The Surrey Children's Services Academy (SCSA) provides a range of partnership safeguarding workshops for practitioners, managers and volunteers working with children, young people and their families in Surrey.
The workshops reflect learning and good practice from case reviews, audits, domestic homicide reviews and child deaths as well as changes in legislation, policy and guidance.
We aim to share both national and local best practice through a range of digital learning, face to face workshops and learning events. This ensures that Surrey's professionals are equipped with the knowledge and skills to safeguard children and young people in Surrey.
The ethos is that our learning is multi agency. Professionals have the opportunity to learn from each other and with each other. This ensures that professionals work together and share information within the safeguarding process to ensure positive outcomes for children and families.
- Digital learning
- Face to face training
- Domestic Abuse
- Safeguarding foundation courses - including training for designated safeguarding leads
- Surrey Virtual School training and events
- One minute guides
Partnership Safeguarding Training Pathway and Offer
Partnership training requirements for practitioners working with children and families:
Level 1: All staff, including support staff, require basic safeguarding training; Working Together to Safeguard Children (WTSC). It is the responsibility of the individual agency to provide this training either via an e-learning package or classroom-based sessions.
Working Together to Safeguard Children (Surrey County Council) digital learning
If you need to update your basic safeguarding knowledge or are new to working with children and families in Surrey, the WTSC online course covers:
- What is abuse (physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect) including child exploitation, honour based abuse, radicalisation and extremism, online exploitation and the impact of domestic abuse
- Recognising signs and behaviours which may be related to abuse or neglect
- What to do if you are worried about a child or young person
- Surrey's Effective Family Resilience (Levels of need) and Request for Support process including Children's Single Point of Access (C-Spa) contact details
Access:
- Surrey practitioners and managers; via Olive (Surrey's Learning Management System)
- Non Surrey County Council staff, partner agencies, voluntary sector and volunteers: You first need to register on Olive, request a code and then you are redirected to the WTSC e-learning on Olive.
Safeguarding digital learning Olive registration and courses
Level 2: Frontline staff who work predominantly with children and young people and/or their parents require WTSC, Foundation Module 1: Multi-agency Safeguarding Children - Effective Family Resilience and Family Safeguarding (see below for details) and e-learning in the following areas:
SCSA - Safeguarding digital learning
SCSA have commissioned a range of safeguarding and awareness e-learning courses for practitioners, managers, volunteers and foster carers who work with children and families in Surrey. Some topics covered by these free courses include:
- Abuse related to beliefs in witchcraft
- Bullying and cyberbullying
- Child sexual exploitation level 1
- Child sexual exploitation level 2
- Domestic abuse
- Gangs and youth violence
- Honour based violence and forced marriage
- Human trafficking and modern day slavery
- Neglect
- Online safety risks to children
- Safeguarding children with disabilities
- Self-harm
- Sexual abuse and recognising grooming
- Substance misuse
- Unconscious bias
In addition to the above, further course topics are available. Please self-register via the following link and then complete the various modules as required.
Safeguarding digital learning Olive registration and courses
For further information or assistance with the Me Learning modules please contact Surrey Children's Academy at surreychildrens.academy@surreycc.gov.uk.
SCSA face-to-face training
The SCSA, in line with government guidance, has currently ceased all classroom-based events. However, when face to face learning is permitted again our offer will resume. As before, the offer includes core safeguarding courses that are mandatory for safeguarding leads across the Surrey partnership, as well as specialist courses that target individual practitioner groups or explore specific themes in depth.
Our core safeguarding offer consists of:
- Foundation Module 1: Multi-Agency Safeguarding Children – Family Resilience and Family Safeguarding and Foundation
Module 1 explores attitudes and values which affect the practice of safeguarding. It develops an awareness of current legislation and guidance, considers thresholds and decision-making as well as interagency roles and responsibilities in the safeguarding process. Emphasis is given to the established practice models in Surrey, such as Family Resilience and Family Safeguarding.
Level 3: Senior Officers/Managers/Deputy/Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) require the above courses plus Foundation Module 2: Child Protection Conferences, Plans and Core Groups (FM2).
Designated Safeguarding leads are expected to give regular safeguarding updates to staff in their organisation. Organisations must have enough DSLs to ensure one is always available to staff. WTSC materials are available from Surrey Childrens Academy and the Education Safeguarding Team.
- Foundation Module 2: Child Protection Conferences, Plans and Core Groups
Foundation Module 2 explores the section 47 enquiry (Children Act 1989) process through to child protection conferences. It outlines an understanding of the roles and contributions of practitioners in this process. They also consider child protection plans and the function of core groups.
Further specialist learning includes topics such as child exploitation, domestic abuse, neglect, parental substance misuse, self-harm, managing allegations, safeguarding disabled children, fetal alcohol syndrome disorder and honour based abuse. Participants attending these sessions can explore the topics in depth and enhance their knowledge and skills. Access of virtual and face to face training is via the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership Course Bookings.
Domestic abuse
A range of learning opportunities for Domestic Abuse are now available. To find out what is on offer and book your place visit the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership Events.
Safeguarding foundation courses
Charges for SCSA partnership workshops apply to some foundation and specialist workshops if your organisation does not contribute annually to the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP):
- Virtual half day, £30 per day for charities, £50 per day for organisations or individuals not contributing to the SSCP.
- Full day, £50 for charities, £100 for organisations and individuals not contributing to the SSCP.
- Some events are charged at different rates; see for booking details.
Single Agency training
Agencies and organisations have a responsibility to ensure their staff are appropriately trained for all areas relevant to their practice. Therefore, it is expected that they regularly carry out their own training needs analyses and have a robust training programme in place.
Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) Training for Schools and Early Years
DSL's in schools and early years settings are required to undertake DSL (New to Role) training and after 2 years DSL Refresher training. For schools and early year's settings this is now provided by Surrey County Council, booking via the Services for Schools website.
The usual route is for practitioners to undertake FM1 and 2 and then attend DSL New to Role training.
DSL's provide regular updates (at least annually) to staff in the setting and deliver Working Together to Safeguard Children training. Materials for WTSC are available from surreychildrens.academy@surreycc.gov.uk and for schools via education.safeguarding@surreycc.gov.uk. DSL's (not including school-based DSL's) may be required to undertake a Train the Trainers course prior to delivering this training unless they are teachers or have completed such training previously.
Surrey Virtual Schools (SVS) – Training and events
Virtual Schools for children in care exist throughout the country to improve educational outcomes of care experienced children and young people. The Surrey Virtual School (SVS) is not a 'bricks and mortar' school. It's a team who bring together the data and information about children and young people who are cared for by Surrey as if they were in one school. That way, their progress can be closely tracked and supported, and interventions can be targeted in a more strategic way.
Surrey Virtual School offers a programme of training and events for designated teachers, school governors, foster carers, social workers, early years and post 16 settings throughout the year.
To find out more about the offer and to access training and development from the team please visit Surrey Virtual Schools.
One minute guides
The Family Information Service offer some useful one minute guides to Early Help and Children's Services. These guides have been put together for families and practitioners working to support families in Surrey.
The guides cover a number of topics including, Early Help Assessments, Team Around the Family meetings and becoming a Child Champion.