Enquire about “Learn With Us” Training Resource here Genuine and rewarding partnership between family carers and services requires good support and training for staff.
With Learn With Us we have created a ground breaking film and training resource designed to respond to that learning need. The beautifully produced 45-minute documentary gives remarkable and unusual insights into the experiences of family carers, and of the staff who support their relatives with learning disabilities.
Our unique training resource provides all the materials required to facilitate a 3-hour workshop, using the film to generate discussion and with exercises and handouts to promote learning and effective partnership.
Watch a trailer for the film here:
“Learn With Us”
- A good three – way relationship between the person with a learning disability, their family and the support staff who look after them can be difficult to achieve.
- When the relationship goes well, it helps to improve the life of the service user and is greatly valued by the family. When it goes badly, and tensions and conflicts develop, everyone suffers.
- Our aim in making the ‘Learn With Us’ film was to increase understanding, reduce stereotypes and negative judgements from both “sides”, and help develop ideas for good practice.
- The film gives staff the opportunity to understand what family carers have had to cope with over the years and how this has affected them, and to think about the triangle of relationships that can be problematic. We also hear from staff and their managers about the challenges of working with families, and some of the skills and strategies needed.
Film and Training Resource
How the Learn With Us film and training resource pack can be used
We have discovered that making an opportunity for interactive discussion and learning is of most value to the people viewing the film. As a Training Resource it can be used :
- On its own, documentary style.
- On its own, followed by discussion in a one or two hour slot.
- Showing selected clips to illustrate points or generate discussion.
- As a half day workshop using the Training Pack.
The Training Pack can be used in different ways for social care and health staff, and related professions:
- Part of a staff induction programme
- Embedded in an organisation’s learning matrix
- Part of a course for students of social work, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, nursing, psychology and medicine
- Staff team training – multidisciplinary or single professional
- Awareness training for staff in related areas whose work brings them into contact with family carers of people with learning disabilities, e.g. Housing and Finance Departments.
For Family Carers:
- In family carer groups to stimulate thought and discussion.
- To show their friends and relatives as a way of increasing their understanding of the experience of looking after an adult child with a learning disability.
Further information about the Training Resource Pack
Developed in partnership by Family Carers, Centre 404 and Islington’s Learning and Development Team.
“Learn With Us” is an educational film designed to be used in a training context. It isn’t a “how to” or instructional film, but ideas of good practice and ways of understanding family carers are woven into the interviews and role plays and help generate discussion.
Family Carers and Centre 404 worked together to develop a training resource using the DVD. Two facilitators lead each workshop, one of whom is a family carer with experience of a training role. This is not essential, but desirable if possible. During a 3-hour workshop the film is watched in sections, followed by facilitated discussion. Handouts pick up key points and group exercises encourage learning together.
The training pack contains everything needed to plan a session:
- The “Learn With Us” film on DVD and on USB stick in MP4 and USB formats.
- A suggested programme and timings for a 3 hour* workshop. (we have created a shorter 2hr session designed to be delivered virtually via MS Teams/Zoom)
- Notes and guidance to assist facilitators in leading discussions.
- Key quotes for the different sections of the workshop.
- How to prepare for and plan a training session.
- A transcript of the film’s dialogue, with the detailed timings for each person’s contribution.
- Two exercises to assist understanding.
- Five handouts with more detailed information about issues raised in the film.
- And the poem “For My Daughter” by Jo Roach that opens the film and sets the tone.
Training for Trainers workshops
We offer social service organisations, providers and colleges a Training for Trainers workshop. This enables managers, tutors and student supervisors to learn first-hand from our experienced facilitators how to run courses and workshops successfully. They can then run the workshops themselves.
For more information about workshops and the Trainers Resource Pack, contact us at:
Email: learnwithus@centre404.org.uk
Phone: 020 7607 8762
Twitter: @LWU_LearnWithUs
Facebook.com/LWULearnWithUs
Jo Roach’s beautiful poem ‘For My Daughter’ features in both the Learn With Us film and the accompanying training resource.
Learn With Us Webinar
Facilitated by Learning Disability England, we ran a highly successful webinar which can be watched below. A good overview of Learn With Us, the webinar includes several extracts from the film and discussion of some of the workshop materials:
Mind the Gap(s)
Introducing ‘Mind The Gap(s)’ – Learning From Reflection.
Co-produced with the Family Carers Action Group and Islington Learning Disabilities Partnership, ‘Mind The Gap(s)’ is the second film we have made. It presents four fictional stories of conflict between families and social workers. These were devised from focus group discussions with professionals and family carers which highlighted frequent areas of difficulty. In the scenarios, professional actors play the parts of family carers, relatives, and social workers. Two separate panels of family carers and of professionals comment, ‘goggle-box’ style, on what has happened.
The story lines are compelling and realistic, the acting is outstanding, the comments insightful. The film allows us to take a step back and think in depth about the difficulties that emerge in relationships between families and social services.
The film was piloted in facilitated workshops for professionals and students in Islington. It produces lively debate and enthusiastic feedback. The hope is it will become a valuable learning resource in health and social care in colleges and workplaces nationwide.
Please contact us for more details on ‘Mind the Gap(s)’.
Learn With Us news
-
Autism Professionals Conference - 10th Anniversary, 7-8 March 2019
7-8 March 2019, ICC Birmingham
Members of the Learn With Us team are presenting a breakfast workshop at the National Autistic Society’s upcoming annual Autism Professionals Conference on 8 March 2019. We’ll be talking about ‘Challenging Relationships – Professionals and Families’.
Book your ticket and find out more: http://bit.ly/2BShoAV
-
Community Living Magazine article
We are delighted to have a two page spread in Community Living Magazine. We wrote about “Learn With Us – Working in Partnership with Family Carers”, our film and training resource, and then introduced our sequel “Mind the Gap(s) – Learning from Reflection”. This new film presents four acted scenarios of conflict between families and social services, with “goggle box” style comments and discussions.
Follow the link to find out more.
https://www.cl-initiatives.co.uk/current/current-issue/ -
Workshops with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
In September and November we were delighted to run two workshops for the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, with a third workshop to run in February. During these whole day workshops we worked with large groups of multi-disciplinary health professionals and explored issues prompted by both our Learn With Us and Mind The Gap(s) films.
We very much look forward to continuing our work in Sussex.
-
UCL research in to the impact of Learn With Us
Throughout 2018 we were pleased to be the subject of a piece of research work being conducted by UCL Phd student Nadia Dandan. Nadia attended workshops taking place within Islington, Westminster and Centre 404 to carry out research in to the impact Learn With Us has on staff members attending. Research was carried out via situational questionnaires and face to face interviews. We are very excited to hear the results of this research once published.
Testimonials
Learn With Us has been widely used within Islington and increasingly outside the borough. So far we have worked with, amongst others, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Camphill Village Trust, Outward, Westminster City Council, London Borough of Islington and Centre 404.
Click through the slides to hear what people have said about us:
