TSD standards (England) & The L&D Framework (Wales)
Section 31 Training courses cover a range of issues and aims to give foster carers and social care staff as many tools in their box as possible.
Below you will see which courses are relevant in regards to the Training, Support 7 Development (TSD) Standards and Learning & Development (L&D) Framework Wales.
TSD Standards
Understand the principles and values essential for fostering children
and young people
| Growing Up In Care: Lived Experience | Teenage Challenging Behaviours | Capturing The Journey | Identity & Self Esteem | An Introduction to Fostering | The Child’s World | Self-Awareness | Creative Ways of Engaging With Young People | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 Principles and Values | ||||||||
| 1.2 Equality, inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice | ||||||||
| 1.3 Person centred approaches | ||||||||
| 1.4 Confidentiality and sharing information |
Understand your role as a foster carer
| Growing Up In Care: Lived Experience | Teenage Challenging Behaviours | Capturing The Journey | Identity & Self Esteem | An Introduction to Fostering | The Child’s World | Self-Awareness | Creative Ways of Engaging With Young People | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 Fostering role | ||||||||
| 2.2 Legislation, policies and procedures | ||||||||
| 2.3 Relationships with parents and others | ||||||||
| 2.4 Team working | ||||||||
| 2.5 Being Organised | ||||||||
| 2.6 Complaints and compliments |
Understand health and safety, and health care
| Growing Up In Care: Lived Experience | Teenage Challenging Behaviours | Capturing The Journey | Identity & Self Esteem | An Introduction to Fostering | The Child’s World | Self-Awareness | Creative Ways of Engaging With Young People | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 Legislation, policies and procedures | ||||||||
| 3.2 Accommodation | ||||||||
| 3.3 Healthy care and medication | ||||||||
| 3.4 Personal safety and security |
Know how to communicate effectively
| Growing Up In Care: Lived Experience | Teenage Challenging Behaviours | Capturing The Journey | Identity & Self Esteem | An Introduction to Fostering | The Child’s World | Self-Awareness | Creative Ways of Engaging With Young People | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 Encourage communication | ||||||||
| 4.2 Knowing about communication | ||||||||
| 4.3 Communication with parents, families and friends | ||||||||
| 4.4 Communication with organisations | ||||||||
| 4.5 Principles of keeping good records |
Understanding the development of children and young people
| Growing Up In Care: Lived Experience | Teenage Challenging Behaviours | Capturing The Journey | Identity & Self Esteem | An Introduction to Fostering | The Child’s World | Self-Awareness | Creative Ways of Engaging With Young People | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 Attachment and stages of development | ||||||||
| 5.2 Resilience | ||||||||
| 5.3 Transitions | ||||||||
| 5.4 Supporting play, activities and learning | ||||||||
| 5.5 Supporting educational potential | ||||||||
| 5.6 Understanding contexts | ||||||||
| 5.7 Promoting positive health and sexuality | ||||||||
| 5.8 Supporting disabled children and children with special educational needs |
Keep children and young people safe from harm
| Growing Up In Care: Lived Experience | Teenage Challenging Behaviours | Capturing The Journey | Identity & Self Esteem | An Introduction to Fostering | The Child’s World | Self-Awareness | Creative Ways of Engaging With Young People | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 Legislation, policies and processes | ||||||||
| 6.2 Keeping children safe | ||||||||
| 6.3 Recognising and responding to abuse | ||||||||
| 6.4 Working with other agencies | ||||||||
| 6.5 ‘Whistle-blowing’ (reporting failures in duty) |
Develop yourself
| Growing Up In Care: Lived Experience | Teenage Challenging Behaviours | Capturing The Journey | Identity & Self Esteem | An Introduction to Fostering | The Child’s World | Self-Awareness | Creative Ways of Engaging With Young People | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 Your role as a foster carer | ||||||||
| 7.2 Being aware of the impact of fostering on your sons and daughters and extended family | ||||||||
| 7.3 Using support and supervision to develop your role | ||||||||
| 7.4 Meeting learning needs as part of continuing professional development (CPD) | ||||||||
| 7.5 Career progression |
Foster carers play an extremely important role, providing much needed support and
security for often very vulnerable children, and enabling their successful transition
into independent adult life. Fostering is a challenging role and requires skills and
dedication
The Training, Support and Development (TSD) standards form part of a foster carer’s
induction in the role. They provide a national minimum benchmark that sets out what
foster carers should know, understand and be able to do within the first 12-18 months
after being approved
These standards were developed by the sector and were introduced in 2007 and
apply to all approved foster carers in England
The TSD Standards provide a national minimum benchmark to set out what all foster
carers should know, understand and be able to do within the first 12 months of
approval. They form part of a national strategy, supported by the Department for
Education, to raise the profile of foster carers as valued professionals and to improve
and standardise service provision for looked after children.
All foster care providers are expected to engage with their foster carers to support
them in achieving the TSD Standards. This ensures that the Standards are delivered
in a way which allows carers to understand how the standards support them in their
caring role, encouraging them to build on any areas for development identified in their
assessment.
It is the government’s view that all foster carers who are approved under the
Fostering Services Regulations should complete the TSD Standards, which
are designed to equip all foster carers with the skills and knowledge to provide high
quality care to the children they look after. The TSD Standards are also now a
requirement of the National Minimum Standards (Fostering)
Completion of the TSD Standards is a requirement for all approved foster carers in
England and is referenced within the National Minimum Standards for Fostering
Services 2011.
Further information about the TSD Standards for Foster Care can be
accessed here.
L&D Framework (Wales)
| Growing Up In Care: Lived Experience | Teenage Challenging Behaviours | Capturing The Journey | Identity & Self Esteem | The Child’s World | An Introduction to Fostering | Self-Awareness | Creative Ways of Engaging With Young People | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safeguarding | ||||||||
| Supporting Education and Development | ||||||||
| Safer Caring and Allegations | ||||||||
| Working with Birth Families and Contact | ||||||||
| Recording, Presenting and Information Sharing | ||||||||
| Transitions for Children and Young People | ||||||||
| Promoting Good Health and Well-being | ||||||||
| Life Journey Work | ||||||||
| Developing a Secure Base and Promoting Attachment | ||||||||
| Understanding Challenging Behaviour and Promoting Positive Strategies | ||||||||
| Advocacy and Children’s Rights | ||||||||
| Therapeutic Re-parenting | ||||||||
| Moving Children onto Adoption | ||||||||
| Digital Safety and Social Media Awareness | ||||||||
| Advanced Attachment and Trauma | ||||||||
| Fostering Sons and Daughters and the Involvement of Extended Family | ||||||||
| Advanced Safer Caring and Risk Management | ||||||||
| Caring for Children and Young People with Additional Needs | ||||||||
| Child Sexual Exploitation | ||||||||
| Advanced Strategies to Deal with Challenging Behaviour | ||||||||
| Promoting Independence | ||||||||
| Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health | ||||||||
| Living with Teenagers | ||||||||
| Taking Care of Yourself and Each Other | ||||||||
| Therapeutic Play | ||||||||
| Substances and Addiction | ||||||||
| Domestic Abuse | ||||||||
| Equality and Diversity | ||||||||
| County Lines | ||||||||
| Court Skills |
One of the National Fostering Framework’s (NFF)
workstreams was the development of a Post-approval
Learning and Development Framework for foster carers
across Wales.
The Fostering Network and AFA Cymru led on
the development of a Learning and Development
Framework. Extensive consultation with foster carers
across Wales took place which made a significant
contribution to this work.
Foster carers were unanimous in their view that whilst
pre-approval training was of a consistently high
standard post-approval training was not. Foster carers
across Wales considered they did not have the same
opportunities to access training and development,
due to the variations in local training programmes.
The purpose of the Framework is to provide a basis
for a national approach that can underpin a more
consistent approach to learning and development
for foster carers across Wales. It is hoped that the
development of a more consistent approach to
post-approval training for foster carers will provide a
platform for fostering services to exploit the potential
benefits of regional working, should they choose.
The Framework recognises the importance of
providing an individualised approach to learning and
development for foster carers, driven by circumstances,
strengths, vulnerabilities and the needs of the children
they foster. More information on this framework can be found here.
