“New staff members receive a thorough induction. Staff training refreshers happened annually. Staff were ensured their training needs were being met.”
- Care Inspectorate Report 2022
Practice & Professional Development
Our People
We have a caring, experienced and committed staff team. This multi-professional, multi-skilled team includes qualified and registered residential childcare managers and staff teams for each House, and GTC registered teachers within our Education Department. Our senior staff promote and model a positive, compassionate, strengths and relational based approach to all aspects of our work and encourage a culture and climate of ‘whole centre community’, where the dignity, needs and rights of the individual are respected at all times.
In addition to our residential care and Teaching staff, we have a number of other specialist practitioners including learning support staff with specific skills, Clinical and Forensic Psychologists and advisors, therapists, creative arts, sports and vocational coaches and tutors.
The Good Shepherd Centre is fundamentally a learning environment and this applies for young people and our employees.
All employees are required to participate in an individualised 12-week induction programme, care staff complete 3 weeks of induction training and each new employee has an identified mentor and supervisor to support them with this.
Our expectation of our staff is that they consistently demonstrate pro-social modelling. This is because we believe everything that occurs daily between young people and staff is a potential opportunity to enhance a young person’s wellbeing and development.
We invest heavily in training and development for all our employees; and for all care and education staff their mandatory training courses cover a broad range of areas including Safeguarding, Crisis Intervention, Trauma, STORM – Suicide Prevention, Mental Health & Emergency Life Saving Skills.