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It is recognised that fostering has become increasingly demanding and complex.
ACORN Fostering Services is committed to providing quality training that is accessible
and relevant to all our foster carers. Investing in People is one of our strongest
values and we view our training programmes as an important element of our support
to our foster carers.
Purpose of the training is to :
- Help foster carers become
better at doing their job.
- Improve knowledge,
develop and refine skills.
- Establish an explicit, positive framework
of values, which promotes equality of opportunity and respect
for diversity.
- Encourage foster carers to reflect upon
and look at the effects of discrimination in all parts of the community, recognising
that we care for children in the context of a wider society, and that for many
of our children discrimination is a fact of everyday life.
- Ensure
that all foster carers are competent and confident in safe caring and in protecting
children from harm.
- Encourage foster carers
to take responsibility for their own professional development through the creation
of individual training profiles.
Key
elements of our training NVQ
Level 3 in Child Care The agency encourages
its foster carers to achieve NVQ Level 3 in Child Care within first 3 years of
their being approved as a Foster Carers. In this direction, the agency ensures
that the foster carers receive full help and support through a dedicated staff
member towards completing this qualification. We also have a continuous professional
development work programme for our carers to ensure that their knowledge, skills
and information are updated on a regular basis to keep them fully appraised with
the changes in legislation and regulations. This we believe is absolutely necessary
to ensure that our carers are ever equipped to cope effectively with ever increasing
and ever changing demands placed on them.
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