At Willow Dene we provide a coordinated range of courses, activities and information giving sessions for the parents and carers of Willow Dene families.

These include an annual information fair, courses from outside providers to address a particular need, training specific to groups of children and activities that parents can attend to socialise and be creative. Many of the courses are facilitated by Willow Dene staff and therapists but we are increasingly able to offer courses run by outside providers also.

There are parent training opportunities run in school throughout the year which include:

• Autism awareness - this is run in-house and focuses on the basics of Autism and gaining a better understanding of how to get the best outcomes for children who are on the Autistic Spectrum.
• NVR (non-violence resistance) training - Greenwich CAMHS is offering a 10 - week Non-Violent Resistance training to Willow Dene parents with children who can present with difficult and challenging behaviours. The Introductory session aims to inform parents about what the course entails and its benefits. The 10-week NVR course aims to help parents to respond to challenging behaviour in a calm, planned and thoughtful way. It is based on building connections with your children. NVR can also help with siblings, your own wellbeing and home life in general.
• Sensory processing - this is run in-house by our Sensory Processing Coordinator and has a focus on understanding children's sensory needs and giving strategies to parents to help manage them.
• CAMHS - focused training on sleep, behaviour and anxiety.
• Greenwich Greenlights project - provide parenting courses and workshops to support parents of children with challenging behaviour
• City Lit parent courses - These have included creative writing classes, making sensory story bags and Make, Sell and Do - making crafts which are then sold at school fund raisers in order to raise money for Friends of Willow Dene.

Look out for information coming home via Home School Contact Books about upcoming training.