34 Diversity & Inclusion courses

Join us for a round table discussion with Ginger Gregory, CHRO. Age Diversity and Inclusivity: From Early Career and beyond, How do we best grow our talent? As part of the UKI Wellbeing day we’re inviting everyone to participate in one of a series of roundtable focus groups hosted by HR and Ginger Gregory, our CHRO. These sessions are current organisational challenges designed to foster open dialogue, enhance collaboration, and gather your valuable insights. This is an opportunity to connect, share experiences, and contribute meaningfully to our organisation.

Support culture change by giving line managers the skills to look at practices within their areas, role model appropriately and address unacceptable behaviours. Our dynamic, assertive trainer for EDI has a very practical approach, with plenty of real-life examples to help participants view the subject from a new angle

Course Outline: What is “Diversity and Inclusion”?  The Cultural Contact Lens - understanding different people's experiences  The Social Ecological Model - understanding how individual elements sit within and impact upon social change  Finding your ‘why’, and the Business Case for D&I  Going above and beyond the Law - the Equality Act (2010) and protected characteristics  Becoming comfortable with feeling uncomfortable  Privilege, power, and the Cycle of Oppression  An introduction to allyship  Summary and questions

Are you an EDI Officer, HR Specialist, Leader or Manager? Or the nominated EDI champion for your team? Maybe you've been given the EDI portfolio on behalf of your Board or department? Or if you're aiming to make a difference via your diverse staff network or union, all change-makers are welcome!

Birmingham Settlement are running a programme of training sessions between April and July 2024. All sessions are half-a-day and are an excellent opportunity to learn about important topics, starting with Adult Safeguarding on the 18th April.  If you are interested in any of the courses or would like more information, contact our Trainer David Coombes via email david.coombes@bsettlement.org.uk or by phone 07399 560 766. Training Sessions: Adult Safeguarding April 18th 9.15am – 12.30pm (Sports & Community Centre, Kingstanding) Training will include: What is Adult Safeguarding? What is abuse? Categories of abuse. Those most at risk of abuse. Identifying the signs of abuse. Taking safeguarding action. The issue of client consent. Mental Health Awareness April 23rd 9.30am – 12.45pm (Nature & Wellbeing Centre, Ladywood) Training will include: Defining mental health and mental illness. Signs and symptoms of the most common mental health conditions. Identifying and responding to a mental health crisis. Maintaining positive mental wellbeing. How best to support mental health recovery. Trauma Informed Practice May 14th 9.30am – 12.45pm (Nature & Wellbeing Centre, Ladywood) Training will include: What is trauma? Symptoms of trauma. Impact of trauma on children. Understanding the impact of Adverse Childhood experiences. Key principles of trauma informed practice. Managing work stress and undertaking self-care. Professional Boundaries May 23rd 9.15am – 12.30pm (Sports & Community Centre, Kingstanding) Training will include: What are professional boundaries and why are they important? Professional vs Personal boundaries and how they differ. How trauma impacts personal power and the ability to establish boundaries. Signs of boundary violations. How boundaries support wellbeing. Conflict Resolution June 6th 9.15am – 12.30pm (Sports & Community Centre, Kingstanding) Training will include: Defining conflict and exploring the risks vs the benefits of conflict. Looking at anger and aggression. Understanding how the brain responds to threat and danger. Exploring the practical communication strategies effective in the prevention and de-escalation of conflict. Learning to respond rather than react. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion June 11th 9.30am – 12.45pm (Nature & Wellbeing Centre, Ladywood) Training will include: The Equality Act and protected characteristics. Different forms of discrimination. How ‘membership’ of specific groups might bring advantage or disadvantage. Understanding the ‘multi layered’ nature of discrimination. Understanding how diversity and inclusion can positively impact and change what we do. Dementia Awareness July 9th 9.30am – 12.45pm (Nature & Wellbeing Centre, Ladywood) Training will include: What is dementia? The different types of dementia. The signs and symptoms of dementia. Risk reduction strategies. Benefits of early diagnosis. Barriers to diagnosis, treatment, and support. How we can help. Disability Awareness July 18th 9.15 – 12.30pm (Sports & Community Centre, Kingstanding) Training will include: Defining disability, disability as a social construct, non-visible disabilities. Barriers facing those with disabilities and the positive actions and reasonable adjustments we all can make to create more inclusive and less discriminatory environments.

As workplaces seek to become more deliberate in enabling inclusivity, managers play a vital role in shaping environments where neurodivergent team members can succeed.

Join us for a round table discussion with Ginger Gregory, CHRO. Inclusive: How to get more Women to the Top? As part of the UKI Wellbeing day we’re inviting everyone to participate in one of a series of roundtable focus groups hosted by HR and Ginger Gregory, our CHRO. These sessions are current organisational challenges designed to foster open dialogue, enhance collaboration, and gather your valuable insights. This is an opportunity to connect, share experiences, and contribute meaningfully to our organisation.

Online Course now available via Teachable Platform – How do People Learn? Learn at your own pace… with text and videos to support your learning experience. Inclusive Education: Neurodiversity Course Presented by Inclusive Solutions  About This Course: Designed for educators, psychologists, and teachers, this course offers an immersive experience in inclusive education strategies specifically for neurodivergent children. Two leading experts—Dennis Rollins MBE, celebrated trombonist and teacher, and Colin Newton, an experienced inclusive educational psychologist—will guide you through practical approaches and proven techniques to improve inclusive education.  Key Benefits of the Course:  Understand learning processes tailored to neurodivergent students with learning differences. Explore dominant psychological models of learning and their practical, real-world applications. Participate in engaging, hands-on activities to reinforce inclusive teaching strategies. Gain strategies to foster motivation, confidence, and a sense of autonomy in learners Meet the Instructors: Dennis Rollins MBE Dennis Rollins MBE is a renowned trombone player and award-winning educator with over three decades of experience. Known for his unique approach, Dennis has collaborated with top artists worldwide and has received prestigious awards for both performance and jazz education.   Some of Dennis’ recognised lifetime achievements are as follows:  Worked with artists such as Jamiroquai, Courtney Pine, Maceo Parker, The Brand New Heavies, Blur, US3 and Monty Alexander. Won BBC Best Band with Badbone & Co, 2006. Trombonist of the Year, British Jazz Awards and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Awards, 2007. X2 nominated in the 2008 Parliamentary Jazz Awards: Musician of the Year and Jazz Education, winning the latter category. JazzYorkshire Award Best Band for his band Velocity Trio, 2012. British Trombone Society (BTS) Player of the year Award, 2013. Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, 2022. Recently honoured with an MBE, Dennis brings a creative, real-world perspective to teaching music, particularly for learners with complex needs.  Learn more about Dennis Rollins: Dennis Rollins Website   Colin Newton Colin Newton is a seasoned educational psychologist and passionate advocate for inclusive education. With over 40 years in the field, working across the UK and internationally. Colin is known for his passion for promoting the inclusion of all children in mainstream schools, and for his practical applied work around person-centred planning, restorative justice and in-depth problem-solving. His work has inspired a shift toward inclusive practices across the UK, as he brings both experience and innovative thinking to the world of education.  Colin says: ‘Instinctively from an early age I was against children being sent away to boarding schools and later to special schools and settings. Later I was inspired by disabled activists and Canadian and North American inclusionists who were working to change the world of education with radical innovative thinking and approaches - the work was political, social and spiritual - I was in and never looked back!’  Colin’s career has been values-driven, but also practical using applied psychology in training and real-life problem-solving with schools, families and individual children and young people.     Learning Objectives: By participating in this course, you’ll be able to:  Gain a deeper understanding of inclusive learning processes for all children and adults Differentiate approaches to address the emotional complexities of teaching and learning Master techniques to support effective teaching and meaningful learning Explore the role of relationships and engagement in successful learning Analyse psychological models and identify their real-world applications in education Reflect on the practices of outstanding teachers to inspire deeper learning   Course Topics: Learning Through Imitation Learn how social learning theory (Bandura) highlights the power of imitation. Discover how learners naturally gravitate toward peers and key adults as role models, absorbing skills and behaviours. Contextual Learning Explore Jerome Bruner’s view on context in learning. Understand how learning is always connected to a broader context, which makes it meaningful and applicable. Motivation and Structured Steps Discover techniques to ignite motivation in learners. We’ll discuss how structured, step-by-step support and person-centred encouragement can make a profound difference, particularly for those with learning barriers. Building Self-Efficacy in Learners Understand how educators can nurture self-efficacy, encouraging learners to set their own goals and take charge of their learning journey. Who Should Attend? This course is ideal for:  Educators and psychologists aiming to enhance their understanding of learning processes Teachers who want to develop inclusive teaching strategies for neurodivergent and learning-different students Format A dynamic, hands-on workshop blending lectures, real-world insights, and practical exercises. 

Need a PATH? A person-centred plan?  This is a planning process not a training day. Let us facilitate your planning and refocus your story whilst strengthening you and your group, team, family, staff or organisation.  This tool uses both process and graphic facilitation to help any group develop a shared vision and then to make a start on working out what they will need to do together to move towards that vision.  Is your team or family stuck? Want to move on, but haunted by the past and cannot get any useful dialogue started about the future? Facing a challenging transition into a new school or setting? Leaving school? Bored with annual reviews, transition plans and review meetings? Want to find a way of making meetings and planning feel more real and engaging? Need an approach, which engages a young person respectfully together with his or her family and friends? Want the ultimate visual record of the process of a meeting, which will help everyone, keep track? Want to problem solve and plan for the future of a small or large group, service or organisation up to the size of an LA Give your team the opportunity to pause and reflect on what matters most to them about the work they do. The act of listening to each other creates relationship and strengthens trust and inclusion within the team – in creating a shared vision, groups of people build a sense of commitment together. They develop images of the future we want to create together, along with the values that will be important in getting there and the goals they want to see achieved along the way. Unfortunately, many people still think vision is the top leader’s job. In schools, the vision task usually falls to the Headteacher and/or the governors or it comes in a glossy document from the local authority or the DfES. But visions based on authority are not sustainable.  Using the planning tool PATH (Pearpoint, Forest and OBrien 1997) and other facilitation sources we use both process and graphic facilitation to enable the group to build their picture of what they would love to see happening within their organisation/community in the future and we encourage this to be a positive naming, not just a list of the things they want to avoid.  Outcomes  To create a shared vision To name shared goals To enrol others To strengthen the group To explore connections and needs To specify an Action Plan To create a visual graphic record of the whole event Process Content  PATH is a creative planning tool that utilises graphic facilitation to collect information and develop positive future plans.  PATH goes directly to the future and implements backwards planning to create a step by step path to a desirable future. (Inclusion Press, 2000). These tools were developed by Jack Pearpoint, Marsha Forest and John O’Brien to help marginalised people be included in society and to enable people to develop a shared vision for the future.  PATH can be used with individuals and their circle of support, families teams and organisations.  Both MAP and PATH are facilitated by two trained facilitators – one process facilitator who guides people through the stages and ensures that the person is at the centre and one graphic facilitator who develops a graphic record of the conversations taking place in the room.  Follow the link below to read a detailed thesis by Dr Margo Bristow on the use of PATH by educational Psychologists in the UK.  AN EXPLORATION OF THE USE OF PATH (A PERSON-CENTRED PLANNING TOOL) BY EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS WITH VULNERABLE AND CHALLENGING PUPILS  The findings indicate that PATH impacted positively and pupils attributed increased confidence and motivation to achieve their goals to their PATH. Parents and young people felt they had contributed to the process as equal partners, feeling their voices were heard. Improved pupil- parent relationships and parent-school relationships were reported and the importance of having skilled facilitators was highlighted. Although participants were generally positive about the process, many felt daunted beforehand, possibly due to a lack of preparation. Pre-PATHplanning and post-PATH review were highlighted as areas requiring further consideration by PATH organisers. Recommendations to shape and improve the delivery of PATH are outlined together with future research directions.

Circle of Friends is an approach to enhancing the inclusion, in a mainstream setting, of any child or young person who is experiencing difficulties in school because of disability, personal crisis or because of their challenging behaviour towards others. The ‘circle of friends’ approach works by mobilising the young person’s peers to provide support and engage in problem solving with the person in difficulty. Online Course now available via Teachable Platform – Creating Circles ofFriends Learn at your own pace… lots of text and video support Course Category Inclusion Peer Support Behaviour and Relationships Autism and Communication Description Circle of Friends is an approach to enhancing the inclusion, in a mainstream setting, of any child or young person who is experiencing difficulties in school because of disability, personal crisis or because of their challenging behaviour towards others. The ‘circle of friends’ approach works by mobilising the young person’s peers to provide support and engage in problem solving with the person in difficulty. ‘Circle of friends’ is not the same as ‘circle time’ but many of the skills and techniques used by teachers in ‘circle time’ can be used to support the ‘circle of friends’ process. Over the past 12 years Colin Newton and Derek Wilson have been encouraging the use of ‘circle of friends’ in a wide variety of primary and secondary schools, often with very successful outcomes. Some of these are described in their books ‘Circles of Friends’, (Folens, 1999) and ‘Creating Circles of Friends’ (Inclusive Solutions, 2005). This is an excellent opportunity to learn from Colin Newton and Derek Wilson the educational psychologists who brought this Department of Education endorsed approach to the UK. Learn how to build teams around challenging pupils by drawing on a resource which is always there…. other children. Enjoy participating in a multi media workshop that will challenge, entertain and reach for your emotions. Circles of support are for us all, for life…. and they work! Testimonials ‘Absolutely fantastic session – so thought provoking and positive.’ ‘Well presented excellent course’ ‘Wonderful, mind blowing day. Lots of children and young people there we need to really see – not treat’ ‘Excellent presentation, lively, modern, current – definitely got the attention. Course gave great food for thought and I feel confident that this way of working will have a place in the future of our school. Learning Objectives To be able to understand the values and wider context of inclusion To be able to set up and run a ‘circle of friends’ to reduce likelihood of a pupil being excluded or segregated To understand and be able to maximise the power of the peer group in supporting relationships, achievement and behaviour Who Is It For ? Primary and secondary teachers Heads and Deputies SENCOs Learning Support and Guidance staff Advanced Skills Teachers Parents Local Authority Support Services Community Development workers Early Years and School based Practitioners Course Content The course answers the questions: What do you do with the child who is isolated by their aggression and anger, through being different, disabled or new to the school or community? Practically how do we go about including high profile children or young people? How can we help some children be friends? We will cover: The importance of Welcome Inclusion values underpinning this work The Intentional Building of Relationships – ‘Circle of Friends’ work as an example Not doing it alone – The Importance of Teams in developing inclusive practice Practical setting up of circles of friends Lessons learned Stories of circles in primary and secondary mainstream schools ^ Circles of Friends Training in Kiev, Ukraine