Safeguarding Children

Safeguarding children is:

- protecting children from abuse and maltreatment.

- preventing harm to their health

- ensuring they grow up with the provision of safe and effective care.

- giving children equal opportunities in life.

The difference between safeguarding and child protection is that child protection is just one aspect of safeguarding.

Safeguarding children is a term used to cover all aspects to keep children safe and promote their well-being. This means everything from security of the buildings to the safe recruitment of staff and everything in between. These policies and practices are normally set out in the safeguarding children policy and must be followed by all employers and employees.

Child protection is a single aspect of safeguarding and focuses on how to protect specific children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, including maltreatment, neglect, abuse, and pre-meditated abuse.

Safeguarding children training is a legal requirement for anyone who works with or around children and young adults (under the age of 18). That includes a variety of sectors, settings, and organisations. For example, all staff who work in a school or education environment, healthcare staff, and childminders.

It ensures staff members can spot potential signs, be able to report the concern appropriately and understand safeguarding legislation, such as Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018).

We're dedicated to delivering high quality online Safeguarding Children training developed specifically for any setting. If you require training for yourself or your staff, please get in touch today!

It isn't down to just one person who can safeguard a child. Everyone who works or volunteers with children or young people has a responsibility for keeping them safe. It is essential to have knowledge on how to report safeguarding concerns, neglect, trafficking, or exploitation so they can be addressed quickly and appropriately.

However, if an occasion arises where you do need to report a safeguarding concern, it's best to report it to your designated safeguarding lead.

Safeguarding Children training can help you safeguard a child in many ways. For one, it teaches you the signs and types of abuse. This is incredibly important as knowing these can help you notice when a child or young person is at risk.

A Safeguarding Children training course will also provide you with what to do in an event of a safeguarding emergency in the workplace, so you can help safeguard a child in need.

A safeguarding children policy is a statement that describes and highlights how an organisation will keep children and young people it works with safe from harm. Things you should include in the safeguarding children policy are:

- The purpose and aim of the organisation and the commitment to protecting children.

- The main guidance and law that underpins the policy.

- Whom the policy applies to.

- Who your designated safeguarding lead(s) is.

- The commitment to equality and non-discriminatory practice.

- The date your policy comes into force and when it will be reviewed.

Contextual safeguarding is an approach to understanding and responding to young people's experiences of harm outside of the home e.g. school, peer groups, online or in the local community.

Contextual safeguarding starts by finding out where young people spend their time and working on making these places safer. For example:

- by engaging with young people to ensure they find the place safe and supportive.

- displaying information about who to contact if a young person has concerns.

- providing information to shop owners, so they know what to do if they have concerns about children.