Welcome to the Early Support training site

Early Support training is designed to deliver improved services for parents and carers of young disabled children and to enable practitioners and managers to develop their understanding of how Early Support principles, approaches and materials help them to provide better support for families with disabled children.

Our training offers:

• local authorities, health services and the voluntary sector the opportunity to fulfil government expectations that they will use Early Support in designing and planning their services for families with disabled children
• parents and carers the opportunity to further develop their skills and understanding about the new world that they and their child are entering. It will enable them to take control of their lives and develop a positive partnership with the practitioners supporting them
• practitioners and managers the chance to reflect on the way that they work with parents and with each other and to develop understanding and skills to improve the services they provide to children with disabilities and their families.

The trademark features of our extensive training programme are a commitment to putting families first, working in partnership with them, and developing more ‘joined-up’ services that really benefit families.

"I would urge anyone involved in delivering services for families with young disabled children to get key workers trained in Early Support. It's a highly effective way of making an impact in terms of a multi-agency approach that delivers results." 
Gillian Palmer, Director of Children's Service, London Borough of Barnet

Approved Early Support trainers are now available in every area of England. They have all undergone rigorous induction and can provide you with high quality training to drive and underpin service improvement in your area.

This website provides:

• a list of approved trainers
• a list of trainers for the Supporting children with additional needs course
• background information on how the training was developed
• a course description for each of the courses - use the menu on the left
• a guide to the training courses for you to download; to order a print copy
  use the online order form
• samples of the course materials – if you would like to see these
  please register on the site using the ‘register’ function on the top toolbar
• the distance learning materials developed by experts for the
  Working in Partnership courses; you need to register to see these
• information about other relevant training.