Staff

Sense staff are offered a wide range of learning and development opportunities, ranging from in-house face-to-face induction training to e-learning courses for managers.

There are also opportunities to take fully funded externally accredited courses after probation.

In the first six months of joining us all new staff attend courses on:

• Deafblind awareness
• Equality and diversity
• Safeguarding - appropriate to role

They also receive an induction in health and safety, fire awareness, risk assessment and infection control procedures.

Our operational services’ staff also undertake courses relevant to their role:

• Introduction to communication
• Emergency first aid at work
• Introduction to challenging behaviour
• Non-violent crisis intervention
• Moving and handling of people
• Food safety and nutrition
• Administration of medication
• Mental Capacity Act
• Sexuality and relationships

For other roles within Sense, the learning needs are identified between the manager and the employee. Those considered essential for the role are undertaken usually within the probation period.

New and developing managers undertake the Sense Management Fundamentals programme, a combination of online and face-to-face training to develop the technical side of their management skills. If they are a manager in an operational service they will also undertake externally accredited qualifications to meet the requirements of the Care Quality Commission.

Courses and qualifications

Once staff have successfully completed probation they are eligible to undertake other training such as British Sign Language, the Diploma in Health and Social Care, or leadership skills development and role-specific development courses.

Those who wish to specialise within the field of deafblindness may even go on to take the Certificate and Diploma in Deafblind Studies or a post-graduate qualification in Multisensory Impairment through Birmingham University. 

Many of these courses and / or qualifications are either fully funded or part-funded by Sense.

Volunteering

Volunteers also receive training appropriate to their role. For example, someone volunteering in the fundraising team will benefit from deafblind awareness training to help them to understand Sense and the people it supports. 

Volunteers on our holidays programme are invited to attend training days to introduce them to other volunteers assigned to their holiday, and cover key issues relating to deaf blindness, health and safety issues, safeguarding and what to expect on their holiday.

As with staff, the volunteer role is risk assessed to ensure the most appropriate training is offered.

Sense’s Learning and Development team are fully committed to providing a wide range of opportunities to all staff and volunteers to continue their professional development.

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