Person Centred Approaches in Schools

This twelve day programme for all schools accommodates up to thirty
people including staff, allied professionals and family members. The
course begins by working with the leadership team to define changes.
Over the next eight to ten months we will work with the leadership
team to develop systems enabling children's voices to be fed into the
school development plan. We will work with staff to enable them to
use a range of person centred thinking skills and tools in their
everyday work. We will train staff to facilitate person centred reviews
and help them explore opportunities for personalised learning and
look for ways to maximise opportunities for students to exercise
choice and control. The programme ends by sharing progress and
identifying next steps.

Day 1: Where are we now? What do we want to change?
Who is it for?
The senior leadership team (e.g. head teacher, deputy/assistant head,
head of post 16, governors)
What is the content of the day?

• National and local context for this work
• Mission statement - what are your aims and values?
• Establishing a base line - what is working and not working

around personalised learning? How are the views of children fed
into the development and delivery of the curriculum? How do
children's views inform the school development plan?

• Establishing success indicators - what do you want to get out of

the programme, and how will we know if we have been
successful?
Supporting materials:
Developing Person Centred Approaches in Schools handbook

Day 2: Person Centred Thinking Training
Who is it for?
All staff, allied professionals and family members
What is the content of the day?
2
What is person centred thinking and how can it help us?
How person centred approaches link to current policy and trends in
children and young peoples services
What are the differences between person centred thinking, person
centred planning and person centred reviews? How can we bring these
processes together to enhance the lives of children and young people?
Learning and practising some of the person centred thinking skills and
tools
Setting individual/team actions around next steps in developing the
use of person centred thinking skills and tools in your roles and daily
practice
Supporting materials:
Person centred thinking for schools and nurseries mini-book
Best Practice in schools - Using Person Centred Thinking with Children
and Young People Information pack
A summary of Possible Uses of Person Centred Thinking Tools in
Schools and Nurseries

Day 3: Person Centred Thinking Training
Who is it for?
Up to thirty staff, allied professionals and family members
What is the content of the day?
Exploring the importance of acting on what is learned from using
person centred thinking skills with children and young people
Learning and practising some more person centred thinking skills
Developing your own one page profile
How to build on the information that is learned from a one page
profile and develop this information into a person centred plan or
support plan
Setting individual and team actions around next steps in developing
the use of person centred thinking skills and tools in your roles and
daily practice

Day 4: Person Centred Review Training
Who is it for?
Twelve staff, allied professionals and family members [Participants
need to have attended the 2 day person centred thinking and skills
course outlined above.
What is the content of the day?
3
What are person centred reviews?
What needs to be in place to have a meeting about our lives?
Preparation for a person centred review
Creative problem solving
Live person centred review with one of the course participants
The value base, characteristics, roles and responsibilities of a person
centred review facilitator
Top tips for facilitation
Action planning next steps
Supporting materials:
Person Centred Review Participants pack
Person Centred Review mini-book

Days 5 - 11: Coaching
Who is it for?
Twelve staff, allied professionals and family members who have
completed all three days training (person centred thinking and skills +
person centred review facilitation). It is recommended that participants
work in pairs - six days of coaching time is offered to the twelve
course participants.
What is the content of the day?
Working in pairs, course participants will organise and co-ordinate two
person centred reviews (preferably on the same day). Each pair of
facilitators will identify two young people who are interested in having
a person centred review and assist in preparing the young person, in
conjunction with their family, friends and professionals involved in
their review.
The coach will identify with the facilitators how they can best be
supported throughout the day. The coach needs to observe each
participant facilitate twp person centred reviews - one where they are
facilitating, the other review where they are supporting the facilitator.
During the coaching day each facilitator will receive supportive
feedback from their coach and tips around their development.
4

Day 12: Developing a Person Centred Curriculum
Who is it for?
Senior leadership and teachers with an interest in developing
personalised learning opportunities
What is the content of the day?
Current trends in curriculum development
Identifying ways in which school currently personalises learning
Linking the curriculum to key policies such as Every Child Matters and
the Six Keys to Citizenship
Curriculum development and OFSTED
Using person centred thinking tools to evaluate learning and practice

Day 13: Reflections
Who is it for?
Senior leadership team
What is the content of the day?
What have we achieved?
How did we do in achieving the success indicators?
What are the issues that have emerged for the organisation to explore
Action planning - next steps