Circles Academy is a strong, well-established pillar of our work, designed to disseminate and deliver the best learning available for all. As an educational provider, the experience we have, combined with the expertise of our staff, volunteers, consultants, associates, individuals and their families is impossible to match.
The Academy is an essential segment of Circles Network and is open to participants of all ages. As a learning organisation we aspire to build information and development
opportunities that feed our desire for global knowledge of all aspects of inclusion, wellbeing and community cohesion.
We operate the Academy throughout the UK and beyond, with courses offered in a variety of settings.
In addition this this, our courses and workshops are designed to support everyone within a circle of support. From parents and carers, to individuals and their care teams.
We’ve created a tailored, bespoke learning and development Academy that offers a range of learning experiences, that focus on shifting attitudes and practices. We deliver a range of courses in health and social care, advocacy, person-centred approaches, neurolinguistic programming, coaching and facilitation, among other subjects.
Our style is flexible and inclusive, we aim to include real stories of change with the opportunity to learn from others who are 'experts by experience' - with facilitated learning sessions. People who have lived experiences of disability, discrimination and long-term exclusion have much to offer to enlighten hearts and minds towards future-proofing lifestyles of inclusion.
We’ve separate our offering into three sub groups as follows:
• Rural Academy
• Urban Academy
• Coaching and Mentoring
We've always offered open and authentic learning as an avenue towards development and change, and we will continue to do so in a pioneering and innovative fashion.
Circles Network offers alternative education to children and young people who learn best in environments that suit their needs. Working closely with families, guardians, schools and colleges we design and deliver courses in subjects such as:
English / Maths / Animal Care / Art / Science / Circles of Support / Work Experience / Equine Facilitated Learning / Health & Safety / Stable Management / Lego / Forest Schooling / Working in Nature.
Visit each of our regional pages to see what some of our local alternative education programmes look like.
This programme was set up in memory of our colleague and friend Rose Scott.
Life can be challenging and throw curve balls at us. The LifeSkills programme is focused, therefore, on helping anyone over the age of 18 in the community who needs support at transitory periods in their life.
It may be that they’re a parent who no longer cares for their child because they’ve gone to school, or they might keep getting rejected from job interviews with no explanation as to why.
Every 6 weeks we take on new groups of people for a programme comprising of 6-10 weekly sessions, that last 2 hours at a time. Over the course of the programme we cover topics such as: budgeting, interviewing, how to fill out application forms, setting goals and reviewing achievements, cyber crime, marketing and more. The sessions are collaborative, educational and hands-on, catering to a range of abilities.
At the end of the programme participants receive a certificate awarded by Barclays Bank.
All of our staff undergo mandatory training that is focused on person-centred planning.
They learn about the range of different tools they can use to achieve this. As well as being trained in de-escalation via the PROACT-SCIPr-UK® model, which is an acronym for Positive Range of Options to Avoid Crisis and Use Therapy Strategies for Crisis Intervention and Prevention.
We also provide specialist care training around key areas of support, such as: communications, positive behaviour, and more.
Members of the team are also trained in a range of other skills, from equine facilitated learning [hyperlink to Equine page], nurtured heart practitioner training which allows us to support parent’s to manage and support their child’s behaviours, health and social care levels 3,4,5 as well as ongoing training to develop skills in-house to ensure we continue to provide the best levels of care possible.
On top of professional training, staff are also trained personally to help manage their own resilience and mental health as care providers on a day-to-day basis. Including mental health training, coping mechanisms, boundaries, self-care, with access to ongoing coaching and mentoring.
As well as our courses for adults, young people and our own team members, practitioners from many disciplines and organisations can purchase our training and education for their own purposes.
Our teams are undergoing ‘train the trainer’ training to facilitate the roll out of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism support. Oliver’s death shone a light on the need for health and social care staff to have better training. The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced a statutory requirement, which means regulated service providers must ensure their staff receive training on how to support people with learning disabilities and autism, appropriate to their role.
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training is a standardised training and is the government’s preferred and recommended training for health and social care staff.
Circles Network supports the complex setup and recruitment of individuals, as the training must be delivered in trio’s, including: one facilitator, one autism expert and one individual with lived learning disability care experience.
Many care teams assume they’re fully trained once they have completed Part 1, which is a 90-minute e-learning course. However, to successfully complete the full training they must also complete Part 2, which comes in two tiers:
Tier 1 – is for general awareness, and typically for staff in a health and social care setting who have no direct responsibility for the care of a person with learning disabilities or autism. This could include: cleaners, groundsmen, etc.
Tier 2 – is for anyone who, may need to be or, is involved in direct care for people autism a learning disability. This is anyone from the highest level consultant to a porter, receptionist, dentist and every level in-between.
Access Academy Services
If you’re interested in discussing options for yourself, someone you care about or you wish to make a booking onto one of our advertised courses or programmes please complete our online enquiry form: Academy Enquiry Form.
Since the early 1990s we have battled strongly in many settings against the belief that our services were ‘pie in sky’ ideas. Our Academy is testament to that, as now what can visibly achieve a difference for people and those transitioning through life. What’s available now is so much more than a tokenistic gesture of ‘integration’.
If you are inspired by any area of our work, or by the approaches that make us unique and would like to replicate this in your own area or business, we would love to hear from you. Circles Network operates across the UK and we have also provided training in India, North America, Australia and across Europe.
We would love the opportunity to work collaboratively and bring the life changing experiences and knowledge we so strongly believe in, to locations closer to you, enhancing the lives of many others.
Should you be interested in investing in bespoke training that will transform the lives of the people you work with, please contact us.
We are always on the lookout for excellent learning facilitators, coaches, and volunteers.
Please do make contact via email should you be interested in joining our team: info@circlesnetwork.org.uk
