Child Development (Zoom)

A Foundation Course for Foster Carers & Trainee Social Care Workers

Every behaviour is communication. When supporting children and young people who have experienced early adversity, understanding the "why" behind their actions transforms how we care for them.

This foundational course explores the key stages of child development from birth through adolescence. You will gain a clear, practical understanding of both typical and interrupted development, learning how early experiences, trauma, and attachment bonds shape a child's brain, identity, and lifelong well-being.

What We Will Cover Together

• Attachment & Relational Healing: Understand how attachment bonds form, how disrupted attachment presents in practice (e.g., controlling behaviour, rejection of care), and how to provide corrective emotional experiences.
• The Developing Brain & Early Adversity: Explore the science of 'serve and return' interactions, the impact of toxic stress, and how the brain's neuroplasticity allows positive caregiving to support healing.
• Developmental vs. Chronological Age: Learn to decode underlying behaviours, meet children at their actual developmental stage, and navigate common challenges like emotional dysregulation and regression.
• The Power of Play, Hobbies & Language: Discover how everyday play acts as a therapeutic language, how hobbies build identity, and simple strategies to support language development.
• Self-Esteem, Resilience & Identity: Master practical ways to build self-efficacy, support cultural identity, and strengthen young people against trauma.
• Wider Networks & Multi-Agency Working: Examine the role of birth family connections, peer relationships, and how to effectively collaborate within the "team around the child".

Why Choose This Course?

• Trauma-Informed & Practical: Move beyond theory with actionable tools you can apply immediately to daily routines, conflict resolution, and co-regulation.
• Strengths-Based Approach: Focus on hope, neuroplasticity, and practical ways to help children rebuild trust and resilience.
• Grounded in Key Frameworks: Built around proven psychological theories, including Bowlby & Ainsworth’s Attachment Theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model.
• Empowering & Supportive: Designed to build your confidence as a key "developmental agent" in a child’s life.

Who Should Attend?

• Foster Carers & Kinship Carers looking to deepen their understanding of child development and attachment-focused care.
• Trainee & Assistant Social Workers seeking a clear, real-world foundation in child development and trauma-informed practice.
• Residential Care Workers & Youth Practitioners wanting practical insights into managing emotional dysregulation and supporting developmental recovery.

Format: This is a live training session via Zoom. It includes taught sections, small group work, work in pairs, and whole group discussions.

Hand-outs & Certificates: Downloadable hand-outs and certificates of attendance will be provided.