|
Tuesday 21 May 2024 |
10am-12pm |
|
Thursday 27 June 2024 |
1pm - 3pm |
Designated Teacher (DT) training
Annual full day DT training will take place in autumn 2023. The morning session will be delivered by the Educational Psychology Service and afternoon by Virtual School Education Advisers.
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 10th October 2023 | 9am-4pm | Bulkington Community Centre, CV12 9JB |
|
Thursday 19th October 2023 |
9am-4pm |
St Michael’s Church Centre, Warwick CV35 8QL |
| Wednesday 25th October 2023 |
9am-4pm |
Bulkington Community Centre, CV12 9JB |
| Wednesday 15th November 2023 |
9am-4pm |
Rugby College, CV21 1AR |
Network meetings
Designated Teacher Network Meetings will continue to be run via teams this year. We will be running one meeting per term rather than the area based meeting. Please let your linked education adviser / officer know if you would like to share an idea or resource or an idea that you would like to Virtual School to cover.
| Term | Date and Time |
|---|---|
| Autumn Term 2023 | Tuesday 7 November 4pm to 5pm |
| Spring Term 2024 | Wednesday 7 February 4pm to 5pm |
| Summer Term 2024 | Tuesday 18 June 4pm to 5pm |
To book any of the sessions please email virtualschool@warwickshire.gov.uk with the session being booked and the email of the person attending the training (so that the Teams invitation is set up with the correct email address).
Warwickshire Virtual School Training
Summer term 2024
| Course title and description | Date and time | Venue |
|---|---|---|
|
EMOTIONALLY BASED SCHOOL AVOIDANCE (EBSA) with Amelia Brunt Emotionally Based School Avoidance, (EBSA) sometimes called Anxiety Based School Avoidance is a broad term used to describe a situation where there are persistent barriers to a child or young person attending and fully engaging in school life and learning. The term Emotionally Based School Avoidance is currently used when the factors that are affecting school attendance are prolonged and severe.
|
2pm - 4pm Thursday 18 April 2024 |
Webinar |
|
SUPPORTING THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUNG PEOPLE with Jessica Parker In this engaging and informative webinar, educators are invited to explore the critical role they play in supporting the mental health of young people. With an increasing awareness of the mental health challenges faced by students today, this webinar aims to equip teachers with the knowledge, strategies, and resources necessary to foster a supportive and understanding environment in their classrooms. Our Associate, Jessica Parker will share insights and practical advice on recognising signs of mental health issues, initiating supportive conversations, and implementing effective mental health strategies within the educational setting. "Supporting the Mental Health of Young People" offers a unique opportunity to deepen your understanding of children and young people’s mental health issues, learn practical strategies for creating a nurturing classroom environment, and enhance your skills in supporting students facing mental health challenges whilst considering your own wellbeing too.
|
1.30pm - 3.30pm Friday 3 May 2024 |
Webinar |
|
AN INTRODUCTION TO INTEROCEPTION with Anthea Bailey Interoception: the hidden sense that shapes wellbeing, attention and regulation. Interoception may be less well known than the “outward facing” senses such as sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell, but it has enormous consequences for children’s wellbeing, regulation and attention. At the most basic level, interoception allows us to answer the question, “how do I feel?” This session will explore the importance of developing interoceptive awareness in all learners and why it is important to embed interoception strategies throughout the school day. Examine how interoception is key to enabling pupils to identify signs in their bodies cueing them to use strategies that promote well-being, building agency to self-regulate, make choices based on self-understanding and keep themselves safe through self-advocacy – whether verbally or non-verbally- all ultimately supporting readiness to learn. Objectives: For participants to understand: and experience Interoception strategies that build interoception awareness (IA) that can be used in-class– this is experiential and interactive session. |
1.30pm - 3.30pm Monday 13 May 2024 |
Webinar |
|
DE-ESCALATING CHALLENGING BEHAVIOURS IN THE CLASSROOM with Graham Chatterley Post Covid schools are seeing more and more children struggling to co-exist, play and socialise effectively. The result is more distress and more conflict... The aim of this webinar is to give a better understanding of why this is happening, which parts of the brain and nervous system are driving the behaviours and how to communicate with them. It will give some practical, verbal and non-verbal tools to de-escalate those conflict situations that arise as well as how to prevent repeats in the future. This session will give you a better understanding of challenging behaviours alongside some practical strategies to manage in-the-moment conflict and prevention. Topics covered:
|
1.30pm - 3.30pm Tuesday 21 May 2024 |
Webinar |
|
RELATIONAL APPROACHES AND THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE with Karen May What if we shifted language from ’special needs’ to ‘needs more understanding’ or ‘unacceptable behaviour’ to ‘understandable behaviour’? Evidence shows that when young people feel accepted and valued it leads to better social, emotional and mental wellbeing and academic outcomes. By adopting a relational approach, relationships between staff also naturally develop. The connective nature of these relationships will impact positively on wellbeing across a school. Additionally, a relational and restorative approach can reduce the frequency, severity and duration of incidents, therefore reducing the impact on staff. The facilitator for this session, Karen May, started her teaching career in Hammersmith and Fulham, and fell in love with the world of EBD, as it was known as back in those days, moving swiftly into the specialist sector, and not looking back! Fast forward 20 years, and her love for working with complex and vulnerable children and their families has not diminished. Karen is passionate about raising awareness of the importance of language and understanding of children with SEMH needs through training and working with schools as a freelance consultant. |
1.30pm -3.30pm Friday 14th June |
Webinar |
|
SUPPORTING ASYLUM SEEKING AND REFUGEE CHILDREN with Andrew Russell We hear a lot in the news about people coming to our country to seek asylum. This session will focus on the truth behind the media. We will:
|
1.30pm - 3.30pm Thursday 27 June 2024
|
Webinar |
Professional learning programme
The Virtual School have continued to expand our training offer to schools and education settings so that out children can be taught by knowledgeable, reflective, understanding teachers. Our Designated Teacher training is always well attended. With the expansion of our duties we are offering some wider training opportunities for schools:
Thinking differently for disadvantaged learners
As part of Warwickshire's commitment to closing the gap the Warwickshire Learning Improvement team and Warwickshire Virtual School have joined together to fund access for all Warwickshire Schools to have access to the Challenging Education Professional Learning Programme (PLP).
There are six recorded training modules available to all staff to access at their convenience. Sessions have been researched and delivered by expert trainers (and experienced school leaders) who have a wealth of knowledge on leadership and teaching of disadvantaged youngsters built up over more than seven years of supporting schools across all phases in Raising the Attainment of Disadvantaged Youngsters (RADY).
This is a tried and tested online learning resource appropriate for all phases of education, designed to help staff to ‘Think Differently’ about working with our most disadvantaged learners.
It has opened my eyes to different thought processes and actions whilst also confirming my beliefs in the system I am driving towards. Headteacher, Primary Phase
A resource that is designed to be flexible and fit in with your school plan for professional development. There is no expectation or requirement to complete all the sessions within a module, and no need to complete the sessions in a particular order. Think ‘pick and mix’ approach!
Each module contains over 90 minutes of recorded sessions. Individual videos are ‘bitesize’, no more than 15 minutes long and can therefore easily be integrated into a longer training session or even a staff briefing. Please refer to the ‘Content of the PLP’ document for details of the sessions in each module.
The modules include downloadable resources, including suggested activities to promote deeper reflection and action and references for those who want to find out more.
There are a number of case studies from schools in England and Wales that help to illustrate how schools are bringing the training to life.
Once registration is complete, you can share your username (this will be your URN) and password with colleagues within your school who also wish to access the materials.
Attachment and Trauma Training Programme
We have linked with many schools to deliver Trauma Informed and Attachment Aware Schools. This year we are able to offer a wider training opportunity through our partnership with AC Education. The programme would be funded for Warwickshire schools as part of the Virtual School training offer as we are committed to supporting schools to become trauma informed and attachment aware.
Aims:
- Increase understanding of the role of attachment and trauma in children’s education and strategies to better address their needs
- Reduce suspensions / exclusions from school and improve attendance of children who are vulnerable
- Improve educational progress and the well-being of children who are vulnerable
- Develop the confidence and skills of teachers and staff to address trauma and attachment
- Identify effective approaches to addressing attachment and trauma in schools
AC Education Partnership
Warwickshire Virtual School is delighted to be working in partnership with AC Education, in delivering fully funded education specific training in the Warwickshire Local Authority area.
We wanted to reach out to make you aware that if you are working within a school, college or early years facility in the area, then you could be eligible for a pre-funded training place with AC Education.
AC Education provide trauma informed training that is designed by subject matter experts in education. The training helps teachers and school staff develop the tools and strategies they need to create a positive learning environment, in which vulnerable children can thrive. The person-centred learning and interactive courses are engaging and impactful for every learner.
The fully funded training gives you access to:
Over 40 courses on our eLearning platform 'Click' 7 training programmes: Attachment & Trauma, Exclusions, Emotionally Based School Avoidance etc. CPD accredited training courses 3 delivery methods: online, webinar & face-to-face
If you would like to find out more on the fully funded training, please visit ac-education:
AC Education - Warwickshire Virtual School funded training