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PAT is carrying out a training needs analysis to find out what sort of training would be interesting and useful. Please get in touch if you want to contribute to this activity or if you have ideas, suggestions or comments you would like us to include.

You can sign up now for FREE self-study courses from Vision2Learn and support PAT at the same time. Click here to find out more.

Try this exercise to look at your own skills and interests.

Are you interested in improving your interpersonal communication skills and effectiveness? Want to know how to deal with aggression and how to become more assertive? Do you want to build on what you already know? This could be just the thing for YOU! PAT parents working as volunteers are eligible to enrol in a FREE distance learning course delivered by the University of Wales - Lampeter. This course is ideal for parents who would not be able to attend a course at a college or university because of looking after disabled children at home.

No previous qualifications are required! Completion of this course can lead on to other university level courses and eventually to a university degree. This first level course takes 30 weeks part-time self-study and all materials and books are provided. The qualification is validated by the University of Wales and recognised across the UK.

Certificate in Interpersonal Skills for Volunteers (Core) [1VOL0140]

Level One - 40 credits

Course Description: Click here for information and to enrol on-line.

The Certificate in Interpersonal Skills for Volunteers is specifically designed for students working in the voluntary sector. Interpersonal communication lies at the heart of all human social behaviour, but not everyone has the ability to communicate effectively. Volunteers and paid workers require a range of communication skills to deal with a variety of situations. The skills that enable people to cope with interpersonal events successfully, so that all involved feel respected and valued, can easily be learned.

The Certificate in Interpersonal Skills for Volunteers aims to facilitate students' learning of these skills, whilst they simultaneously acquire the knowledge to recognise and develop their existing communication skills. The Course employs an experiential approach to learning, which means that students use experiences from their volunteering role to aid their learning, rather than background reading, which is the more traditional approach. Volunteers world-wide use a range of interpersonal skills in their work, sometimes without recognition. This Course offers the opportunity to gain recognition by formal validation through a series of written assignments which encourage students to reflect on their role in the voluntary sector.

The Course begins by considering the different approaches that volunteers use in a helping environment and provides an opportunity to explore your own role within a particular organisation. Subsequent Units consider issues pertinent to all volunteers, such as confidentiality, working alongside professionals and communicating in group contexts. Several interpersonal skills are explored including verbal and non-verbal communication and an introduction to the use of counselling skills is provided.

A number of Units are integrated to explain how assertive behaviour can be used effectively to negotiate, make decisions and solve problems. The Course shows how difficult situations, such as dealing with aggression, can result in positive outcomes when appropriate language is used. One Module focuses on communication at meetings and describes the ways in which presentations can be made more effective. The concept of Equal Opportunities is addressed alongside the issues of personal empowerment and personal development. The Certificate comprises eight modules. Modules 1-7 are each divided into three units. There is an assignment at the end of each Module. The final Module provides an opportunity for students to reflect back over the course as a whole and to examine how their interpersonal skills have developed.

"The course has been very instructive and thoroughly enjoyable. Whenever I had to speak with anyone at the university they were always most helpful and friendly. Not only has my voluntary work benefited but it makes you see things differently on a day-to-day basis too."

H.T. - Huddersfield

"As a person with very few formal qualifications, I was not sure of my capabilities. I found this course very easy to understand, written in good simple terms. I felt very comfortable doing the course (gaining a distinction!). Communications from Lampeter were always on an equal basis, accommodating, encouraging and friendly."

J.D. - Ely, Cambridgeshire