In Spring 2022 Next Step Cards were successful in a bid for funding from Beyond Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme for Cheshire & Merseyside.
The initial funding was for 540 training places – 60 places for each the 9 local authorities in Cheshire & Merseyside – Cheshire East, Cheshire West & Chester, Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Warrington, and Wirral. Demand was so high that in December 2022, Beyond funded a further 240 places and all 780 places were all filled before the financial year end of March 2023.
The 30 training sessions were facilitated at different venues across the Cheshire & Merseyside region from September 2022 – March 2023. Training was provided by a dedicated team of CWP practitioners from Cheshire East, Cheshire West & Chester and Wirral.
Extensive feedback was garnered from the practitioners attending the training and used to continuously improve delivery, amending the training model on a regular basis.
Feedback from the sessions was excellent, with consistently high satisfaction scores ranging from 93% to 97%.
The Public Health Team - Halton Borough Council – May/June 2023
Having witnessed the success of the Next Step Cards training through the fully funded Beyond places, the Next Step Team were approached by The Public Health Team in Halton Borough Council to deliver training to representatives from each of the 68 schools in their borough. The funding came from Halton’s Faith New Deal project led by Trinity Safe Space.
Venues in Widnes and Runcorn were sourced by the Council and training took place in May and June 2023, with an overall satisfaction score of over 97% from the feedback. 100% of the practitioners across the two dates rated the training either very useful or useful.
Practitioners' feedback:
“All of it very useful and relevant to pupils I work with.”
"I enjoyed the practical elements as it helped me to understand how a child would feel using the cards.”
“I really like that it is step by step and does not allow the conversation to drift. Dealing with SEN I like its visual and has a clear plan.”
“I can’t wait to get started.”
“All elements worked well together and made the training clear.”
“The group exercises were very useful as an adult but also thinking about what our students might feel while doing the exercise.”“The whole morning was amazing, providing an insightful and proactive approach. I feel I can use this in so many situations from pupil voice, safeguarding, EHCPs and wellbeing! Enjoyed the whole morning. Presenters were insightful and session was so interactive.”
Chancery Multi-academy Trust, Cheshire East – June 2023
Following the success of the Beyond fully funded training, the CEO of Chancery MAT booked a bespoke training session for staff, which was held at the Berkeley Academy in Crewe on a Staff Study Day in early June 2023. Feedback showed overall satisfaction was 96% with 100% of practitioners rating the training either very useful or useful.
CEO Chancery Multi-Academy Trust:
“Having Next Steps training across Chancery has supported a number of children in managing their own thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It is a great resource that is truly child-led. The resources are visual and so easy to use! We are finding that children ask to access the cards and they are really starting to see the progress they are making for themselves! Staff who have worked with the cards have found them very easy to use, and they can be adapted easily to suit different ages.”
Practitioners’ feedback:
“I found it all very useful and well delivered.”
“It was all helpful and helped my understanding.”
“I found the physical side of doing the activities really helpful because you were able to see them put into place.”
Wirral Borough Council – Learning and Development Programme for Social Workers
We are also thrilled to be working with Wirral Borough Council, delivering Next Step Cards’ training as part of their Learning & Development Programme for Social Workers. The first session being in October 2023 and running across three dates.