Intensive Trainings

The Social and Health Educations Project’s Core Training Programme comprises five main elements:

1. Foundation-level Training

There are two, separate Foundation Courses in SHEP. These are SHEP’s Certificate in Personal Development and SHEP’s Certificate in Social Awareness and Community Empowerment

2. Introductory Facilitation Training

Completion of SHEP’s two Foundation Courses, or their equivalent, is required for entry to SHEP’s Certificate in Facilitation.

3. Specialised Practitioner Training

Completion of SHEP’s two Foundation Courses, or their equivalent, is required for entry to SHEP’s Certificate in Continuing Personal Development.

4. Additional Accredited Training

Completion of SHEP’s two Foundation Courses and SHEP’s Certificate in Facilitation, or their equivalent, is required for entry to SHEP’s Practitioner Training for Community Tutors and Community Facilitators.

5. Continuing Personal Development

There is a clear progression route within the programme from entry-level foundation training to facilitation skills training and then to specialised practitioner training.

Over the next few years we are planning to offer a small number of externally-accredited awards as part of our core training programme.

Applicants for the UCC Diploma in Social and Psychological Health Studies should be practitioners in personal and social development (or both) and have undertaken practice-oriented training. Those who have completed Facilitation Training or Practitioner Training with SHEP will be at an advantage.

The On-going Development Programme and the Continuing Practitioner Development are a complement to SHEP’s core training programme.

There are two, separate Foundation Courses in SHEP. These are SHEP’s Certificate in Personal Development and SHEP’s Certificate in Social Awareness and Community Empowerment. In both of these courses extensive use is made of experiential participatory group-work for the purposes of awareness-raising, values-clarification, interpersonal skills development and the development of capacity for effective citizen participation.

In the SHEP Certificate in Personal Development course particular emphasis is laid on personal awareness and development. In SHEP’s Certificate in Social Awareness and Community Empowerment this emphasis is extended to encompass the development of personal effectiveness in collective settings. 

The general focus of the foundation training is on enabling participants to develop a capacity for personal effectiveness through their decision-making and action in both private and public spheres.

Those who have completed both SHEP’S foundation courses who wish to take more time to work on their own growth and development may apply for a place on SHEP’s Certificate in Continuing Personal Development.

The introductory phase of training as a facilitator with SHEP is participation on SHEP’s Certificate in Facilitation. This is a year-long, part-time, initial training course in facilitation through which participants are supported to develop competencies for facilitating in a range of settings.

The focus of the course is on enabling participants to develop a capacity for engaging with others in a facilitative way, such that their personal effectiveness is enhanced. Experiential methods are combined with the formal teaching of defined knowledge components to equip participants with the generic skills of group facilitation.

Completion of both SHEP’s Foundation courses is normally a prerequisite to commence facilitation training with the Project.

SHEP offers a range of specialised practitioner training courses to those who have completed SHEP Certificate in Facilitation through which participants are prepared participants to apply their facilitation skills in specific settings. These are :

1. Specialised Tutor Training courses which prepare people to work as Community Tutors, facilitating groups through SHEP’s Community Education Programme,
2. Community Advocacy Training which prepares participants to work as volunteer advocates through SHEP’s Cork Advocacy Service
3. Community Facilitator Training which, it is envisaged, will prepare people to work as volunteer facilitators in communities and with voluntary groups.

This model of facilitation and practitioner training for community health and well-being is unique in Ireland.

Additional Accredited Training is available in SHEP to complement the experiential training which is a key feature of SHEP’s core training programme. It currently consists of a two-year, part-time undergraduate Diploma in Social and Psychological Health Studies delivered in collaboration with UCC.

Through this course SHEP-trained facilitators and other social, community and health care practitioners are supported in developing a firm theoretical understanding of issues pertinent to personal and social development. The Project also has an accreditation pathway via links with W.I.T through its RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) programme that potentially leads to the Higher Diploma in Social, Personal and Health Education W.I.T at Level 8.

Each year SHEP offers a spring and autumn programme of short training courses and workshops intended for core training course participants, members of the Association of Friends, and specialised practitioners. These offer further opportunities for personal development work, for development of social awareness and understanding of social justice, and for the refreshment or enhancement of facilitation skills.

SHEP is a values-led organisation that provides quality education and training, based on experiential approaches and underpinned by humanistic philosophy and theory, to support empowerment and appropriate self-acceptance, to enhance health and well-being and to promote social justice.

Our core values are respect, equality, empowerment, honesty, acceptance, initiative, creativity and compassion. Our education and training programme is informed by our belief in:

• the intelligence, capabilities and creativity of each person
• the reality of human struggles and vulnerabilities
• the importance of building good relationships and making heart connections
• the interdependence of personal well-being and community well-being
• social justice

Our education and training programme is also based on our commitment to:

• working in empowering ways
• promoting inclusiveness and opposing unjust discrimination
• facilitating reflective inclusive spaces
• working in ways which promote the integrity of the natural environment
• being flexible and responsive to emerging needs

In SHEP you can expect:

• A caring and supportive atmosphere providing a safe and pleasant place to learn.
• A quality service which is open and promotes learning for all
• Friendly and helpful staff, trainers and tutors who will treat you with dignity and respect,
• Quality facilitation and/or teaching from well-trained and suitably qualified staff, trainers and tutors.
• Accurate and accessible information about our courses and services.
• Easy and accessible enrolment procedures.
• The guaranteed delivery of your course, once the course has commenced.
• Classes to start and end on time.
• Notification at the earliest opportunity of any re-scheduling, postponement or cancellation of classes.
• Learning materials that are relevant and appropriate.
• Confidentiality, when appropriate, in your dealings with staff, trainers or tutors in accordance with Project policies.
• That staff, trainers and tutors will respond as quickly as possible to any difficulties you communicate to us.
• To be kept informed about developments in the project that may affect you.
• For assessed courses, course work marked and feedback given within four weeks of the agreed date for handing in the assignments.
• A SHEP Certificate of participation, where attendance is over 80%.

As the learner we expect you to:

• Treat other learners and trainers with respect, courtesy and consideration.
• Attend your course as best as possible and at least meet the minimum attendance requirements (80%).
• Be on time for sessions.
• Participate as fully as possible in the training.
• Attend the course sessions whilst not under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
• Let us know if you are having difficulty with the course.
• Switch off mobile phones whilst you are in training.
• Let us know if you are going to be absent.
• Pay your fees promptly or in accordance with the agreed payment plan.
• For courses with assignments, complete course work within the agreed timescale.
• For courses which are assessed, familiarise yourself with assessment regulations and procedures.
• Treat equipment, furniture and buildings with care.
• Give the trainer constructive feedback on your course.
• Complete any learner surveys we conduct.

The Social and Health Education Project will respect at all times the dignity and equality of all persons and will endeavour to always be an inclusive, welcoming training project which embraces diversity.

SHEP will treat all our learners equally, regardless of gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, or membership of the Traveller community.

We do this by complying with the Equality Legislation, and by promoting within the project an environment where racism, sexism and all other forms of discrimination are unacceptable and seen to be unacceptable.

SHEP will also develop policies, programmes, curricula, practices and traditions that facilitate Learners’ free, safe and full participation in the project. SHEP also operates a number of supports, including concessionary rates (where possible) and reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities, to promote equality of access.

*SHEP also has an organisation-wide Equality Statement

Thank you for your interest in training, or further training, with SHEP. We appreciate that the cost of courses is a significant issue and our philosophy is to keep our training as affordable and as accessible as possible. Because we are supported by the HSE, all courses are subsidised.

Every participant benefits because without the financial support from the HSE the standard course fee for all courses would be significantly higher. We believe our training offers tremendous value for money.

For information on the fees payable by participants for SHEP courses please read Important Information on SHEP Fees, Reduced Fees, Funded Place and Payment Methods (April 2016).

You can spread the payments over a number of months

Depending on the course you may be able spread the payments over a number of months. Our preference is to receive the balance of the fee in one payment when the course place is being offered. We appreciate this is not possible for everyone. For the moment, for most courses, SHEP operates an interest-free Fees Payment Plan.

This means that the cost of the course may be paid over a number of months (though not longer than the length of the course) on a monthly basis, by standing order. If this option is available, and if you wish to apply for it, you will need to complete a Payment Plan Form (which you will receive with your letter of offer) and return it to SHEP before the course commences.

Some participants have been supported by their employers or by their Local Development Partnership to undertake training with SHEP. Some participants have received assistance from FÁS/the Department of Social Protection. St Vincent de Paul have also provided support to some applicants who met certain requirements. We encourage you to make your own enquiries.

SHEP recognises that for some people, the course fee, even though it is a subsidised fee, may still be prohibitive. The SHEP Bursary Fund (to which people and companies have made donations) is a small fund which helps us to make some of our courses more accessible to those facing financial difficulties.

The number of reduced fee places available for any SHEP course will depend on money available in the SHEP Bursary Fund. Priority is generally given to SHEP’s foundation level courses (the SHEP Certificate in Personal Development; and the SHEP Certificate in Social Awareness and Community Empowerment) and any QQI- accredited courses offered by SHEP.

On some occasions, through state funding or other grants, we are able to offer a small number of people a funded place. This is very exceptional. For example, in recent years SHEP has applied each year to the Department of Social Protection for a grant to support a small number of participants on each SHEP Cert in Personal Development Course.

(For example in 2016 North and East Kerry Development Partnership (NEKD) has grant supported a limited number of fully subsidised places for residents of the cetain areas on the Kerry Social Awarness and Community Empowerment course)

Only certain people will be eligible to apply for a reduced fee or a funded place. Because the amount of funding available is rather limited, you may only apply to SHEP for the reduced fee/ funded place if you are in receipt of one of the following Social Welfare benefits/allowances:

• Job Seekers Benefit
• Invalidity Pension
• Illness Benefit
• Carers Benefit
• Job Seekers Allowance
• Disability Allowance
• Farm Assist
• Blind Persons Allowance
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance
• One parent Family Payment
• Carers Allowance

(i.e. not State Pension, Guardian’s Payment; Widows/Widower or Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension; Pre-Retirement Allowance).

There is a very limited amount of money available in the SHEP Bursary Fund for reduced fees. We cannot guarantee therefore that all applicants will be successful. Please note reduced fees will be awarded to those who meet the eligibility criteria on a ‘first-come, first–served’ basis. Early applications have an advantage.

To apply, you must complete and submit the standard Course Application Form and also enclose the following:

• A completed Reduced Fee / Funded Place Application Form
• Evidence of your receipt of the relevant Social Welfare payment.
• The standard booking deposit (€50). No applications will be accepted without the booking deposit.

1. i) if you are not offered a course place;
2. ii) if you apply for a reduced fee/ funded place and you are unsuccessful; or

iii) if you are offered a place but are unable to accept it owing to serious illness or a family bereavement.

Otherwise the booking deposit is non-refundable

All of the applications for reduced fees/ funded places will be assessed by the Director. All applicants will be contacted by letter soon afterwards. (It is important to note that while a person may be granted a reduced fee, this is not the same as being offered a place on a course).

For those who don’t qualify for a reduced fee or a funded place it’s important to remember that, for most courses, a payment plan can be arranged to pay the remainder of the fee in instalments over the duration of the course. Details of how to do this will be enclosed with the course place offer.

It is important to note that reduced fees or funded places must be applied for each time you apply for a course – if you received a reduced fee or a funded place previously you must apply for it again for your next course and there is no guarantee you will be successful.

To view and/or download an application form to apply for a concession please Reduced Fee Funded Place Appplication Form (2016).

The Project understands that from time to time a participant may experience difficulties with the payment of fees. The Project will be as supportive as possible and will make every reasonable effort to accommodate participants with financial difficulties.

However, if such a situation arises, it is essential for the participant to contact either the Financial Administrator, the relevant Training and Development Officer, or the Director (in confidence) as soon as possible so that a suitable arrangement can be put in place.

(Where the course involves assessment for QQI accreditation) a participant who has not paid for his/her course in full will not be recognised for assessment purposes.

A participant who has not paid the fee in full (and who has not made arrangements with SHEP to pay the balance) will not receive a Certificate (or a Statement of Attendance).

We present here a number of SHEP policy documents which may be of interest to participants on SHEP courses:

TD011 Problem Resolution Policy For Trainers and Tutors (Updated 2013)

TD012 Trainee Grievance Procedure Standing Policy (2008)

SHEP Developent Plan (2018-20) Summary

If you have a complaint or grievance:

If you have a grievance or complaint about any aspect of our service we would like to hear about it: OR012 SHEP Complaints Policy & Procedure (2017)