Course of the week

This ‘Course of the Week’ took place at Holyport Manor School in Maidenhead. The course was the Handling People with Special Needs (Education) 5 day programme which took place from 9th – 13th June. Pictured from left to right we have Sharon Carrigan, Susan Keys & Lisa Tyson-Mays. Initially the group found the extent of the content held within the course daunting BUT…. the happy smiles in the picture demonstrate successful completion !

Yet another Handling People with Special Needs (Education) makes ‘Course of The Week’. This time the venue was Baytree School, Weston-Super-Mare, North Somerset. The course took place from 2nd – 6th June, pictured from left to right are; Kim Macnamara, Darryl Games, Natalie Cowan and Caroline Bavin. The candidates came from a number of different areas, Kim attended from Warmley Park School in Gloucester, Darryl joined us from Demelza Hospice in Kent, Natalie attended from SCOPE in Cornwall and Caroline is actually based at the school itself. It’s fair to say that everyone found the course challenging but good fun. They enjoyed the experience, even the dreaded presentation….

The venue for this weeks ‘Course of the Week’ was St. Anne’s School in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The course took place from 21st – 25th April and was delivered by Janet Hunt. The Handling People with Special Needs (Education) programme takes candidates through an intensive but enjoyable 5 day course. Once they have passed this they are then able to deliver training directly to other front line staff within their own schools.

Pictured (from let to right) we have Amanda Hopkinson, Peter Yorke, Michael Pearce and Andrea Griffiths. Amanda attended from Kings Mill School in Driffield, Peter & Michael attended from St. Anne’s School and Andrea made the long trip down from Darlington Borough Council. “Darcy” (pictured in the middle) tried to hog the limelight at every possible opportunity…

This 5 day Load Management Theory & Client Handling Techniques course was held at Walsall PCT in the West Midlands. The course ran from 7th – 11th April. The course was delivered by Pam Sherliker and I think it’s fair to say that candidates’ and trainer bonded well over the 5 days (your secret is safe with us….) This was nearly the course that ‘never was’ – originally we had 5 people booked onto this but what with a late cancellation and a bizarre ‘Horse Riding’ incident…. there were 3 – only the strongest survive a Centaur Training programme ! Pictured from left to right are Chris Nickless, Elaine Banerjee and Debra Bassford.

This course was held for one of our biggest and longest standing clients - Marie Curie Cancer Care. The course took place from 1st – 4th April in Newcastle. Over the years Centaur have worked alongside Marie Curie to develop specialist courses in this area of Manual Handling, based around our Load Management Theory & Client Handling Techniques programme this 4 day course addressed the needs of the candidates working in a very demanding area. Pictured (from left to right) are; Carolyn Wright, Colin Bell, Cath Taylor, Jane Wolsey, Angela Spence and Patrick Sherlock. It looks to us like this could be the ‘Marie Curie London Olympics 2012 – Diving Team !’

This course was held at St. Lukes School in North Lincolnshire, it took place from 31st March – 4th April. The Handling People with Special Needs (Education) programme still proves to be very popular with schools across the UK and this one was no different. As you can see from all of the pictures this lot was very ‘camera friendly!’ – Patsy Catchpole, Angela Busby, Sylvia Kirk, Leanne Higgins, Yvonne Hornsby, Melanie Rose and Zoe Martin.

This Load Management Theory & Client Handling Techniques course was held over 3 days from 26th – 28th March. The course was held at Sue Ryder Care in Kinforth, Aberdeen with some of the candidates travelling from afar to be involved. From left to right, starting at the back we have Eileen Carroll (Support Worker – Sue Ryder), Liz Fraser (Education Lead – Sue Ryder), Alison Donald (Support Worker – Sue Ryder), Jamie Lindsey (Moving & Handling Advisor – NHS Borders), Roy Tibbetts (Community Occupational Therapist – Aberdeenshire Council) and last but by no means least Liz Boyle (Staff Nurse – NHS Forth Valley).

The course was delivered by Pam Sherliker who pointed out that she was made to feel “very much at home” and that the group “worked well together”. Some of the comments from the candidates included it was “enjoyed immensely” and that the whole course had “a warm friendly relaxed approach to the subject”. When using the hoist Jamie (pictured with Liz in 2nd photograph) obviously got carried away with it all by commenting “is this available on the X – Box!?”

The five day “Handling People with Special Needs“ trainers course delivered 29th October to the 2nd November held at Lindens Primary School in Walsall was a great success by all accounts, there were delegates from three organisations, Beverley Lynes, Nicky Fletcher, Adam Chapman, Lisa Bates & Jackie Manton all from Walsall LEA were joined by Heather Walker-Jordan & Claire Medway from Birmingham Council and Nigel Carter from MOVE Europe (part of the Disability Partnership).

This course of the week is the five day “Handling People with Special Needs” trainers course delivered at Midlothian in October.

The course was interesting in that that it was made up from delegates from four different organisations; Gillian Pye & Linda Poustie from Middlothian, Adele Hurst, Morna MacDonald, Cathie McKerracher & Charli Russell all from East Lothian Council, Helen Delaney from North Lanarkshire Council, also Chris Shaw from MOVE Europe attended as a delegate which was apt as most of the particpaiting schools deliver the MOVE programme.

This course was also the first to be co-delivered by our new training advisor Pam Sherliker (see back issues for more information).

This weeks Course of the Week took place at Coventry University from 30th July – 3rd August 2007. The course was Handling People with Special Needs V2 (Adults) and it is designed for those people working specifically with adults who have physical special needs and/or learning difficulties.

Participating in the course we had Sally Caine, Debra Jackson and Michelle Stanley. The 5 day course was delivered by Janet Hunt and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all !

This weeks Course of the Week was held for Hounslow Borough Council from 16th – 20th July 2007. The course was Load Management Theory & Client Handling Techniques. Pictured (standing) from left to right are Janet, Val, Carol, Linda & Cathy. The participants seemed to have a ball as some of the comments proved. “We had a good laugh, learnt loads, thoroughly enjoyed the course and we’re keen to start training”

This 'Course of the Week' photograph was taken at Penarth, (South Wales) it ran from 16th – 19th April 2007 and the client was Marie Curie Cancer Care, one of our oldest clients (we don't mean the people in the picture !). The course was very interesting in that as well as being trained as Moving & Handling trainers an extra day was dedicated to presentation skills which the crew found useful. This helped to increase confidence levels and will make their first delivery session seem less daunting.

The participants (in no particular order) are; Denise Faulkner, Caroline Davis, Maria Muir, Jackie Ewing, Lynne Wotton, Julie Cameron & Cheryle Powell. Lynne Wotton (pictured in the centre) was obviously in a poetic mood when she used this following piece in her presentation.

“Good posture needs to be elegant and upright,
So remember when manual handling be cool not uptight,
Maintain the 'S' curve superior and strong,
Prevent the 'C' shape, as it's considered wrong,
Don't slump like a lump or slouch on the couch,
For being uncomfortable leads to a grouch,
One should aim to create a wide bas that is stable,
And encourage your clients to be independently able,
Avoid manual handling where reasonably practicable,
Assess, plan and prepare to get patients manouverable,
No bending no stooping or else you'll get backache,
Use upright posture head up, knees flexed, for Pete's sake,
So keep your spine in line for manual handling,
And reduce risk of injury, and hence legal wrangling”.

This 'Course of the Week' took place in Balloch, Alexandria (just outside Glasgow) the course ran from 23rd – 27th April and was designed for those working with children and young adults with physical special needs and learning difficulties. The group was mixed - with a number of staff from the Hospice itself as well as Maggie Wynne from Woodland School and Norma Findlay, an Occupational Therapist from Edinburgh.

The attendees from left to right are: Susan Hall, Morag Alexander, Linda McNab, Maggie Wynne, Auntie Janet (our trainer) and Norma Findlay. All of the candidates thoroughly enjoyed the course with Maggie Wynne commenting “What a great week it was, a lot of information and skills were passed on with such good humour by Janet. It was really excellent"

This 'Course of the Week' took place from 14th – 18th May in Rhondda Cynon Taff (South Wales). The participants came from a number of different Special Schools within both Rhonnda and Torfaen. Janet Hunt who delivered the course said they were “A good crew, with plenty of enthusiasm and they should all make excellent trainers”. The candidates view was that they themselves gained extra confidence from that fact that the Centaur trainer comes from an Education background and still has ‘hands on’ with children with physical special needs and learning difficulties.

The candidates from left to right are; Richard, Nicola, Claire, Karen, Marianne and Sue

This 'Course of the Week' comes from Villa Real School, in County Durham. The course ran from 21st – 25th May, entitled Handling People with Special Needs (Education) it was specifically aimed towards those people working with children with physical special needs in an educational setting. The course was made up with individuals from Villa Real School, Durham Trinity School and The Oaks Secondary School.
Pictured with their certificates from left to right are; Michelle Francis, Mary Todd, Shirley Quinn, Sue Smith, Angela Gawman and Steve Kenna. We were told that this group “worked particularly well together and enjoyed every last minute of the course, including their cream cakes……..”

This weeks ‘Course of the Week’ took place in Centaur’s home city of County Durham. The course ran from 29^th January – 2^nd February, entitled ‘Handling People with Special Needs’ (Education) the course is designed for those people working with children between the ages of 0 – 19 with physical special needs and learning difficulties.
We had quite a mixed group with Cath Bulman & Linda Davidson from Durham County Council, Ruth Matthews from Darlington Council, Trudy Lines from Durham Community Business College and Angela Craven from Aberdeen City Council. The course attracted comments such as “Informative”, “Stimulating” and “Fun”
The ever popular Janet Hunt (aka Auntie Janet) delivered this 5 day specialist course and even managed to get onto the photo !! If you have a course booked with Centaur in the coming weeks or months then keep watching, it could be you next !

Congratulations ! to Shelley Otter, Graham Whittaker, Debbie Jones, Mark Wightwick, Lilian Royal and Steve Clarke. They all successfully completed and passed the 'Load Management Theory & Client Handling Techniques' course. The 5 day course was held at Poole Hospital NHS Trust and delivered by one of our most experienced trainers Jan Crawford.

When asked about the course Graham Whittaker said "Jan is an excellent trainer, I know that we not only learned a lot but enjoyed doing it. We all passed (thankfully!) and I delivered my first session yesterday. There's no stopping me now !"

So, all in all, a very successful course. Please keep watching this space for details of courses happening all over the United Kingdom, it could be you next !

For further information please call us on 0191 375 3750 or email us training@centaur-training.co.uk