Safeguarding in Early Years

This Safeguarding in Early Years course provides an introduction to safeguarding and child protection. It focuses on a range of safeguarding issues, including abuse, radicalisation, online safety and other associated areas. The content will offer guidance on how to take action in relation to safeguarding and it is suitable for anyone working in an early years setting.

Once you have completed the course, you will:

• Have an awareness of the range of legislation and guidance surrounding safeguarding and the protection of children
• Be able to define the different types of child abuse
• Be able to demonstrate an awareness of the various indicators of abuse and neglect
• Be able to recognise the vulnerabilities to radicalisation
• Understand the potential online safety risks
• Be aware of the effects of personal values and attitudes towards abuse
• Understand your responsibility to report concerns
• Be aware of the importance of maintaining a child focus
• Be able to demonstrate an awareness of the actions to take in the event of suspected abuse

The content intersects with the aims of several areas of legislation and guidance, such as The Children Act (1989), The Prevent Duty (2015), Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) and other key statutory and non-statutory regulation and support.

This short, scenario-based module is designed to help you assess your current knowledge and begin thinking about issues surrounding abuse and safeguarding that may manifest.

By the end of the module, you will have a clearer understanding of your own level of knowledge.

It is a sad truth that child abuse, radicalisation, cyberbullying and child sexual exploitation are all still a common occurrence in the United Kingdom. This module will introduce you to the terminology of safeguarding and will define key words and concepts that will inform the rest of the course.

By the end of the module, you will have an increased awareness of those most vulnerable to abuse, on what scale abuse occurs, and the definitions of key terms such as ‘child’ and ‘safeguarding’.

Over the years, a number of pieces of legislation and guidance have been implemented to help safeguard and protect children in the United Kingdom. The purpose of this module is to help you understand what legislation is in place and why it is needed. You will not be expected to suddenly be able to quote the laws themselves, but it will help with good safeguarding practice if you have a general overview of them. It is vital that all staff understand the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead Person (DSL) in Early Years provision, so this module also looks at their responsibilities.

For England, the course takes into account Working Together to Safeguard Children and Keeping Children Safe in Education

For those based in Scotland and Wales, the course takes into account:

• The Rights of Children and Young Persons Measure (Wales)
• Getting It Right for Every Child (Scotland)

By the end of the module, you will have a better understanding of the main safeguarding-related legislation and guidance. You will also consider the vital role played by the Designated Safeguarding Lead Person in ensuring effective safeguarding takes place.

This module will support your ability to recognise those children who are potentially at risk. You will look at what safeguarding is concerned with and this will help you to define the main kinds of child abuse. The module will then move on to consider the specific categories of abuse.

By the end of the module, you will have a clearer understanding of the difference between child protection and safeguarding. You will also know more about the specific categories of safeguarding and the impact they can have.

This module looks at the role safeguarding should have when it comes to online safety for the Early Years. The content will give you an overview of the potential online risks for children in relation to, amongst other areas, grooming, sexting and cyberbullying. The module will remind you of the legal position should you become aware of an incident, and will outline ways of empowering children to be safe and report issues they might encounter when online. Many children are now quite digitally aware from an early age, and the sooner the safeguarding process starts the better.

By the end of the module, you will have extended your knowledge of the risks associated with technology, the different aspects of online safeguarding in education, specific risks children may be exposed to, and effective online safety practice.

All Early Years settings have a legal duty to prevent children from exposure to extremism.  

This module places the Prevent strategy in the context of the Early Years environment and considers the ways in which radicalisation can affect a child and the groups that may attempt to induct a young person into their ideology.

By the end of the module, you will have a greater understanding of the signs of radicalisation and what to do should you feel a child is in danger under the Prevent strategy.

As you will have seen in earlier modules, children often find it difficult to discuss abuse and abusers can become very skilled at covering their tracks. It is therefore vital that we can recognise the possible signs of abuse.

At the end of this module, you will have a better understanding of the signs of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and neglect. You will also have an outline of the professional responsibilities expected of Early Years Workers.

The focus when working on safeguarding or dealing with a potential abuse scenario must be the safety of the child. Maintaining a child focus is key to the process of identification & reporting, because statistically, it is sadly the case that children sometimes report several times before any action is taken. The learning you complete in this module will be contextualised in a realistic situation so that you can see how being ‘child focused’ can be achieved.

By the end of this module, you will have a better understanding of what it means to be child-centred in your approach, as well as the responsibilities of those who work in the Early Years in relation to documenting decisions made.

This part of the course builds on the work we did in earlier modules. Children can disclose in a number of ways, so while you want to maintain confidentiality where appropriate, you also need to know when to report and to whom. It is vital that you respond quickly and appropriately when presented with a disclosure of abuse, and this module covers the right process to follow and what to do (and what not to do) to achieve the desired outcome.

By the end of this module, you will have a better understanding of the correct procedures to follow in response to a potential abuse situation and what to do if you have concerns about the behaviour of an adult. A step-by-step guide is included, which will help you refer any concerns you may have.

You will now take all that you have learned and apply it to an assessment of your knowledge. The final assessment is your opportunity to show how much you have absorbed and why it is so important to have child protection training.

Once you have passed your assessment, you will be able to download your certificate. Your pass rate will be 70% but don’t worry if you do not pass the first time, as you can take the test multiple times.