Courses

Jun

12

Tue

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Running a successful Social Enterprise Children’s Centre 12/06/2012 (all-day)

Jun 12

An Intensive one day Training Course

Are you looking for:

A practical no nonsense training course as to how to set up and run your Children’s Centre as a Social Enterprise?
Succinct analysis of how you would do this?
Expert advice and experiences from an existing Social Enterprise Children’s Centre?
A methodology and Framework to guide you through the process of setting up a Children’s Centre as a Social Enterprise?
Clear tips as to how to get the process started back at your Children’s Centre?
A way to have greater control over your Children’s Centre future?
All of the above delivered in a highly professional, hands-on, cost effective package by one of the first Social Enterprise Children’s Centres and by one of the leading companies in the delivery of Children’s Centres Training and Consultancy

Training Course Objectives

Be aware of the different types of models and governance arrangements available for running a Children’s Centre as a Social Enterprise;
Have increased knowledge and confidence as to how they would set up and run a Social Enterprise Children’s Centre;
Listened to detailed case studies of how Millmead Children’s Centre in Margate, Kent, set up and continues to run successfully;
Have increased ability to create the vital conditions for successful creation of a Social Enterprise;
Understand thoroughly the Commissioning process for future Children’s Centre Service Delivery and how you would bid for this;
Have the very latest tools, techniques, and templates that will enable you to hit the ground running back at your Children’s Centre;
Have increased knowledge of the further support and advice available if you decide to pursue this route for future service delivery at your Children’s Centre.

Timetable

9.15 – 9.30	Registrations. Refreshments.
9.30 – 9.45	Session 1 – Introductions Why we are here? Training Course Objectives Who are you? Who are we?
9.45 – 11.00	Session 2 Setting the Scene – a future? The Early Years Policy Statement Commissioning Strategies for Local Authorities Payment By Results Communities and Localism Bill Considering the Options Needs Analysis Undertaking a robust Options Appraisal
11.00 – 11.15	Refreshment Break
11.15 – 12.00	Session 3 – First Steps What is a Mutual? The Continuum of Mutuals Benefits of Mutuals Successful and sustainable Mutuals – Case Studies
12.00 – 12.30	Session 4 – The Millmead Experience – A Case Study Early Days – Rationale for adopting Community Mutual status Overview of the Process followed Challenges Experienced Conditions for Success and Key learning points What has the Community Mutual achieved?
2.30 – 13.15	Lunch & Networking
13.15 – 14.15	Session 5 How to do it? First Steps Assessing and monitoring the Risks – group exercise
(Includes five minutes Refreshment Break)14.15 – 15.30	Session 6 – How to do it? (Continued) The Key Work Streams & Preparing for Hard Work Producing a Plan – group exercise
15.30 – 15.45	Session 7 – Further Support – Where to get further help? Sources of support and help Your next steps?
15.45 – 16.00	Session 8 – Training Course Evaluation

Training Course Facilitators

Mark Harwood

Mark Harwood – Director, Skills for Local Authorities

Founding Director of Skills for Local Authorities, a company that specialises in providing innovative training and consultancy solutions for Local Authorities, in particular Children’s Centres.

Since forming, Skills for Local Authorities, have trained over 7250 staff in Local Authorities, including training over 6250 Children’s Centre Managers, Advisory Board Members and staff.

Before starting Skills for Local Authorities, Mark has over 16 years experience working in Local Authorities, including the last 6 years spent as a Senior Manager in Children’s Services where he delivered a number of complex multi-agency Programmes.

Mark is highly regarded as a trainer and facilitator as his style is knowledgeable, enthusiastic, participative, practical and highly entertaining.

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Running a successful Social Enterprise Children’s Centre 12/06/2012 (all-day)

Jun

19

Tue

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Increasing Registrations, Participations & Effective Engagement with the Hard to Reach 19th June 2012 London (all-day)

Jun 19

A Master Class Marketing and Promoting your Children’s Centre

Are your staff and you confident in marketing and promoting your Children’s Centre to ensure that:

Registrations of your Reach Area are maximised
Participation rates are improving
Your target groups are effectively engaged

Is a Registration Rate of above 90% as a target for Payment by Results achievable, and if so how do you do this?

How do you improve participation rates across your Centres Super Output Areas?

Can your Children’s Centre demonstrate for Ofsted Inspection that it is shaping services to the needs of users, including targeted groups?

Do you want to take the stress out of preparing a marketing and communications plan for your Children’s Centre?

Do you want to learn tried and tested marketing and promotional techniques that you can successfully implement at your Children’s Centre?

How do you carry out an effective, meaningful and low cost Annual Satisfaction Survey with all your Registered and Reach Area?

Does using Social Networking medias such as Facebook and Twitter engage the Hard to Reach, and if so what do you need to consider in developing strategies to do this?

Introduction

This new, challenging and engaging course looks at how Children’s Centres can effectively, efficiently, and successfully, market and promote themselves in innovative and diverse ways. Not for those who enjoy the status quo, this day delivers a huge amount of new, exciting information, tools and successful techniques that participants can quickly apply to their own Children’s Centres.

With lots of case studies, relevant examples of the good, the bad and the ugly in practices of marketing and promotion in Children’s centres, this Course delivers!

Course Objectives

This course is designed to allow participants to:

Reflect and evaluate upon current performance at their Children’s Centre in marketing and promotional activities.
Identify where cost effective improvements can be made to boost their Children’s Centre’s marketing performance and impact.
To produce a marketing and promotion plan for your Children’s Centre that delivers results you can use for Ofsted Inspection.
Feel more confident in marketing and promoting your Children’s Centre and its services.
Promote and share your learning with your colleagues.
Have a better understanding of how to establish and evaluate the needs of users and non-users, including hard to reach groups.
To evaluate the success of marketing and promotional activities, and build these into your Children’s centres Performance Management Cycle.
Take away a thorough understanding of the principles of marketing, the marketing mix, and their application to Children’s Centres.

Timetable

9.00 – 9.30	Arrival and Refreshments
9.30 – 9.45	Session 1 – IntroductionsCourse ObjectivesGroup Exercise
9.45 – 10.45	Session 2 – A race without a Finish LineThe context of marketing in a Children’s CentreWhere are you now with your Marketing?The environment within which you operate
10.45 – 11.00	Refreshment Break
11.15 – 12.30	Session 3 – What is Marketing? A search for a definitionProducts v ServicesThe 7 P’s v 4 P’sPrinciples of Marketing and their application to Children’s Centres
12.30 – 13.30	Lunch and opportunity to book in one to one time with facilitators
13.30 – 14.30	Session 4 – Targeting and Positioning your ServicesCommunity ProfilingWho are your users and non-users?A Service and user Life CycleMapping your services and targeting your PortfolioEvidence for Ofsted InspectionHard to Reach and Targeting Groups
14.30 – 15.00	Session 5 - The power of CommunicationGetting your message across- How?Branding and it’s importance to Children’s CentresCase Studies
15.00 – 15.15	Tea and Coffee Break
15.15 – 16.00	Session 7 - Delivering a Marketing Plan for your Children’s CentreSOSTAC – a new successful approachA template and for marketing success
16.00 – 16.15	Session 8 – Course Evaluation, Next steps and Formal Closure

Facilitator

Mark Harwood

Mark Harwood is Founding Director of Skills for Local Authorities. Practicing what he promotes, in just under four years, Skills for Local Authorities, have trained over 7,250 Children’s Centre Managers, staff and Advisory Board Members in a number of exciting, dynamic and new Courses, to exceptional reviews by participants. He has also worked with over 122 Local Authorities and 250 Children’s Centres on a range of training and consultancy solutions.

Mark is passionate about ensuring as many Children’s Centres as possible develop a better understand how they can become effective marketers, and thus benefit from the many techniques the discipline has to offer. Not least in ensuring that every parent in the Country knows what a Sure Start Children’s Centre is.

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Increasing Registrations, Participations & Effective Engagement with the Hard to Reach 19th June 2012 London (all-day)

Sep

21

Fri

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Becoming an Outstanding Children’s Centre under the new OFSTED Grading Descriptors 21st September 2012 Birmingham (all-day)

Sep 21

A One Day Master Class

Do your staff and you want to know how to become an outstanding Children’s Centre?

Do you want to know how to become an Outstanding Children’s Centre using the new OFSTED Grading Descriptors?

Are you keen to further develop your Performance Management systems at your Centre so that you can demonstrate the “So what?”

How do you prepare confidently and stress free for OFSTED Inspection of your Centre?

What are the key questions OFSTED Inspectors ask and who do they ask?

How do you ensure that your SEF reflects the hard work, effort and quality of what your Centre is doing?

Can you critically challenge your current practices and systems?

What are the key learning points and lessons learned from OFSTED Inspections since September 2011?

Do you want to be able to use a proven set of tools, techniques and templates that will enable you to focus your OFSTED preparations?

Have you got a clear route map on which you can prioritise your efforts?

Do you want all of the above delivered by not one but TWO Outstanding Graded Children’s Centre Managers?

Introduction

This new, challenging and engaging course looks at how Children’s Centres can become outstanding. The day focuses on finding out how all Children’s Centres can learn from one another, in particular from those who have been judged as Outstanding in their Inspections since September, 2011.

Delivered by two Children’s Centre Managers who have been judged Outstanding, the Course delivers a huge amount of new, exciting information and tools, as well as proven techniques that participants can quickly apply to their own Children’s Centres in their improvement journey.

Course Objectives

This course is designed to allow participants to:

Reflect and evaluate upon current performance management systems at their Children’s Centre.
Identify where mprovements can be made to boost their Children’s Centre’s readiness for OFSTED Inspection.
Feel more confident in preparing their Children’s Centre for OFSTED Inspection.
Promote and share their learning with their colleagues.
Have a better thorough understanding of how to become an Outstanding Children’s Centre.
Critically challenge their current systems of evidence collection.
Be able to use a proven set of tools, techniques and templates that will enable you to focus them on their journey to becoming outstanding.
Create a clear route map which they can focus their progress. .

Timetable

9.00 – 9.30	Arrival and Refreshments
9.30 – 9.45	Session 1 – IntroductionsCourse ObjectivesGroup Exercise
9.45 – 10.45	Session 2 – A Systems Approach to becoming Outstanding Knowing your CommunityDeveloping an end to end process for developing and delivering servicesEmbedding answers to the “SO WHAT?”The future of OFSTED Inspections of Children’s Centres
10.45 – 11.00	Refreshment Break
11.15 – 12.30	Session 3 – Becoming Outstanding at Six Bells in MargateBrief overview of the actual process- from call to feedbackThings that we did well and things that would have helpedExamples of evidence that was useful and examples of those that were less helpfulEvidence of Impact- what OFSTED Inspectors are looking forGrade Descriptors- some challenging areas and examplesBriefing your staff and key stakeholdersExamples of questions and what they were looking forChecklists for Safeguarding and Equality and DiversityTop tips for Inspection
12.30 – 13.30	Lunch and opportunity to network with other participants
13.30 – 14.30	Session 4 – Becoming Outstanding at Trospacc Children’s Centre in HavantWho are we?What we do?Our OFSTED Inspection – the processKey FindingsLessons for you to implement
14.30 – 15.00	Session 5 - Becoming Outstanding – the Key Work StreamsPlanning, Porfolios of Evidence and PreparationGetting your message across- How?Tools and Templates
15.00 – 15.15	Tea and Coffee Break
15.15 – 15.45	Session 5 - Continued
16.00 – 16.15	Session 8 – Course Evaluation, Next steps and Formal Closure

Facilitators

Mark Harwood is Founding Director of Skills for Local Authorities. Practicing what he promotes, in just under four years, Skills for Local Authorities, have trained over 7,250 Children’s Centre Managers, staff and Advisory Board Members in a number of exciting, dynamic and new Courses, to exceptional reviews by participants. He has also worked with over 122 Local Authorities and 250 Children’s Centres on a range of training and consultancy solutions.

Mark is passionate about ensuring as many Children’s Centres as possible develop a better understand how they can become effective marketers, and thus benefit from the many techniques the discipline has to offer. Not least in ensuring that every parent in the Country knows what a Sure Start Children’s Centre is.

Centre Manager. Six Bells Childrens Centre, Margate, Kent

.“Six Bells is an outstanding children’s centre which provides exceptionally high quality services and makes a really positive difference to families’ lives. Parents and carers praise the staff for their care, sensitivity and responsiveness.”

OFSTED Inspection Report. Six Bells Children’s Centre, Margate, December, 2011

Centre Manager. Trospacc Childrens Centre, Havant. Outstanding OFSTED Inspection. March, 2012.

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Becoming an Outstanding Children’s Centre under the new OFSTED Grading Descriptors 21st September 2012 Birmingham (all-day)

Sep

26

Wed

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Becoming an Outstanding Children’s Centre under the new OFSTED Grading Descriptors 26th September 2012 London (all-day)

Sep 26