Safeguarding is the action the Church can take to promote a safer culture.
This means the Church will promote the welfare of children, young people, and adults, work to prevent abuse from occurring, seek to protect those that are at risk and respond well to those who have been abused. Ensuring that safeguarding learning is up to date helps embed a culture where people feel safe, and abuse can be spotted and dealt with appropriately and in a timely way.
Safeguarding Learning and Development is one way of the Church promoting a safer culture. The National Safeguarding Learning and Development Framework outlines the learning requirements for Church Officers.
A Church Officer is anyone appointed/elected by or on behalf of the Church to a post or role, whether they are ordained or lay, paid or unpaid. A Church Officer must be at least 16 years of age. We are aware that there are a great many young helpers and leaders who are under 16; these individuals should be supported to engage in the same level of safeguarding learning as their adult counterparts.
The learning and development framework can be found here:
Safeguarding Learning and Development Framework | The Church of England
and as a downloadable document Downloadable Version | The Church of England