Professional Development Resources and Information

The Virtual School is committed to supporting our partners in developing their knowledge and understanding of care experienced young people and their lived experiences. The pages below offer some useful links to research and resources.

Follow this link to access the free Home Office funded course which introduces the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences and considers protective factors which can be used to help build resilience.
ACEs (acesonlinelearning.com)

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists support speech and language therapists by providing leadership, setting professional standards, facilitating research and promoting better education and training. They have also provided some excellent free training, via an e-learning tool for professionals working with children and young people.

This tool – called Mind Your Words (children and young people’s mental health) - aims to improve understanding of children and young people who have both mental health needs (or social emotional and mental health needs – SEMH) and speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

You can access the e-learning course for free at the link below. (Please be aware you will need to register and enrol to access the modules).
Mind Your Words – mental health e-learning course | RCSLT

Research in Practice (RiP) has brought together learning resources to support outcomes for young people leaving care. Follow the link below to access

https://www.researchinpractice.org.uk

The Children’s Commissioner for England has published a report focussing on the responses from children and young people in care to The Big Ask survey asking them about their lives.

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care has published a summary of engagement with care experienced children and young people (aged 10-25) since June 2021.

Download

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a guideline outlining how organisations, practitioners and carers should work together to deliver high-quality care, stable placements and nurturing relationships for cared for children and young people.

The NSPCC are committed to providing comprehensive services that help schools protect their pupils. This brochure for the NSPCC outlines all the support and services on offer in England.