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LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANCY
 
 Welcome
Home
WELCOME TO STARA

On the right is a picture of Stara Bridge, the inspiration for the company name. It's a small clapper bridge over the river Lynher in Cornwall and I lived a short country-lane walk away in a former life.

I hope the website gives you a good idea of who I am and what I do both personally and professionally. A quick wander around and you will find a few 'show-off' projects. These have been the real incentive to continue the business; you can find some details of the people I work with, and also keep up-to-date with current work.

​Most of all, on this Home Page I want to thank all those people who over the years have been mentors, colleagues, co-workers and good friends. They are the ones who have had faith in me, who trusted my judgement and who pushed me to do things I didn't think I could do. Some get a name-check in the website but most don't, but that's not to say I value them any the less. They have helped me along the way
from Coventry to Cornwall and on to some of the remotest places
on earth here in Western Australia and without them, nothing much would have happened.

MY STORY AND WHAT I DO
What We Do

One of the most valuable experiences of my education was my Social Work Course at Manchester University back in the 1970's. I didn't realise it at the time but I was given a fantastic generic foundation and a raft of skills that has allowed me take on some great projects.

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I worked in Residential Social Work in Coventry before moving to Devon Social Services and into training and development. Starting as a student supervisor I moved on to HR work and finally took a Principal Officer role developing training strategy in Child Protection as well as Aged Care. I left the relative safety of Local Government and started my own business in the mid 80's and eventually moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1991.

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Over the years I have extended the work I do. Initially it was custom designed training courses and I still very much enjoy working with groups of learners. The business diversified over the years and involved itself  in a range of services.

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Recently, we have begun to focus more and more on Supervision in the Helping Professions.

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Current Courses
JUST A FEW OF THE COURSES WE HAVE PRESENTED

  • Advocating for your Client

  • Assertive Communication

  • Assessment & Benchmarking of Practice

  • Attachment & Separation in Child Care

  • Case Management

  • Certificate III and IV Community Services

  • Cert IV Workplace Trainer and Assessor

  • Challenging Behaviors

  • Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Training

  • Communicating Skills

  • Communicating with Sexually Abused Children

  • Conflict Management

  • Dealing with Violence and Aggression

  • Developing working protocols for ATSIC

  • Diploma in Community Services

  • Diploma in Management

  • Frontline Management Cert III and Cert IV

  • Groupwork Skills

  • Joint Interviewing Social Workers and Police

  • Management Training for Aboriginal Workers

  • Managing Change in the Workplace

  • ​Mediation

  • Mentoring

  • Multidisciplinary Child Protection Training

  • Multidisciplinary Child Sexual Abuse Course

  • One Step Ahead (contracting and tendering)

  • Preparation for Adoption for Parents

  • Preparation for Foster Carers

  • Preparation for new Supervisors

  • Preparation for Re-organisation

  • Preparing Managers as Trainers

  • Problem Solving for Social Work Courses

  • Refresher Course for Practice Teachers

  • Selection and Recruitment

  • Setting Professional Boundaries

  • Supervision Skills Course

  • Supervision Skills for Managers of Child Protection Workers

  • Team Building and Development

  • Understanding & Responding to Domestic Violence

  • Where is the Line – Professional Boundaries

  • Witnessing Skills and Child Care Law

CONTACT
Contact

Neil Carver-Smith

+ 61 (0)402 222 540

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