Person-centred Approaches in post-16 settings. A staff development course.

The objectives of the course are to:

• Be familiar with and have had practice in using range of person-centred thinking tools and approaches
• Know how to run person centred reviews
• be able to support students to gather person-centred information that contributes to person-centred plans, individual learning plans and person-centred learning reviews
• have been introduced to a structure that support students to think about employment and leading fulfilling lives and have considered ways that this can be embedded in the curriculum
• Identified ways in which person-centred approaches and tools can be used to underpin partnership work with other organisations

NIACE is part of the current (2011-13) DfE Preparation for Adulthood programme and this course will be offered on request to Pathfinder sides. Preparing for Adulthood website

Getting a Life programme. The course has been developed to have a particular focus on supporting people with learning difficulties to get a job.

The course can be is currently (2010) being delivered as part of the Getting a Life Programme. It is also available to be delivered in-house and tailored to provider's requirements.

To date the couse has been delivered:

• to staff working with people with learning difficulties in Further Education Colleges and Community Services, Connexions and work-based learning settings
• to staff working with people with mental health difficulties
• in-house to a college team working with learners with profound and multiple learning difficulties
• as part of the Getting a Life programme, a three-year cross-government project that is working with twelve demonstration sites in England. The programme supports a multi-agency team of key people from each site who can make decisions locally about what needs to happen to ensure that young people aged 14-25 years with learning disabilities go into paid employment and lead full lives. For more information see www.gettingalife.org.uk

The Person Centred Planning and Approaches course is for staff working with people with learning difficulties in Further Education Colleges, Adult and Community Education Services, Connexions and Work-based learning settings. 

This work in ongoing and the course is constantly being developed and updated to suit the needs of the courses participants and the services that they represent.

Participants on the person-centred reviews and approaches course have run person-centred learning reviews for learners, with the learners and involved parents and carers and outside agencies more.

Course participants have used the person-centred tools to:

• develop a more personalised curriculum
• help with problem  solving in the workplace
• improve the way the staff team collates and uses information about how learners communicate
• gather person-centred information for initial assessment and Individual Learning Plans.

Comments from staff who have run person-centred learning reviews:

"I like the room, visual format and all getting different pens and there being support for people to write."

"As a basic structure very effective, fits into education environment, gives it gravitas.  Timing was good, one hour is enough."

"Really good process, it can fit around the individual."

One participant commented at the end of four day course:

"I knew of person-centred planning and had attended some training. If asked I would have said that we practiced it - I now know better."

Yola Jacobsen
Programme Director
NIACE
yola.jacobsen@niace.org.uk