Week 5 - Preparation training

We had our training this week.

We were very nervous, not knowing what to expect. When we first walked in, I was a bit apprehensive: would the other people be friendly, what would be expected of us?

The first thing we did was an 'ice breaker' game, which was fun, and it did what it was meant to do...put us all at ease and allowed us to get to know a little about each other.

We had a few social workers doing the training, which was good, we covered all sorts of subjects over the two days and there were times when we split up into groups.

It was interesting to see how people's opinions differed and we all had plenty of opportunity for imput on different topics - the form F, contact issues, the legal framework, valuing heritage, disability awareness, children for placement and how they arrive at adoption, the caring and planning process and attachment difficulties.

It would have been easy to just sit there and stay silent but I felt it was far better to have an opinion and say what you felt. Which we did.

After all, before you get to the stage where a child comes to live with you, there is an awful lot of discussions to be had, so in my mind, the more open we were the better it would be for our application.

At the end of each session we always had feedback. The contact issues were very big when we had feedback. Everyone wanted to know what they exactly meant by contact and how often.

We are OK about contact. We had already decided we didn't mind having direct contact with birth parents a few times a year.

Also, we all wanted the different terms explained in more detail, for example, development delay and behavioural difficulties. We all wanted to be absolutely sure we knew exactly what they meant.

If anyone had a question, it was always answered in full. The social workers were great. They could not have been any more helpful.

One bit of the training was really good. That was when we had the chance to meet an adopter.

It turned out he was a single man and had adopted two fantastic boys. It was so interesting listening to him, telling us all about his experiences.

It made us all see there was light at the end of the tunnel and that all this 'red tape' was worth it.

He showed us the boys' life story books. This a book which, I think, all adopted children have with pictures, drawings, letters etc, from their past. It is a very important book for every child to have, I feel. It is something they can look at, when of an age to understand, and will, perhaps, help them come to terms with being adopted.

We also had a talk by another adoptive parent, a lady who had adopted a Down syndrome child. She also made it sound worth all the effort we were putting into the assessment.

There was also a chance to ask questions, and ask we did!

At lunch there was a chance to mix with the other applicants, which was good. We exchanged phone numbers with some of them, it will be nice to see what happens to us all in the future.

The whole training, which started at 9.30am and went on until 3.30pm, was good. We really enjoyed it. We didn't think we would, but we did! I would say to anyone, who is apprehensive about it...don't be. Just be open and honest and all will be fine!

We are happy now that this bit is over. The next thing now is the home assesment.

Oh, almost forgot to mention...now that the training is over, we have to 'officially' write in to say we want to proceed - which, of course, we do...

E-mail Ann and Rob

See also:

Week 4 - Thinking ahead

Week 3 - Parental responsibilities

Week 2 - We are on our way...and it feels so good

Week 1 - The social worker is coming

More about Ann and Rob