Safeguarding Children

Learn how to recognise possible child abuse, respond appropriately to disclosures, and report and record concerns. The course also covers safeguarding principles, UK legislation and guidance, online safety, thresholds of need and applying your learning in realistic situations.

This introductory module explains the course learning outcomes and how to work through, pause and return to the training. It also introduces accessibility options including read aloud, browser zoom and translation.

Understand what safeguarding means, how it differs from child protection and the responsibilities shared by individuals and safeguarding agencies. The module covers relevant legislation and guidance, significant harm, children in need, adverse childhood experiences and factors that may increase vulnerability.

Explore how safer policies, risk assessments, professional boundaries and a child-centred approach can reduce opportunities for harm. You will also consider positions of trust, appropriate behaviour and practical steps for keeping children and yourself safe.

Learn how to recognise the principal categories and possible signs of abuse and neglect, as well as contextual safeguarding and child exploitation. The module also considers online safety, radicalisation and specific forms of abuse including FGM, honour-based abuse and fabricated or induced illness.

Understand the different ways a child may disclose abuse and the barriers that can prevent them from speaking. Learn how to listen, respond calmly, avoid leading questions and never promise secrecy.

Learn your responsibilities for reporting, recording and sharing safeguarding information accurately and appropriately. The module explains thresholds of need, early help, referrals, body maps, non-recent abuse, allegations against staff and low-level concerns.

Apply the principles of recognise, respond, report and record to realistic safeguarding scenarios. This helps you practise identifying poor practice, possible abuse and the actions you should take.

Complete a final assessment using questions selected from the course question bank. You need 80% to pass, can retake it as many times as necessary, and your certificate is emailed automatically when you succeed.

Access downloadable materials, useful sources, further reading and safeguarding resources. These include a body map template that you can retain for future use.

Complete a short feedback questionnaire about your learning experience. Your feedback helps us review and improve the training.