TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

 Healthy Start has four professional development opportunities available to its members:

1. Best Practice Approaches for Working with Parents with Learning Difficulties introductory workshop
2. Practitioner training in the Parenting Young Children program
3. Practitioner training in the Healthy & Safe program
4. An online unit of study - Parenting with a Developmental Disability  offered through the University of Sydney

Best Practice Approaches for Working with Parents with Learning Difficulties

This one-day professional development workshop will be offered nationally to Healthy Start Learning Hubs. The workshop is suitable for all workers who have contact with families where parents have learning difficulties. The workshop will include opportunities for active participation and discussion. A Train-the-Trainer program is also available for this workshop. If you are interested in attending or organising a workshop, please contact your local Learning Hub Convenor.

To find out more about the Best Practice Workshop click here

To find out more about the Train the trainer program click here

Parenting Young Children and Healthy & Safe

Training for both programs consists of three phases.

• Phase 1 – Background reading and completion of a multiple choice assessment (as part of the training Registration Kit)
• Phase 2 -  Attending a two-day face-to-face workshop
• Phase 3 -  Using the program with a family with support from the Healthy Start team, and submitting family data.

 To be eligible for the training practitioners MUST:

• Be a member of a Healthy Start Learning Hub.
• Be a member of the Healthy Start E-network
• Be working with (or soon be working with) a parent with a learning difficulty.
• Be comfortable with filling in pre and post intervention questionnaires.
• Bring a letter of support from their manager for attending training and using  the program.

To learn more about the Parenting Young Children and Healthy & Safe programs, read about them in the Parent Education Resources section of this website.

Parenting with a Developmental Disability online unit of study

Since 2005 Healthy Start has provided over 100 scholarships to practitioners across the country to undertake the online unit of study Parenting with a Developmental Disability (a unit within the graduate program in developmental disability). This unit introduces students to the challenges and achievements typically found in the lives of parents with developmental disability and their children. One of the key findings in the 2008 Healthy Start evaluation was the importance of the unit of study in providing the foundation, strategies and evidence to meet the support needs of these families.

This unit of study will be running in Semester 2, 2010. Applications are due by Friday 30th April - no late applications accepted. Click here for Application Form. Please read the instructions carefully and note all the required documentation needed to accompany the application form.

Once again there are a limited number of scholarships funded by Healthy Start available. Costs cover enrolment and administration, production of resources (eg. book of readings), web technical support, library access, course coordination and teaching. To be eligible a completed application (with supporting documentation) is required by the due date. Clearly mark on the form that a Healthy Start scholarship is being sought. Applicants successful in receiving a scholarship will be notified within 6 weeks of the closing date.

For more information:

Application process - Student Central, on +61 2 9351 9161 or email 'Ask Health Sciences' via www.fhs.usyd.edu.au   

Course / Unit of Study – email iesinga.tuitavake@sydney.edu.au; phone +61 2 9036 7356

Scholarships – email fhs.healthystart@sydney.edu.au