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Bookbug for the Home training

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Bookbug for the Home training is for anyone working in the community to support individual families in their homes – including family support workers, early years workers, social workers, social work assistants, health visiting teams, speech and language therapists, prison visitor centre staff and other family outreach workers, as well as volunteers who work in such capacities.

How it works

1. Fill in our short eligibility check form.

Eligibility details

You must:

  • Be affiliated with an organisation, either as a member of staff or a volunteer, which will support the practitioner’s use of Bookbug for the Home

  • Plan to use the Bookbug for the Home approach with children (0–5 years old), and their families where possible

  • Be over 16

  • Plan to start using Bookbug for the Home within 2 months of the training course

  • Agree to abide by the Bookbug for the Home Practitioner Agreement

2. You will then be directed to book onto one of the available training dates via Eventbrite. If a session is full, you can join the waitlist and may be offered a spot if we have any cancellations. Please only book onto training if you can commit to attending – waitlists are regularly full and cancellations greatly impact how many practitioners we can train across the year.

3. Complete a self-led online learning module before your sessions (1–2 hours) using a mobile, tablet, laptop or computer with access to the internet. This will open two weeks before your trainer-led session.

4. Attend an in-person or online interactive trainer-led session.

What to expect from an in-person session

Everyone will be asked to participate with the songs and rhymes as a group, but you won't be asked to sing on your own.

This course is comprised of:

  • A 1–2 hour self-led online learning module to be completed before your trainer-led, in-person session at your own pace. To complete this self-led online learning module you will need a mobile, tablet, laptop or computer with access to the internet.

  • A 3.5-hour trainer-led, in-person module. Completion of both is required to complete training. There will be a comfort break halfway through the in-person module.

  • After attending the training, you will be assigned a short follow-up course, the Bookbug for the Home Practitioner Agreement, which will activate your Bookbug for the Home membership.

  • You will be required to complete a short ‘refresher’ course annually to continue your membership.

What to expect from an online session

Everyone will be asked to participate with the songs and rhymes as a group, but you won't be asked to sing on your own.

This course is comprised of:

  • A 1-2 hour self-led online learning module to be completed before your trainer-led live online module at your own pace. To complete this self-led online learning module you will need a mobile, tablet, laptop or computer with access to the internet.

  • A 3.5-hour trainer-led live, interactive online module. Completion of both is required to complete training. There will be a comfort break halfway through the trainer-led online module.

  • After attending the training, you will be assigned a short follow-up course, the Bookbug for the Home Practitioner Agreement, which will activate your Bookbug for the Home membership.

  • You will be required to complete a short ‘refresher’ course annually to continue your membership.

In our online training course, you need to:

  • Have a computer, laptop or tablet that connects to the internet with working audio, camera and microphone. A mobile phone is not suitable due to the format of the training. The training is interactive and everyone will be asked to participate.

  • Be registered individually on the training course and participate on your own individual device

  • Be able to access Zoom or Microsoft Teams (depending on the platform of the session you registered for)

5. Complete a short, online follow-up course to activate your Bookbug for the Home membership.

6. Use your new skills and knowledge, and this flexible approach, to enhance your family support work.

What you'll learn

  • The importance of songs, rhymes and stories for both children and families

  • Songs and rhymes to practise

  • How to build these activities into your practice to encourage families to sing and rhyme together

  • About a range of picture books and how to practise reading aloud

  • Where to signpost families to Bookbug Sessions and online resources

Keep in touch

We release training dates on a rolling basis throughout the year. Sign up for our Working with Bookbug newsletter to be notified as new dates are added.

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If you have any questions or need additional support with the registration process, please contact the Bookbug team at [email protected] or phone 0131 524 0160 (Press option 1 for Early Years and Bookbug).