A Child Safeguarding Statement is a written statement that specifies the service being provided and the principles and procedures to be observed in order to ensure, as far as practicable, that a child availing of the service is safe from harm. It should set out any potential risk of “harm” to a child that you have identified in your risk assessment, and procedures in place to reduce the identified risks, as specified in section 11 (3) of the Children First Act 2015. The Child Safeguarding Statement should provide an overview of the measures that your organisation has in place to ensure that children are protected from harm. It may also refer to more detailed policies which can be made available on request.
The ‘Child Safeguarding Resource Document, Child Safeguarding Statement, Policy and Procedures; Guidance for Early Learning and Care and School Aged Childcare Services in Ireland’ provides in-depth information for services who are reviewing or developing these documents.
National Child Safeguarding Programme (NCSP) trainers are based in City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs). If you contact your local CCC they will be able to tell you when they are delivering training. CCC contact details can be found here.
This should be informed by your services Child Safeguarding Training Strategy. The National Child Safeguarding Programme (NCSP) recommend that all workers and volunteers in Early Learning and Childcare Services complete Tusla’s Introduction to Children First eLearning Programme regularly.
Mandated Persons should also complete Tusla’s Mandated Persons eLearning Module regularly to help them understand their additional responsibilities under the Children First Act, 2015.
NCSP trainers placed in City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) nationally also deliver child safeguarding training to Early Learning and Childcare Services. You can contact your local CCC for information on the NCSP Five Year Training Cycle.
All staff in your service can attend Always Children First Foundation Level training. This training is delivered by trainers placed in CCCs nationally and places are allocated in the following way:
Those holding the Designated Liaison Person or Deputy Designated Liaison Person role in your service can attend this training. DLP training is currently in the first phase of rollout and may not yet be available in your area. Please contact your local CCC for more information. DLPs and DDLPs can also complete Part A of the DLP Training, ‘Designated Liaison Person Role and Responsibilities eLearning Module’ online.
We do not usually provide whole service training, however, where a request has come from Tusla, DCEDIY or another agency this can be considered. Provision of whole service training is assessed on a case-by-case basis and must be discussed with the NCSP trainer in your CCC.
Yes. All members of Boards of Management (BOM) should have an awareness of Child Safeguarding and should understand their role in safeguarding. Members of Boards should, at a minimum, complete Tusla’s Introduction to Children First eLearning Programme. If there is a member of the BOM who holds additional roles in safeguarding (such as mandated person or provider of a relevant service), they should consider attending Always Children First Foundation Training provided by City/County Childcare Committees.
The NCSP have developed a number of posters for display in Early Learning and Childcare services. These posters can be found in the Resources section of this website.
If you are unsure as to whether or not you need to report a concern to Tusla’s Social Work department, you can contact a Duty Social Worker, through the Dedicated Contact Points, for informal consultation, where a social worker will provide guidance.
There are a lot of resources online, however, the list below will provide a very quick introduction/overview of child safeguarding:
This list is just some of the eLearning Programmes to support workers and volunteers understand child safeguarding:
