The Training of Trainer (ToT) courses we provide have a long history of use and respect in the field across the globe and closer to home within Europe and the UK. They equip you to deliver SynRJ’s core Informal Processes workshops and Formal Processes training courses and offer you the use of our educational and training materials under licence. SynRJ seeks to involve a wide range of individuals and organisations to accomplish our aim of spreading restorative and relational processes by offering a sustainability model to organisations, while maintaining high standards of quality.

To this end, we expect restorative trainee trainers to go through a number of steps:

• • Depending upon the level of intended training, we expect all prospective trainers to have attended either an Informal Processes: An Introduction and a  Using the Power of Circles Effectively workshops and/or a Formal Processes Restorative Conferencing: and/or Family Group Meetings: Facilitator Skills Training (or a similar level of training delivered by IIRP Europe or another approved training provider), as appropriate.
  • We strongly believe the knowledge and experience level of trainers needs to be above the level at which they are delivering a workshop or training course.
  • We expect trainers to have used restorative practices informally and facilitated restorative conferences before they attend one of our Training of Trainer courses.
  • We require that a trainee trainer participate in the appropriate SynRJ Training of Trainers course, which is a small-group training, for which we charge a fee.
  • To complete certification, we expect the trainer to be assessed delivering their first workshop/training and approved by a SynRJ nominated experienced trainer before certification, for which we also charge a fee.
  • In summary, the steps involved in becoming a trainer would include participating in a facilitator training, facilitating a number of conferences, completing the Training of Trainers, being assessed and certified as trainers, and working out an agreement with SynRJ to provide training.

We base our approach to certification on our commitment to producing high-quality trainings and educational materials. We believe we can best influence restorative conferencing and relational processes by maintaining quality. We believe our trainers, trainings, books, videos, other educational materials and ongoing technical support are of the highest standard.

Once approved and certificated, participants will be licenced trainers and able to provide this offering within their agency or limited geographical area. For organisations that have already held some amount of on-site training from SynRJ (or IIRP Europe in the past), this will provide a cost-effective way to continue to train new staff by becoming capable of providing this high-quality training ‘in-house’. For others, it provides a way to initiate the implementation of restorative and relational processes in your setting or conduct training in your locale.

‘Informal Processes: An Introduction’ and ‘Using the Power of Circles Effectively’: Training of Trainers Event (3 Days)

SynRJ delivers a 3-day face to face or 6 x 3 hour online sessions ‘Training of Trainers’ event to teach experienced practitioners how to facilitate the 1-Day ‘Informal Processes: An Introduction’ and “Using the Power of  Circles Effectively” professional development workshops.

Once trained, following successful assessment and approval of the first delivery of each day, participants will be certificated and licenced trainers able to provide these offerings within their own agency and/or an agreed limited geographical area . This 3-day course runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day (or as scheduled if delivered online).

For each student attending either 1-Day workshop you deliver as a certified trainer, you must provide the appropriate SynRJ Student Workbook and other materials/resources in current use by SynRJ. The current Student Fee is £5.00 per student. There is also a Course Fee of £50.00 for each course delivered, which covers training materials, admin costs, return courier of training box and materials and provision of student certificates.

‘Restorative Conferencing: Facilitator Skills Training’ (FST): Training of Trainers Event (4 Days)

This SynRJ 4-day ‘Training of Trainers’ prepares selected experienced restorative practitioners to train the SynRJ ‘Restorative Conferencing: Facilitator Skills Training’, so you may train others in facilitating Restorative Conferences and associated Restorative and Relational Processes.

‘Family Group Meetings: Facilitator Skills Training’ (FST): Training of Trainers Event (4 Days)

This SynRJ 4-day ‘Training of Trainers’ prepares selected experienced Family Group Meeting/Conference (FGM/C) practitioners to train the SynRJ ‘Family Group Meetings: Facilitator Skills Training’, so you may train others in facilitating FGM/C’s and associated Restorative and Relational Processes.

N.B. The above 4-Day courses can be combined into one 5-Day ToT covering both models.

After the ToT, we observe licensee candidates as they deliver their first FST training. If approved, we then certificate them as licenced trainers, able to provide this training within their own agency and/or limited geographical area. Each training day runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or as scheduled if delivered as a hybrid course with some online sessions and some face to face). 

For each student attending a facilitator skills training you deliver as a certified trainer, you must provide the appropriate SynRJ Student Course Workbook and other materials/resources in current use by SynRJ. The current Student Fee is £20 per student, including all other materials. The current Course Fee is £100 for each course delivered which covers training materials, admin costs, return courier of training box and materials, marking of ‘SynRJ Certificate of Learning’ test papers and provision of student certificates of attendance and learning.

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For each certified trainer, SynRJ will assist in defining target groups and a defined geographic area and limit the certified trainer to those groups and areas in a written agreement.

All of our costs must be covered by the fee charged for each trainee’s books and the admin fee. These fees provide revenue to sustain all of our efforts.

The trainer certification application spells out the terms for certification. The terms are very liberal. People can back out anytime they want, with no risk beyond their time invested and a modest financial outlay. The terms are designed to be fair to both parties and to maintain quality and a clear understanding of both parties’ obligations to one another.

We trust that in this spirit, we will be able to develop a wide network of certificated trainers who have good educational resources at their disposal, at a cost that is affordable.