Guest author: Jon Trew
The new safeguarding training framework in Wales introduces six role-specific groups to ensure compliance with national legislation. It aims to provide tailored training for professionals in education, social care and charities, ensuring a consistent and effective safeguarding approach.
The framework was written to ensure that safeguarding training reflected and covered the legislation that is in force in Wales. This is a mixture of both English and Welsh legislation such as:
Overview of the New National Safeguarding Training Framework for Wales
The primary goal of the new national safeguarding training and development framework for Wales is to instil a consistent national approach to safeguarding training, learning and development and seeks to streamline and enhance the efficiency of organisations by promoting the use of consistent training standards. This ensures that all practitioners regardless of sector, receive appropriate high-quality training that meets Wales’ safeguarding and legislative requirements. The key requirements are also aligned with the tenets of Estyn’s inspection framework for Welsh schools.
Understanding the Six Training Groups
In order to achieve these national standards, the framework has identified six groups based on their level of involvement in safeguarding responsibilities:
- Group A – All staff working in a public or voluntary sector organisation or agency
This group needs a basic level of awareness of safeguarding and know how to report a concern.
- Group B – Practitioners who work with people in a group setting or one to one basis
The phrase ‘people’ in this context means children, young people up to the age of 18 and adults at risk. Examples of this group would be teachers, teaching assistants, care home workers, nursery workers, nannies and childminder assistants and domiciliary care workers. These practitioners work in settings where they may encounter safeguarding issues and require a deeper understanding of safeguarding policies and procedures. They need the skills and knowledge to respond to, report and record concerns or allegations related to safeguarding.
- Group C – Practitioners with a direct responsibility for safeguarding people
Group C are practitioners who are responsible for assessing safeguarding risks, making decisions about protective actions and coordinating with other professionals in complex safeguarding situations. Examples of roles in this group would be residential childcare managers, nursery managers, responsible Individuals (RIs) designated safeguarding persons (DSP’s) headteachers, social workers and anyone who is involved in protection planning and decisions around individuals in these processes.
- Group D – Practitioners who operate at a higher level in the safeguarding process
In education typically this would include the safeguarding lead for the local authority. They have advanced knowledge of safeguarding practices and may be responsible for leading safeguarding reviews, providing expert advice and overseeing safeguarding processes within their organisation or across multiple agencies.
- Group E – Practitioners that have the final say regarding safeguarding decisions
This group includes social services personnel in strategic leadership roles, such as the Director of Social Services and other heads service for both children and adults. This would also include key statutory partners with the highest level of decision-making responsibility in the safeguarding process. These individuals are often involved in regional or national safeguarding initiatives and are expected to provide expert guidance on complex safeguarding matters.
- Group F – The most senior people in an organisation
Public sector leaders have the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that safeguarding processes are effectively managed within their organisations. Examples of these include Directors of Education, Local Councillors and School Governors. They must ensure that adequate resources are allocated for safeguarding activities and that their organisations meet legal and regulatory requirements.
Each of the six groups has unique training, learning and development standards set out in the framework. Read more about the six safeguarding training groups here.
How Safeguarding Software Can Support Practitioners in Wales
Safeguarding software is instrumental for professionals in all groups identified in the new training framework for Wales. For practitioners in groups B and C who work directly with children and adults at risk, or those with elevated safeguarding responsibilities such as safeguarding leads, CPOMS software offers a host of benefits to enhance child protection processes.
The training and learning standards for groups B and C includes: ‘how to record written information that’s accurate, clear and relevant with an appropriate level of detail’ and both groups also need to know ‘the difference between fact, opinion and judgement, and why understanding this is important when recording and reporting information’. The new training framework also requires that practitioners know how to share safeguarding information effectively and appropriately.
Recording Safeguarding Incidents
CPOMS StudentSafe provides a simple but powerful method of recording safeguarding incidents and welfare concerns with a clear, customisable template that prompts users to provide relevant and accurate information digitally. This includes the ability to report evidence quickly, as soon a concern arises, including supplementary information such as wellbeing check in forms like ‘three houses’ or body maps indicating signs of physical abuse.
Effective Information Sharing
CPOMS Engage offers a wide range of solutions to support practitioners in sharing safeguarding information effectively and securely. Engage allows seamless, secure transfers of pupil data between schools and Local Authorities through a secure Share Contract. These contracts are configurable, giving schools control over the data they share, its frequency, and who has access to it, ensuring compliance and data protection standards are met. By eliminating the need for time-consuming processes like reformatting files, sending secure emails, or making multiple calls, Engage simplifies the handling of sensitive data, allowing practitioners to focus more on safeguarding duties.
Supporting Decision-Making
One of the most important responsibilities for practitioners in the new framework is that of decision making, particularly for safeguarding leads with the responsibility of understanding when to make a safeguarding referral. Using solutions like StudentSafe and Engage means having all the facts in chronological order and the ability to see the combined concerns of all the members of staff across settings all in one place, making the decision-making process much easier and better informed.
To learn more about how CPOMS software can support your setting in meeting the training standards of the new safeguarding framework for Wales, book a demo today.
