Learning and Development For Foster Carers
We provide a comprehensive learning and development programme for all our foster carers and staff. Fostering is a professional role, and children’s needs can be complex and varied. Ongoing training ensures you feel confident, informed and well prepared at every stage of your fostering journey.
Before approval, you will complete structured preparation training designed to give you a realistic understanding of fostering and the responsibilities involved. This covers areas such as safeguarding, child development, behaviour support, safer caring and working as part of a professional team. The aim is to equip you with a strong foundation before welcoming a child into your home.
Once approved, learning does not stop. We offer a wide range of ongoing training opportunities throughout the year. These sessions are designed to deepen your understanding and build practical skills. Topics may include trauma-informed care, attachment, supporting education, managing contact arrangements, online safety, therapeutic approaches and caring for teenagers or babies.
We also recognise that experience is one of the most powerful teachers. Our learning programme includes reflective supervision, peer support sessions and opportunities to learn alongside other foster carers. Sharing experiences in a supportive setting often provides insight that formal training alone cannot.
Training is delivered in a variety of formats to make it accessible, including face-to-face sessions across Southern England and online learning options. We aim to provide flexibility while maintaining high standards.
Our commitment to learning and development reflects our belief that when foster carers feel skilled and supported, children benefit. Investing in your development is part of our wider commitment to providing stable, high-quality foster care across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey, Wiltshire, Berkshire, the Isle of Wight and beyond.
Skills To Foster
The first step in your learning journey as a prospective foster carer is attending our Skills to Foster course. This is a nationally recognised preparation programme designed to give you a realistic and balanced understanding of what fostering involves.
Skills to Foster explores what you can expect from the role — both the rewards and the challenges. It looks at why children come into care, how early experiences can affect behaviour and development, and what it means to provide consistent, trauma-informed care. The course also addresses some of the common assumptions people have about fostering, helping you separate myths from reality.
Importantly, it is not an assessment in itself, but a learning experience. It provides space to reflect, ask questions and consider how fostering would fit into your own household and daily life. You will also meet other prospective foster carers, which often helps to normalise concerns and build early connections.
By the end of the course, you should feel clearer about what fostering requires and more confident about whether it is the right step for you. It forms the foundation for the training and support that continues throughout your fostering journey.
First Year Training
As a newly approved foster carer, your learning continues throughout your first year. During this period, you will complete a structured programme of core training and record your development in a reflective workbook. This helps you build confidence, deepen your understanding and demonstrate your growing skills in practice.
Your first year focuses on strengthening the foundations introduced during Skills to Foster. The training is designed to support you in real-life situations and to ensure you feel prepared for the responsibilities of the role.
Some of the training you will typically complete includes:
Safeguarding and child protection
Understanding trauma and attachment
Safer caring
Behaviour support and de-escalation strategies
Supporting education and promoting achievement
Health and wellbeing, including mental health awareness
Recording and report writing
Equality, diversity and inclusion
Alongside formal sessions, your supervising social worker will use supervision meetings to reflect on learning and discuss how training links to your day-to-day fostering experience. The workbook element encourages thoughtful reflection, helping you connect theory with practice.
The aim of your first year training is not to overwhelm you, but to strengthen your confidence and capability. With the right knowledge and guidance, you are better equipped to provide the stability and reassurance that children need.
Online Training
Online Training
We recognise that not all foster carers can attend training in person. Many carers balance appointments, school routines and family life, and sometimes learning needs to take place outside standard working hours.
To make training more accessible, we have partnered with FosteringTraining.com to provide a bespoke e-learning platform exclusively for our carers. This allows you to access high-quality training at a time and place that suits you — whether that is during the day, in the evening or at weekends.
The platform includes a wide range of courses covering safeguarding, trauma-informed care, attachment, supporting education, behaviour management and many other relevant topics. Each course is designed to be practical and reflective, helping you apply learning directly to your fostering role.
The flexibility of online learning has significantly enhanced carer development. It enables you to revisit key topics, learn at your own pace and maintain your professional development without adding unnecessary pressure to your schedule. Combined with face-to-face sessions and supervision, it ensures that learning remains continuous, accessible and relevant throughout your fostering journey.
Do you want to know more?
We have only been able to share a snapshot of how we support our foster carers with learning and development. There is much more to discuss about the depth of training, the ongoing supervision and the way we invest in carers throughout their fostering journey.
If you would like to find out more — or even explore some of our training opportunities — we would be pleased to speak with you. An informal conversation can help you understand how our development pathway works and what support would be available to you.
Taking the next step does not commit you to anything. It simply gives you the opportunity to ask questions and see whether fostering with South Coast Fostering could be the right fit for you.
Next Steps
Depending on where you are in your fostering journey, we have a few suggested next steps.
Download Our Guide To Fostering
Arrange for a call back
Ask us a question via whatsapp
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