Rea Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 The training packages that Deedeepoo gave a link to earlier this month have a half price sale on. Click HERE for more info
HappyMaz Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 I got an email from them this afternoon - must drop by there and have a look! Maz
Lucy P Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 I've just had a look at this website and prices look ok, BUT how do i know they are any good!! Does anyone have any experience with these resources??
Guest Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 hi! would someone be able to tell me what is in the training pack? Ive seen the titles for each guide, but is the content useful? are there propformas for assessment / observation etc? are they worth buying or will it sit on a shelf with other stuff?
Lucy P Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 OOps just noticed there are sample pages to download here
HappyMaz Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 I quite like the look of the practitioner guides - they're cheaper than the group courses (and if you buy all nine you only pay for six!) and they look quite user friendly. I'm not sure about whether you're supposed to use them only for one practitioner - but given that it is a downloadable product I don't know how they would police that anyway. I bought the training course about environments but haven't really had a good look yet. Will have a look and see what I think. If the 'buy six get three free' deal is covered in the 50% discount offer, they may be a worthwhile investment... and I do love a bargain! Maz
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 I noticed on my course that it said it was for use by 1 person at home or wherever! Dont suppose it would matter if you shared it with a mate at work though.
Guest Wolfie Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 (edited) Has anyone purchased any of these training packages - are they any good? Edited April 18, 2008 by Wolfie
HappyMaz Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Has anyone purchased any of these training packages - are they any good? I did! Haven't had time to properly look at them yet - but my first impressions were good. Will definitely be using bits of them for staff training - some of the activities are very thought provoking and cleverly put together to get your point across. My only criticsm is that the materials themselves are poorly presented - lack of spaces between paragraphs, photographs used in handouts are very small and overall the materials lack impact. However, the ideas are very good and after all it is the content that is important after all. My IT skills are adequate so I'd be preparing my own handouts to go with the courses anyway, so that I can tailor them for my group. I can't remember whether the files supplied on the CD are pdfs or not - but if so it will mean a lot of re-typing but even so, I think the price is worth it for the ideas the courses contain! The courses themselves are logically structured, with full instructions as to what the instructor should do - including "read this to the group" type instructions which I would ignore because I don't teach that way... Also included is a resource list of what you'll need supply, together with an outline of how long each section and workshop/activity should take. I also bought a set of practitioners guides - although I would query how cost effective these are given that they are designed for use with one practitioner only. Even at half price I thought it would be prohibitive to buy a set for each staff member. If you'd like to know anything specific please ask: I'll do a bit of investigating. Also, I ordered the 'outdoor learning' course (cost £35 to see if it was worth buying others) and then when the half price deal was on I bought the whole set because it was cheaper. So now I have two - and am wondering if I would be breaking copyright by selling it on. Might email them to check... Maz
Guest Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Does this mean there aren't going to be any 'free' training sessions available? I get a training directory through the post from West Sussex County Council Early Childhood services and usually there are courses in there free of charge! Will have a good look and let you know.
Marion Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 http://wsgfl.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/cms-ser...Section%204.pdf
Guest Wolfie Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 I'm sure that every authority will continue to put on free EYFS training courses - I'm just interested in putting on some staff training for the staff in my Centre, tailored to their particular needs, and these packages had caught my eye! I'd rather not buy them without hearing some reviews from reliable people first though! And yes, Maz, you're in the "reliable" category before you ask!!
HappyMaz Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 Does this mean there aren't going to be any 'free' training sessions available? These are courses you can buy to train your whole staff, in-house and aren't designed to replace the free training we can access via our LEAs.... We usually can't get a whole staff team on the same course and anyway it would work out cheaper to do it yourself rather than pay people to attend and staff cover etc. Maz
Guest Posted April 18, 2008 Posted April 18, 2008 My understanding also was that the local authorities were under an obligation to provide free training on EYFS, but exactly what form that took was up to them to decide. Hence there are variations in what each local authority is providing. I too have bought in the package above to provide training for all our staff. We prefer where possible to train together, not least because it means we can do it at times and days which suit us all. Also our LA was offering six full days of training per person and it was one day per week for six weeks. As we are at a busy time of year it was very difficult to release the staff for this time. They don't seem happy that we are doing it ourselves though As above I think the package will suit our needs although perhaps with some tweaking. As I have never delivered training before I am pleased about the simplicity of the instructions for trainers, and also that the whole package seems to take less time to cover than our LA training. It makes it much more manageable for our staff.
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