Local training that’s easy to understand and apply
Becoming a foster carer means you make a real difference to a young person’s life. It’s also a great opportunity to develop your personal and professional skills. From application to approval, you will be given all the training you need to begin caring for a child in care, but this is by no means where your learning stops. Along with some mandatory training, you’ll be able to focus on what you love most about fostering and improving your skills. We want to give you all the tools you need to be the best foster carer you can be.
"As Solihull foster carers, we have ongoing, quality training and regular support from our supervising social worker"
Training during assessment
All potential foster carers go through a training course to prepare them for the essential skills needed in this rewarding role. The course is run by our experienced social workers and there are opportunities to speak with current foster carers to hear their stories and share their experiences.
Ongoing training
Every day is a learning opportunity as a foster carer and a lot of what you will learn throughout your fostering journey will count towards building your Skill Level. There are three Skill Levels, each one focussing on different areas of fostering including therapeutic parenting, caring for additional needs and safeguarding.
"We've had fantastic training, great advice and we've exchanged numbers with other local foster carers too"
Approved carer
You have already completed our preparation course, and now as a newly approved foster carer, you’ll receive the entry-level Approved Carer fostering fee. It is absolutely fine to remain an approved carer but many of our carers decide to progress through the skill levels. Some of the first topics you will cover include:
-
Induction
-
First Aid
-
Safer Care
-
Equality and Diversity
-
Record Keeping
Level 1
After you have completed your initial training, you have an opportunity to work on further development. Level 1 training modules are all practical knowledge which will help you day to day in your foster care journey and get the most out of your role.
-
Understanding behaviour
-
Attachment
-
Understanding foster care
-
Development in children
-
Developing yourself
Level 2
Level 2 is designed to equip our carers to confidently care for children with more complex needs and to support the wider fostering community in Solihull. You can become a Level 2 carer once you have more experience as a foster carer in Solihull and the focus of your training and development will be:
-
Advanced Safeguarding
-
Therapeutic Parenting
-
Contributing to local groups
-
Supporting new foster carers
-
CSE training
"The social workers assigned to you, they're very supportive. They're just a phone call away"
Accessible resources
As a foster carer in Solihull, you also have access to a wide range of other resources and references to further your training and skill building. On this website, our blog is updated regularly with top tips, case studies, articles and resources that you may find useful to keep up to date with.
Foster for Solihull are also members of The Fostering Network who have an exceptional library of training resources for foster carers ranging from books to blogs to podcasts and even nationwide events, training sessions and conferences.