Bespoke Training

This offer is aimed for Adoption Agencies (VAA/RAA) and Local Authorities (LA). Our bespoke training offers high-impact, relevant solutions tailored to the specific challenges your team encounters, ensuring maximum practical value.

Tell us what you want, and we’ll build it.

Why Choose Bespoke Online Training?

• Tailored to You: We design every element of the training—from the topic and duration to the activities and focus—to meet your exact requirements, ensuring maximum relevance and impact.
• Expert-Led Content: Our trainers bring decades of hands-on experience as a social worker, panel chair, and manager.
• Great Value for Money: Invest your training budget wisely. Our focused, high-quality events deliver concentrated, actionable knowledge specific to your practice context.
• Flexible Format: We will create a schedule that fits your team’s availability and learning objectives.

Safeguarding: The Adoption Lens

This bespoke training session is designed to offer an advanced refresher on safeguarding principles and practice, while specifically applying them through the Adoption Lens. The course aims to significantly increase delegates’ awareness of the unique safeguarding considerations inherent in the adoption process, acknowledging that adoption itself is fundamentally a safeguarding measure. The assessment and monitoring that accompany adoption are also crucial safeguarding processes in their own right. We also know that adopters say that their experience of safeguarding processes is mostly negative and not informed with adoption expertise.

I found it really informative, and it really helped it being specific to adoption. I always find my safeguarding refresher tedious as it is never really linked to my work, and it often goes over the same things. – Attendee, 2025

The session will feature a presentation on key issues followed by valuable opportunities to discuss and share perspectives. Dedicated time for reflection will allow you to consider the material, and we will provide practical signposting to relevant resources. We will also delve into critical themes like: Why is this important?; What is our experience?; Impact on adopters; and the sensitive topic of When things go wrong, as well as current issues affecting young people who are adopted.

Looking at safeguarding through an adoption lens was brilliant. The issues spoken about are extremely relevant to families I’m working with. It has given me lots to reflect on how I work with families & also what we offer as an RAA & challenges faced. – Attendee, 2025

Learning Outcomes

• Reinforce foundational knowledge of safeguarding principles
• Articulate and apply the concept that adoption is a primary safeguarding measure
• Demonstrate an increased awareness of the unique safeguarding challenges and requirements within the adoption landscape
• Analyse and discuss key adoption themes, including the impact on adopters and the considerations required when difficulties arise
• Critically reflect on your own practice and experience through the specific Adoption Lens.
• Identify and utilize relevant resources and support services via provided signposting

Strengthening Your Adoption Assessment Practice

This bespoke training session is designed to offer an introduction or refresher on the principles of making good and robust assessments in adoption. The course aims to significantly increase delegates’ awareness of the unique nature and requirements of assessments prospective adopters but by asking delegates to consider the role that they play in the relational aspect of this assessment dynamic. The session will be predominantly comprised of short presentations, interactive exercises and reflection including valuable opportunities to discuss and share perspectives. We will also consider issues of equality, diversity and inclusion and why it is so important that assessors understand their own prejudices, bias and expectations.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand what should be included in a good assessment
• Apply any report template to the idea of a good assessment
• Demonstrate an increased self-awareness of the unique position and relationship that you hold as someone involved in assessments
• Analyse and discuss key information presented during an assessment and think about how to relay and analyse this
• Critically reflect on your own practice and experience through the specifics of an assessment.
• Identify and analyse risks in assessments and how to manage these

About the trainer

Satwinder Sandhu

Satwinder is a social worker and leader in the adoption sector, influencing national and international practice and policy. He has been qualified in social work for thirty years, which extensive work experience in adoption, fostering and permanence. Satwinder is passionate about how adoption needs to modernise and focussing this evolution on the needs, and experiences, of adopted people. Satwinder is a TEDx speaker, Chair of CoramBAAF’s Adoption Advisory Committee, Adoption Panel Chair for an RAA in England and a member of numerous sector Boards, including the Rees Centre, University of Oxford. Satwinder took up the role of CEO at CVAA UK in October 2023.

Pricing and Next Steps

The cost of your bespoke training will depend on the length and scope of the event. We will provide you with a detailed proposal and invoice after agreeing on the specifics of your event.

Contact our Training Manager Kat via email: [email protected] to discuss your training needs and receive a personalised proposal!