This training is facilitated by Lesley Pollard

This course meets the statutory requirements of the two-year Refresher Training for Designated Safeguarding Leads in Northamptonshire schools.

As part of the Education Act 2002 and the latest Keeping Children Safe in Education, all schools must have a member of the leadership team as their Designated Safeguarding Lead. This person must take lead responsibility for dealing with child protection issues, referring concerns of significant harm, providing advice and guidance to support all staff to carry out their safeguarding duties, overseeing the school provision of early help and liaising with other agencies as required. This training must be updated every 2 years. This course is delivered by Lesley Pollard who is an experienced teacher, trainer and adviser. She currently works as an Independent Learning Adviser carrying out Safeguarding training and audits for a variety of providers as well as for individual schools.

Objectives:

• To consider the implications of national and local changes with regard to Safeguarding and Child Protection in Northamptonshire schools;
• To recap the role and responsibilities of the Designated Safeguarding Lead in school;
• To revisit the categories and possible indicators of the 4 categories of abuse, FGM, Forced Marriage, Grooming, CSE, So Called Honour-Based Violence, Radicalisation and Extremism, Gang Culture, County Lines, Child Criminal Exploitation;
• To understand the impact of issues such as Child-On-Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Parental Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Homelessness, Appearing in Court and Mental Health problems on children/young people;
• To consider the role of the Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Partnership and reiterate the importance of interagency working from early help to referral (including the Signs of Safety approach);
• To consider the learning for schools from local and national Serious Case Reviews;
• To understand the requirements relating to keeping, transferring and archiving Child Protection and Early Help records;
• To consider how best to communicate with children and parents/carers regarding Child Protection issues.

This session is led by Aarti Kumari (Public Health Officer for Suicide Prevention) and Kate Houghton (Training Co-ordinator for Mental Health and Wellbeing) from Public Health (West Northamptonshire Council)

Audience: The session is suitable for Pastoral Leaders, DSLs, and  Leadership

The session will explore: 

• Suicide prevention work taking place in Northamptonshire
• Local and national data
• Myths and facts
• Compassionate language and conversation tips
• Postvention Support Package for educational establishments
• Local and national signposting
• Further training

The Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) online training programme will be utilised within the session.

Delivered by Kelly Hannaghan (Mind Work Matters)

Are you a new pastoral lead in a primary or secondary school, or an existing pastoral lead looking to enhance your skills?

This course is for anyone who works directly / indirectly with students and wants to provide support and gain an understanding of the role of the Pastoral Lead. Designed to equip you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to excel in your role. Suitable for Headteachers, teachers, SENCos, Pastoral Leads, support staff, and safeguarding leads.

Aims:

• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the vital role of school pastoral leads
• Build strong relationships with students, parents, and colleagues
• Identify and address student wellbeing issues early, fostering a nurturing and inclusive environment
• Develop skills to manage challenging situations, from difficult conversations to handling pastoral challenges
• Understanding safeguarding procedures, legal responsibilities, and collaboration with external agencies

This meeting is for Primary SENCo Leads who are members of the SWAN Alliance.

This meeting is for Primary Designated Safeguarding Leads who are members of the SWAN Alliance.

Delivered by James Rawbone and Sara-Jane Godfrey

Are you ready to lead and inspire coaching practice in your school?

This course is designed for staff who are stepping into or are already taking a lead in coaching. Whether you are an experienced coach or responsible for developing and supporting a team of coaches, this programme will strengthen your impact and confidence.

Open to both teaching and non-teaching staff across Primary and Secondary settings, the course is ideal for colleagues who are motivated to develop their coaching skills, embed high-quality coaching practice, and drive meaningful professional development within their school.

Prerequisite: Participants must have successfully completed the Introduction to Coaching training prior to attending the APOC programme.

Advanced coaches confidently utilise advanced techniques to increase their effectiveness and expertise. Through informal coaching conversations,

formal coaching sessions and structured coaching programmes, they ensure clarity, inspire confidence, and create momentum for colleagues, pupils,

and teams to achieve both professional and organisational goals. They can lead effective coaching across groups and teams.

The Aims:

• Understand Advanced Coaching: Clarify what advanced coaching is — and is not — and explore its powerful impact on improving teaching and learning/training, leadership practice, and communication and culture across your organisation.
• Develop advanced coaching expertise: Build your effectiveness as a coach by learning how to identify and work through a coachee’s limiting beliefs and deliver powerful feedback that moves thinking and practice forward.
• Master coaching models: Confidently apply a range of formal and informal coaching models to support impactful, high-quality coaching conversations.
• Lead impactful coaching at scale: Learn how to lead effective coaching across groups and teams, delivering clear value and confidently measuring impact.

There are two sessions to this training. The second session will be held on Friday, 10 July 2026, 9 am - 3:30 pm

This training is facilitated by James Rawbone

Key objectives:

To provide an introduction to coaching by exploring the differences between mentoring and coaching and identifying what are the key principles of effective coaching.

The training session will involve facilitated discussion on understanding what coaching is and is not, supported by opportunities for group discussion to unpick key elements of coaching.

There will be a focus on identifying the differences between mentoring and coaching, and the two key fundamentals to effective coaching of listening and responding.

The use of the GROW model to structure a coaching conversation will be explored, along with introducing some tools that can be used to self-evaluate the effectiveness of coaching.

Session Outcomes:

An understanding of what makes coaching different to mentoring. Introduction to skills that can be used to ensure that a coaching conversation is effective.

Note: This is a repeat of the February training.

Delivered by James Rawbone and Sara-Jane Godfrey

Are you ready to lead and inspire coaching practice in your school?

This course is designed for staff who are stepping into or are already taking a lead in coaching. Whether you are an experienced coach or responsible for developing and supporting a team of coaches, this programme will strengthen your impact and confidence.

Open to both teaching and non-teaching staff across Primary and Secondary settings, the course is ideal for colleagues who are motivated to develop their coaching skills, embed high-quality coaching practice, and drive meaningful professional development within their school.

Prerequisite: Participants must have successfully completed the Introduction to Coaching training prior to attending the APOC programme.

Advanced coaches confidently utilise advanced techniques to increase their effectiveness and expertise. Through informal coaching conversations,

formal coaching sessions and structured coaching programmes, they ensure clarity, inspire confidence, and create momentum for colleagues, pupils,

and teams to achieve both professional and organisational goals. They can lead effective coaching across groups and teams.

The Aims:

• Understand Advanced Coaching: Clarify what advanced coaching is — and is not — and explore its powerful impact on improving teaching and learning/training, leadership practice, and communication and culture across your organisation.
• Develop advanced coaching expertise: Build your effectiveness as a coach by learning how to identify and work through a coachee’s limiting beliefs and deliver powerful feedback that moves thinking and practice forward.
• Master coaching models: Confidently apply a range of formal and informal coaching models to support impactful, high-quality coaching conversations.
• Lead impactful coaching at scale: Learn how to lead effective coaching across groups and teams, delivering clear value and confidently measuring impact.

There are two sessions to this training. The second session will be held on Friday, 10 July 2026, 9 am - 3:30 pm