Course Description

This online *CPD/CLPL course aims at helping practitioners working with children explore some of the core values and concepts that have been at the heart of A.S.Neill’s philosophy and Summerhill School’s practice for a hundred years.

It will engage participants in a reflective and impactful observation of their practice, focusing on healthy relationships, social-emotional well-being and a happy, fulfilled childhood. It will stimulate adults’ resourcefulness and capacity to free children’s emotions and break down barriers restricting their development.

The course offers 50+ hours of certified training. Out of these, 30 hours will be of live interactions and 20+ hours of independent learning. Presentations, group activities, discussions and workshops as well as books, articles, academic papers, films, interviews and stimulating exercises will offer participants a broad understanding of the topics addressed; all these through our interactive virtual workplace!

*Continuous Professional Development/ Continuous Lifelong Professional Learning

Who is the course for?

This course is for: educators in conventional as well as alternative settings; early years practitioners; playworkers; care givers; psychologists; therapists; social workers; facilitators of homeschooling; facilitators of unschooling and other forms of self-directed learning; facilitators of recreational activities; higher education students; and any other practitioner interested in A.S.Neill’s philosophy and in enhancing children’s mental health and social-emotional wellbeing.
It will not be focusing on any parenting issues and the exercises provided will be primarily aimed at practitioners. However, parents involved in the facilitation of homeschooling and self-directed learning and parents generally interested in the implementation of A.S.Neill’s philosophy may find most aspects of this course highly relatable to their practice and parenting.

The whole course will be delivered in English and it will be very interactive. Although we are not expecting our participants to be proficient in English, it is important they feel confident expressing themselves in English both verbally and in writing.

Fees and Concessionary rates

The fee for this course is £475. 

Book your tickets before the 1st of April to get £50 OFF!

Paying in instalments is available. For more details please refer to the payment options below.

Concessionary rates are available upon application. If you would like to apply please click here.

Payment Options

We offer the following 3 payment options for this course:

• One-off Payment: You can pay the course fees in one go. You will be able to select this plan up until the 5th of May 2023.

• 3-Instalments Plan: You can pay the course fees in 3 instalments as follows:1st instalment by the 30th of April 2023; the 2nd instalment by the 31st of May 2023; and the 3rd instalment by the 30th of June 2023. You will be able to select this plan up until the 30th of April 2023.

• 2-Instalments Plan: You can pay the course fees in 2 instalments as follows:1st instalment by the 5th of May 2023; and 2nd instalment by the 30th of June 2023. You will be able to select this plan up until the 5th of May 2023.

At checkout you will be able to choose to pay in either of the following ways:

1. bank transfer to our Wise bank account. You will be able to do this through your mobile banking, online banking or branch banking;
2. debit or credit card online payments enabled by PayPal;

or directly through a PayPal account.

Course Schedule

The course will be spread over 10 weekends and 9 weeks. It will start on Saturday the 6th of May 2023 and end on Sunday the 9th of July 2023. Click below to download the detailed course timetable:

RoA2023-Summer-Online Course Timetable

If you are unable to join our Role of the Adult Online CPD Course this time around due to a busy schedule or unsuitable timezone then please let us know of your preferred time frames by filling in the form below. We will notify you when a course that meets your preferences becomes available.

Register your interest for future dates.

Course Requirements

To be able to attend, enjoy and successfully complete this online course you will need to:

• • Have access to a computer with good internet connection. Attending the live sessions through tablets (including Ipads) or mobile phones it is likely to cause technical issues for you and some activities of the course may become completely inaccessible;
  • Have a well functioning camera and microphone connected to your computer;
  • Take part in all live sessions; There will be 12 live sessions in this course and in order to be eligible for a certificate of attendance, it is a requirement that you are present in all of them. However, if due to important reasons you are prevented from attending up to 4 live session but still would like to receive a certificate, you would have to:
    •  make sure that you watch the recordings of any sessions you missed; AND 
  • • complete the relevant exercises that would otherwise be optional.

If you end up missing more than 4 live sessions throughout the course, we will not be able to grant you a certificate.

• • Try to acquire the basic skills for using Miro, our course’s main workspace, to the best of your ability. Acquiring some basic skills for using Miro will make the whole experience of the course smoother and a lot more enjoyable for you. For this reason, as soon as you get your ticket, we will send you some tutorials and fun activities that will help you learn all that you need to know for our course. During our first live session we will go over the basics of our virtual environment again and answer any further technical queries that might have come up. Of course, we will also be available to offer technical support throughout the course;
  • Browser Version Requirements: You should update your browser with the latest version available to avoid technical issues. However, as a minimum requirement you would have to use one of the following: Chrome version 70 or higher; Firefox version 70 or higher; Edge version 44 or higher (preferably 79 or higher); Safari version 12 or higher; Opera version 70 or higher; Yandex Browser version 19.10 or higher. Internet Explorer is not supported by the course platform.
  • Have access to a quiet place during the live sessions;
  • Engage with the independent learning activities for at least 4 hours a week;
  • Adhere to the internet etiquette;
  • Use headphones, where possible;
  • Fill in the Personal Details Form, to provide us with some basic information about your professional background and help us best prepare for our work together. We will send you this form as soon as we receive payment from you.
  • Agree and adhere to the Terms and Conditions of this course. In order to be allowed to purchase tickets for this course, during the checkout process you will be asked to agree to the Online CPD Course Terms and Conditions. Before you do so, please make sure that you read them carefully and understand them.

Special Arrangements

If you are interested in booking this course for a private group, incorporating translation options or making any other special arrangements, please get in touch.