Supporting the Professional Development
of Frontline Workers in Schools:
A skills-focussed training programme enhancing
collaborative practice with children and families
with complex needs
Dr Sheena Kapur
Clinical Psychologist
Luton Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Early Intervention and Prevention Service
Aims of Workshop
For delegates to have an understanding of:
• How we identified the need for this training for frontline
staff in schools
• The process of setting up and delivering the training
• The content of the training
• Evaluation of the training
• The practice support required post-training
Background Information
• History of Luton CAMH Community Service (Tier 2)
• Delivery of training to Family Support Workers in Luton
(2004)
• Introduction of Targeted Mental Health in Schools
initiative (2008) provided further opportunity to offer
training to frontline workers (FLWs) in schools
TAMHS FLW Working Group
• Representatives from local authority, schools and
CAMHS came together to consider the training needs of
frontline staff in their schools (consultation period)
• The group identified that existing training for FLWs had
been focussed on acquiring knowledge of policy and
procedures (e.g. CP issues) or developing specific skills
(e.g. solution-focussed training)
• However, training had provided limited opportunities for
staff to reflect on their work with children and families
Challenges faced by FLWs
• Management of challenging behaviour and stressful
situations with children and families
• Feeling overwhelmed by complex difficulties presented
to them
• Recognition of lack of skills in responding effectively to
children and families with complex needs
• Limited time to stop and think about the impact on self
and feelings evoked from working with complex issues
on daily basis
• Feeling isolated and unsupported in their roles
Challenges faced by FLWs
• Extended periods of time supporting families
• Sense of personal responsibility in trying to problem
solve for children and their families, including taking a
lead role in liaising with other agencies
• Feelings of frustration when positive outcomes are not
so easily found
FLW Training
The training aimed to:
• Provide a theoretical basis from which delegates could
start to develop more of an exploratory approach to their
work with children and families over a “problem-solving”
approach
• Promote the importance of self-care and professional
boundaries as a means of helping the delegates manage
their workloads more effectively
FLW Training Delegates
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Family Support Workers
Inclusion Managers
SENCOs
Teaching Assistants
Learning Mentors
Assistant Heads of Houses (secondary schools)
Promoting a Reflective Approach
• Open reflections on dilemmas that arise in the delegates’
work
• Different methods for reflecting: large group discussions,
work in small groups/pairs, personal learning logs
• Feedback invited from every session helped to shape
the next session
Confidentiality essential
FLW Training: Introduction
• Introductory Exercise: Reflections on how stories about
our names (within family, social, work contexts) influence
our identity, how we can get positioned by stories and
how we position ourselves in relation to these (Harre &
Langenhove, 1999)
• Skills which enable effective communication: Rogerian
principles (Rogers, 1967). Promoting importance of
empathy, active listening, effective non-verbal
communication, use of open questions
Promoting a Systemic Approach
Systemic
• Focus on relationships
Non-systemic
• Focus on individual
• Focus on interactions and
how we influence each
other
• Focus on linear
explanations e.g. A
causes B
• Understanding how all
connected people
contribute to difficulties
• More interest in the
individual (e.g. the child)
and how he/she operates
independently
Systemic Concepts: Curiosity
• Being open to multiple explanations of presenting
concerns versus having a fixed idea of problem
• As Cecchin (1987) explains: “when we assume that we
have an explanation, we often give up looking for other
descriptions”
• Explanations are neither true or false, but more or less
useful
• Being curious encourages the development of multiple
perspectives and voices
Social Difference
The GRRAACCEESS (Roper-Hall, 1993)
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Gender
Race
Religion
Ability and Disability
Age
Culture
Class
Ethnicity
Education
Sexual Orientation
Spirituality
Application of Concepts
• Small group exercise with case example
• Selecting one of the GRRAACCEESS as a lens
to inform delegates’ curiosity about the case
Additional Systemic Concepts/Techniques
• Taking into account “multiple perspectives” e.g.
the perspectives of other family members
(parents, grandparents, siblings), as well as
other professionals involved with a child
(teachers, FWs, TAs, LMs, etc.)
• Use of genograms as a technique for exploring
concerns within family context
Promoting Self-Care
• Consideration of professional boundaries,
inviting delegates to consider the position they
would take in dilemmas described in case
examples
• Recognising the factors that contribute to stress
• Mapping out and reflecting on support systems
Connecting Theory to Practice
• Introduction of peer supervision model (Proctor,
1997)
• Follow-up (half-day) practice sets based on
Proctor’s model
Training Evaluation
• Post-training satisfaction questionnaires
• Pre- and post-training asking about delegates’
understanding of the key theoretical ideas
presented in the training
• Semi-structured interviews
Training Evaluation: Impact on Practice
• Taking a curious approach
- “I think thinking about being more curious has made me think it’s
okay to ask more questions”
• Taking a facilitator role
- “We can be there but we can’t stop things happening unless they
make a decision to make a change. So hopefully we’re facilitating
change”
• Use of specific technique (genogram)
- “That enabled me to be a bit more curious and I asked more
questions about other members of the family…and it highlighted the
effected relationships”
• Understanding social differences
- “it’s useful because…it reminds you that that “oh I’ve never really
discussed this aspect, I haven’t discussed the cultural aspect…..the
ethnicity or gender issues”
Any questions?
sheena.kapur@sept.nhs.uk