Fire Service Best Practice Sharing Events
Free, bite-sized peer learning for FRS assessment and development professionals
Join a UK-wide forum that keeps you informed, connected, and learning, through regular updates and optional best-practice sharing sessions.
What is the Best Practice Assessment Forum?
The Best Practice Assessment Forum is a free, informal network for FRS assessment and development professionals across the UK. It provides an easy way to stay connected with colleagues working in similar roles and facing similar challenges.
By joining the Forum, you’ll receive one or two emails a month with:
- Relevant news and updates
- Topics linked to your role and organisation
- Information about upcoming events and opportunities
Forum membership keeps you informed, and members can choose whether to attend events.
The session was fantastic, really engaging, and thought-provoking throughout. I’ve taken a lot away from it and have already started reflecting on how we can implement some of the approaches within Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The session was extremely insightful and provided a valuable opportunity to network with colleagues and learn about the initiatives other Fire and Rescue Services are implementing to develop and improve their own practices…I genuinely took so much away and great to meet others from different FRS as we don’t get to do this very often.
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about what we’re doing in Norfolk. Sharing our work with colleagues from other Fire and Rescue Services gives us the chance to showcase what we’re developing, hear different perspectives, challenge our thinking, and build connections that help us improve and learn from one another.
Best Practice Sharing Events
As part of the Forum, members are invited to take part in free Best Practice Sharing Events. These are informal, online sessions where FRS colleagues come together to share what’s working well, explore challenges, and exchange ideas and resources.
Topics include learning and development, assessment and promotion, firefighter recruitment and selection, leadership, organisational culture, coaching, and culture change.
Led by Chartered Psychologist Hannah Vallance, the sessions are designed to be accessible and easy to attend. They are kept intentionally small (around 10 delegates, with occasional NFCC involvement) to support open discussion, practical learning, and meaningful collaboration.
How the Sessions Work
Once you have signed up for the forum, you will receive a notification email with full details of our upcoming Best Practice Sharing Events. These sessions follow the format outlined above and are designed to be practical, interactive, and easy to join, giving you the opportunity to connect with colleagues, share experiences, and explore new ideas.
Approximately 40 minutes
One guest speaker shares a success story (15–20 mins)
Discussion and Q&A in small groups of 8–10 (20 mins)
Held every other month
Session notes shared with all attendees
For more information on our next event, click here
Previous Meetings
Online Bite-Size
2024
Cambridgshire FRS
2023
Shropshire FRS
2023
Shropshire FRS
2022
West Midlands
2020
Across the sector, there is already excellent work underway. These events provide the opportunity to learn from colleagues who are a few steps ahead, hear about real successes and breakthroughs, and share approaches that save time and amplify good practice.
See Who’s Already Part of the Forum
Oxfordshire FRS
Buckinghamshire FRS
East Sussex FRS
Bedfordshire FRS
Surrey FRS
Hereford & Worcester FRS
Lancashire FRS
Suffolk FRS
Shropshire FRS
Northamptonshire FRS
South Yorkshire FRS
London FRS
West Midlands FRS
West Yorkshire FRS
Cambridgeshire FRS
Derbyshire FRS
Cheshire FRS
Manchester FRS
Avon FRS
Devon & Somerset FRS
Nottinghamshire FRS
Northern Ireland FRS
Scottish FRS
Leicestershire FRS
Cornwall FRS
Cumbria FRS
Gloucestershire
FRS
Dorset & Wiltshire FRS
Guernsey FRS
North Wales FRS
Hampshire & IOW FRS
