Threads of Success Training Update November 2019
Please find below an update of courses taking place over the next couple of months that still have available places. To read more, or book your place please click on the links below.
Targeted support for communication and language
This targeted level communication and language training builds on practitioner's knowledge, understanding and skills at universal level. It will support them with identifying children and supporting children's communication and language through targeted activities, practice and provision. It provides a range of activities, strategies and targeted interventions that will support the whole staff team to meet the communication and language needs of the range of children in their care.
This course is jointly written and delivered by the Kent Speech and Language Therapy Team, Specialist Teaching and Learning Service and the Early Years and Childcare, Equality and Inclusion Team.
Pre-course information: Practitioners will need to have first attended the one day universal course, The Prime Importance of Communication and Language, before attending this targeted level course.
This half day course will help you to:
- increase practitioner knowledge, understanding and skills in identifying and supporting children with language and communication needs at targeted level
- provide a range of strategies and targeted interventions to develop language and communication skills in the setting.
Date: Wednesday 4 December 2019
Time: 09:30 - 12:30
Venue: Tudor Park Marriott Hotel and Country Club, Ashford Road, Bearsted, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 4NQ
Individual price: within Kent: £40 +VAT; outside Kent: £60 +VAT
Group price: within Kent: £210 +VAT; outside Kent: £385 +VAT.
Sustained shared thinking: Why are clouds fluffy?
Do you spend time working problems out together with children rather than solving things for them? Research suggests that provisions which engage in and promote sustained, shared thinking provide and support the best outcomes for children’s learning and development.
This whole day training will support you to:
• define the term sustained, shared thinking and identify how this links to emotional wellbeing
• explore strategies to incorporate sustained, shared thinking into practice, considering the role of the adult
• demonstrate how the early years environment can play an important role in provoking children’s thinking skills.
Date: Thursday 23 January 2020
Time: 09:30 - 16:30
Venue: Tudor Park Marriott Hotel and Country Club, Ashford Road, Bearsted, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 4NQ
Individual price: within Kent: £80 +VAT; outside Kent: £118 +VAT
Group price: within Kent: £420 +VAT; outside Kent: £665 +VAT.
The linguistic child loving language
Do you use words such as “dishevelled, crenellation and herbivores” with your children? Research by Isabel Beck et al. explores the tiers of language and how we can teach words that the children will need for lifelong learning. You will hear how broad rich language experiences can be deepened by the power of story, rhyme, drama and song to fire children’s interests and imaginations. A range of activities will be shared that will help build a repertoire to be used in your setting.
This whole day training will support you to:
• explore your own attitudes to reading
• identify strategies which can enable children to develop children’s vocabulary
• investigate the practical applications of higher order language.
Date: Friday 24 January 2020
Time: 09:30 - 16:30
Venue: Hythe Imperial Hotel & Spa, Princes Parade, Hythe, Kent, CT21 6AE
Individual price: within Kent: £80 +VAT; outside Kent: £118 +VAT
Group price: within Kent: £420 +VAT; outside Kent: £665 +VAT.
Using Makaton with singing
‘Using Makaton with singing’ is a fun and easy way to learn to use signs with singing for young children. Signing and singing have been shown to encourage the development of communication and language skills and are beneficial for vocalisation, confidence, social skills, emotional development, well-being and self-esteem.
You will learn up to 100 signs and have fun practising them in songs adapted for different levels of ability.
The workshop is divided into four lively practical sessions covering:
• What is Makaton
• Tips for Signing
• Developing skills through signing and singing
• Using Makaton in my setting.
Date: Monday 27 January 2020
Time: 09:30 - 12:30
Venue: Holiday Inn - Ashford Central, Canterbury Road, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8QQ
Individual price: within Kent: £40 +VAT; outside Kent: £60 +VAT
Group price: within Kent: £210 +VAT; outside Kent: £385 +VAT.
Date: Thursday 30 January 2020
Time: 18:30 - 21:00
Venue: The Cornwallis Suite, Maidstone Masonic Centre, Courtenay Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 6LF
Individual price: within Kent: £40 +VAT; outside Kent: £60 +VAT
Group price: within Kent: £210 +VAT; outside Kent: £385 +VAT.
There is an additional charge for the manual of £6.50 each.
Marketing and promotion for success
Effective marketing will help you to maintain the long-term sustainability of your setting. The aim of the course is to consider the key elements of marketing and how you can build them into your marketing plan to inform existing parents/carers and attract new ones. The course will introduce you to a range of tools that will support you to review and evaluate your business, together with planning templates and practical marketing ideas to make you stand out from the crowd.You will also benefit from the cross-dissemination of ideas and inputs from other delegates and receive tailored guidance and support from an experienced early years and childcare professional.
After attending this course, you will have a better understanding of:
- the importance of marketing and planning
- how to identify key sales techniques and effective PR
- marketing methods
- digital marketing, including social media.
The course is ideal for managers and staff responsible for marketing and promoting an early years or out of school setting. It is also valuable to committee members, employees and volunteers with an interest in raising the profile of the setting.
Date: Monday 27 January 2020
Time: 09:30 - 12:30
Venue: Aylesham Business Hub, Ackholt Road, Aylesham, Canterbury, Kent, CT3 3AJ
Individual price: within Kent: KCC funded; outside Kent: £60 +VAT
Group price: within Kent: KCC funded; outside Kent: £385 +VAT.
Please bring your own packed lunch if you have booked 'How to break even and avoid bad debt' on the same day.
How to break even and avoid bad debt
Is your setting financially viable? Are you covering all your costs? Are you accruing or carrying bad debts? This course will demonstrate the impact on your business of accruing bad debts and teach you the break-even process, to help your business become sustainable. You will be provided with opportunities to reflect on your practice, benefit from the cross-dissemination of ideas and inputs from other delegates and receive tailored guidance and support from an experienced early years and childcare professional.
Up to 16 delegates can attend this event with a maximum of 2 delegates per setting.
This half day course will help you to:
• consider the impact of bad debt on your business and how this can be managed
• calculate your break-even
• look at ways of decreasing costs and increasing income.
This training can be delivered as a bespoke package to an individual setting, as a package to early years collaborations or tailored to your specific needs.
Date: Monday 27 January 2020
Time: 13:30 - 16:30
Venue: Aylesham Business Hub, Ackholt Road, Aylesham, Canterbury, Kent, CT3 3AJ
Individual price: within Kent: KCC funded; outside Kent: £60 +VAT
Group price: within Kent: KCC funded; outside Kent: £385 +VAT
Please bring your own packed lunch if you have booked 'Marketing and promotion for success' on the same day.
Sustained shared thinking and emotional wellbeing: making the audit work for you
Do you want to gain an understanding and increase your confidence to use the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing tool (SSTEW) as a self-evaluation tool?
This whole day early years training will support you to:
• explore the elements of the audit tool and how to complete it
• strengthen leadership, observation and monitoring skills to contribute to an objective and robust self-evaluative process
• develop strategies to build capacity within your workforce to use the tool effectively.
Date: Thursday 30 January 2020
Time: 09:30 - 16:30
Venue: The Cornwallis Suite, Maidstone Masonic Centre, Cornwallis Suite, Courtenay Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 6LF
Individual price: within Kent: £80 +VAT; outside Kent: £118 +VAT
Group price: within Kent: £420 +VAT; outside Kent: £665 +VAT.
The Kent County Council funded offer
The Kent County Council (KCC) funded offer via The Education People is available to providers of early education and/or childcare within KCC’s geographical boundaries, registered with Ofsted or the Department for Education and/or with KCC to deliver Free Entitlement places; this includes:
- Private, voluntary and independent group providers
- Out of school childcare providers
- Eligible childminders
- Schools and academies admitting children under four.
*Please note that non-eligible childminders can access some elements of the offer only.
