Safeguarding Office |
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RESOURCES
The following resources will be useful to anyone interested
in the area of child protection, not just office bearers,
Church staff and those in the ministries:
Protection of Children (Scotland)
Act 2003
Child Protection Handbook
FactFile
Code of Good Practice
Disclosure Scotland application
helpsheets
Child car seat law: advice and information
Boys' Brigade procedures and Girls' Brigade
Central Registered Body in Scotland
The Scottish Executive
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection
(CEOP) Centre
Protecting children while on the
internet
Childnet International
Stop It Now
Children's Party Guidelines
Guidelines for managing Safeguarding Complaints
Secure online Trainers' Area
Resources on this page are available to download in Word
[.doc], rich text [.rtf] and text only [.txt] formats.
Image heavy documents are provided in [.pdf] format.
 |
To view [.pdf] files, you will need
Acrobat Reader. This is available free by clicking
here. |
All external links on this page will take you out of the
Church of Scotland website and open a new browser window.
Protection of Children
(Scotland) Act 2003
The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 aims to
help create safe and supportive environment for children,
young people and those working with them. The guide to
the Act, available to download below, is aimed at those
involved with voluntary organisations or groups which
provide activities for young children or young people
in the community, and the role that organisations need
to play and their responsibilities in enforcing the Act.
There are also contact details of where organisations
can get further advice about the Act, a helpline to support
voluntary organisations and an information pack. You can
download a copy of the Protection of Children (Scotland)
Act 2003 in Word [.doc] and portable document [.pdf] formats.
Download the guide the Protection
of Children (Scotland) Act 2003: (note, unavailable
in [.txt] version due to formatting)
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Child Protection Handbook
The Child Protection Handbook was revised and distributed
free to every Church of Scotland congregation in the summer
of 2005. Extra copies are available to buy from the Safeguarding
Office at a cost of £12 each. For convenience we
have included unit eight of the handbook, standard forms
to download below. Due to formatting restrictions, this
is available in Word [.doc], rich text [.rtf] and [.pdf]
formats only.
Download unit eight of the handbook:
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FactFile
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In the summer of 2005 the Safeguarding
Office also produced a new FactFile booklet. It
is a small, handy A5 booklet crammed full of good
advice and practical information regarding child
care and protection. The booklets are available
to buy from the Safeguarding Office at £3.50
each or three copies for £10.
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It is anticipated that congregations will buy these FactFiles
to present to their children's workers once they have
successfully completed the recruitment process. It does
not take the place of child protection training, but is
an extremely helpful aid to take along to a training event.
FactFile: crammed full of information and advice
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Code of Good
Practice
The following document is the office's Code
of Practice for Kirk Sessions and Congregations in the
Church of Scotland. This code consists of 13 articles
which, when implemented, will help to ensure that the
Church of Scotland has taken all reasonable steps to provide
a high standard of care to children and young people.
Download the Code of Good Practice:
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Disclosure
Scotland application helpsheets
The Safeguarding Office provides the following helpsheets for completing the Disclosure Scotland application process. The first document offers step-by-step guidance for Coordinators and the second step-by-step guidance for applicants.
Download the step-by-step Coordinator helpsheet:
Download the step-by-step Applicant helpsheet:
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Child car seat
law: advice and information
| A range of information, advice and
guidance is available about the new child car seat
laws in the UK on the UK Department of Transport
website. For more information, including a range
of advice leaflets to download, please visit: www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk
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Boys' Brigade procedures
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Details on the procedure
for appointing a volunteer helper, instructor
or potential officer in the Boys' Brigade, as
agreed by the Boys' Brigade and the office are
under review. Details of the procedure for the
appointment of |
a leader in a Boys' Brigade are available to download
below in Word [.doc], rich text [.rtf] and text only [.txt]
formats.
Download the procedure of appointment
of a leader in a Boys' Brigade company in Scotland:
For further information you can visit the Boys' Brigade
(Scotland) website by clicking
here. Please note this link will take you out of
the Church of Scotland website and open a new browser
window.
Girls' Brigade
| The Safeguarding Office
also works closely with the Girls' Brigade and processes
disclosure applications for Girls' Brigade companies
affiliated to Church of Scotland congregations.
For further information you can visit the Girls'
Brigade (Scotland) website by clicking
here. Please note this link will take you out
of the Church of |
 |
Scotland website and open a new browser window.
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Central Registered Body in Scotland
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The Church of Scotland has access
to free disclosure checks through the Central Registered
Body in Scotland (CRBS). You can find out more about
the CRBS by
visiting their website here. |
An electronic version of the CRBS newsletter, issued in
October 2007, is available to download below. It contains
information about changes in procedure.
Download the CRBS newsletter:
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The Scottish Executive
Improving the protection of children and young people
is a priority for the Scottish Executive.
| If you would like to find out more
about what the Scottish Executive is doing to improve
the protection of children in Scotland then visit
their website online here at www.scotland.gov.uk
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Child Exploitation and Online Protection
Centre
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre
works across the UK and maximises international links
to deliver a holistic approach that combines police powers
with the dedicated expertise of business sectors, government,
specialist charities and other interested organisations
- all focused on tackling child sex abuse wherever and
whenever it happens.
Find out more at their website: www.ceop.gov.uk
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Protecting children while on
the internet
The internet is a valuable educational and social tool
and has become a new form of entertainment for children.
All those responsible for the care of children or young
people should be aware of the associated risks surrounding
the use of the internet.
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The Home Office has produced a leaflet
which includes information, advice and guidance
on how to protect children while they are on the
internet. |
You can download the [.pdf] leaflet directly from:
www.psni.police.uk/parents-guide.pdf
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Childnet International
The use of the internet and mobile
phones enable new and exciting ways to communicate
by email, instant messaging, online games and chat
forums.
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Guidance is needed for
all those using these technologies to ensure their safety.
There are numerous websites with useful information
and tips. |
To access a link produced by Childnet International on keeping safe while using these communication tools click here.
To find out more about Childnet International, visit their website: www.childnet-int.org/
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Stop It Now
| Stop It Now is a campaign which is
aiming to prevent child sexual abuse through local
projects, national initiatives and a helpline. |
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For further information and useful links, visit their website: www.stopitnow.org.uk
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Children's Party Guidelines
The Safeguarding Office has produced a Children's Party
Leaflet, which includes good practice guidelines and a
booking form. It is hoped that congregations will find
this leaflet a useful tool for 'one off lets' as feedback
has indicated that the 'Let Agreement' is too large and
cumbersome in these instances.
Download the Children's Party Leaflet
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Guidelines for Managing Safeguarding Complaints
The General Assembly of 2006 instructed the Safeguarding
Committee to produce a complaints procedure and to report
it to the General Assembly of 2007 for approval. The
Safeguarding Committee has produced 'Guidelines for
Managing Safeguarding Complaints' which outline a series
of principles to facilitate congregations in the development
of an effective complaints procedure.
The guidelines also clearly state when it is not appropriate
to use the complaints procedure. Having already been
circulated to all Ministers and Co-ordinators it is
hoped that they will be shared with all appropriate
persons on Kirk Sessions; therefore, for convenience
they are available for download below.
Download the Guidelines for Managing
Safeguarding Complaints
Safeguarding Complaints Procedure Template
'Guidelines for Managing Safeguarding Complaints' were
produced to facilitate congregations in their development
of an effective complaints procedure. The Safeguarding
Office has a template available which congregations may
find a useful reference when developing their own and
can be downloaded below.
Download the Safeguarding Complaints
Procedure Template
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Secure online Trainers' Area
The Safeguarding Office is the nucleus of an extensive
national and international network of volunteer trainers,
contact persons and coordinators, all working to protect
those most vulnerable in our congregations. This is achieved
by advising on safe recruitment, facilitating training
and supporting congregations and presbyteries with problems
and issues as they arise.
It is the long term vision of the Safeguarding Office
to utilise the Church of Scotland's extranet site to
its full potential and facilitate communication through
this medium with the wider safeguarding network. This
communication will include information sharing and discussion.
Initially this facility will be made available to the
training network. Progress will be monitored and evaluated
before extending the service further.
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![Home Office [.pdf] leaflet](./images/safeguardingresourcesinternet.jpg)
