Step-by-step guide 

Most trainers will have previously participated in a peer training day as most schools commission us to run it the first year, doubling up as a train the trainer(s) day.  Nevertheless we hope you will be able to prepare your own training day in advance using the guidance below to run through the plan of the day.  The training is best carried out in a semi-formal space where furniture can be moved around.  You will need a computer to run and project the PowerPoint with sound. You will need the peer training resources from the co-ordinator's pack and one class packs for each team of peers you are planning to train.

2. Read the four peer scripts which make up the Peer Manual.and try to visualise the action in the classroom.
3. The action will feel more concrete if you open the Peer video clips - index in the website to be able to play some while you go on with the familiarisation below.
4. Find and read the ‘Apause Peer training Manual – ICT Supported’ in the co-ordinator's file. This is the companion to your preparation and the day’s training.
5. Go to the timetable for the peer training day and use it to further familiarise yourself with the action of a training day. 
6. The first training Exercise
   • Find the resource wallet for Session 1.1 "Lifetime Firsts" with Trainer’s Guideline booklet and materials for that exercise and read up to the end of the Outcomes section.
   • Open the CD with the CODES PowerPoint. Activate the first slide called ’Interview’, listen to it and then close the PowerPoint presentation (you will not need it again for a little while).
   • If you go back to the Timetable for the training day and follow the link from Lifetime firsts you will have access to a series of videos which illustrate how that exercise works. Watch the clips in conjunction with the Trainer’s Guidelines.
7. The second training exercise - the “Early Sex Quiz”
   • Find the resource wallet for ‘Early Sex Quiz’ and read the Trainers Guidelines.  (The resources are projected using the Codes Powerpoint.) 
   • Go back to the Timetable for the training day and follow the link from Early Sex Quiz’; you will have access to a series of videos which illustrate how that exercise works. 
   • Watch the clips in conjunction with the Trainer’s Guidelines.
8. Return to the timetable and use the two hyperlinks from Risk appreciation Part A to see how the transition to the second part of the training on how to use the scripts is explained as the trainees go on into rehearsing the exercises using the CODES method.
9. Rehearsing the classroom techniques and the four peer sessions.
   • At this stage the CODES method will lead you through the rest of the training in conjunction with the Trainer's Guidelines for each of the peer session's training and the warm-up exercise after lunch.
   • You will need the materials in the class packs for peer sessions 2, 3 and 4 [There are also notes for the peers with the class resources for 3 and 4 as the peer manuals have not yet been updated for the slight changes with new materials.]
   • You will need to set up the CODES PowerPoint and run it in conjunction with guidelines, materials and Peer Scripts.

What are its difficulties? - Teaching and learning are complex activities

Have you ever considered attempting to record one of your most interactive lesson in such a way that a non-teacher who has not seen the lesson could deliver more-or-less the same lesson as effectively as you? All teaching and learning is a complex business and should never be underestimated. It gets much more difficult if you attempt to run the training when you haven’t first given yourself every chance of success. This means reading the peer scripts, getting used to the clips, and becoming familiar with all the training resources.

What makes it easier? - Peers working from scripts

Nearly every peer educator who completes the training feels well prepared and eager to start facilitating the sessions. The main reason for this is that they only have to read and interpret the scripts - they only need to improvise about five minutes of material. Everything they need to know about how to deliver the sessions is contained within the scripts. This includes virtually all the words, phrases and ideas they will need to use as they lead the younger students through the learning processes. Successful peer educators have learned to trust the scripts and this is achieved because successful trainers have given them every opportunity to test their understandings and abilities as part of a training and rehearsal process.