Court Skills for Children’s Social Workers

Overview

Delegates attending this course are called upon to prepare statements and reports for use in court proceedings involving children and to, potentially, attend court to give oral evidence based upon those reports. The Court Skills for Children's Social Workers Training course will provide the necessary skills to enable delegates to produce concise, accurate and compelling written evidence and give guidance as to how to present that evidence to best effect in the courtroom. The second day of the course enables delegates to practise giving oral evidence in a formal setting and to be cross examined by our experienced barrister-trainer

Who is Court Skills for Children’s Social Workers aimed at?

Social Workers in Children & Family social care (there is a similar course available for Adults Social Workers) and others in this field required to give evidence in Court

Course Length

2 days (may be delivered in one day without the practical skills sessions)

Learning Outcomes

Delegates attending this course will:

• Understanding of the legal system (including family courts, criminal courts and the youth justice system) the legal process, good practice and the Public Law Outline
• How to construct a witness statement/report
• What is expected of the witness at Court
• What happens at Court
• How to prepare for and give oral evidence
• What to expect in cross-examination

At the end of the course, participants should have gained a good working knowledge of how the court system works, together with a firm understanding as to how to create and present written statements and reports in an effective and persuasive way and how to give evidence and cope with being cross examined.

What our learners say...

One of the best training courses I have been on I felt it was so informative and not only educated me but challenged me through the role plays and get a good understanding of how the court system may work for social workers Although not being a real life situation, the teacher made us feel as though we were in a real life situation and therefore I feel like we gained the skills to understand how to articulate and direct our responses to cross examination in court Overall, very, very informative and educational!

I felt the training was delivered excellently and especially the second day in which we got to experience how being in court may feel

Andre was a brilliant trainer and made the sessions very interactive and did not get frustrated when I had plenty of questions about the topic he was discussing I would recommend this course to colleagues