Equestrian Advanced Safeguarding

Sadly, abuse and neglect do happen in sometimes surprisingly large numbers. Often, children and adults at risk will find it hard to speak to someone about the abuse they are suffering, or they may have very few people who will listen. The stables may be the safe haven they need to encourage them to open up to someone about their situation.

This module will look at what child protection and adult safeguarding actually mean, should you find an individual discloses something to you, or should you suspect there is a problem. On completion of the module, you will have a much better understanding of key words and phrases and how they relate to safeguarding. 

Safeguarding and protecting children, young people and adults at risk must operate within a framework of guidance and legal procedure. This module offers an overview of the framework of protection and how it is applied, and takes into account guidance from the British Equestrian Federation on your duty of care. Of course, you will not be expected to be able to quote detailed laws directly, but you will gain a general understanding of what they are. 

By the end of the module, you will have a much clearer understanding of safeguarding guidance and the legalities of protection. The module also introduces the Safeguarding Officer role. 

To effectively detect, reduce and hopefully prevent abuse, we need to strictly define what it is and how it manifests itself. Understanding the categories of abuse will help you to recognise the tell-tale signs that it is taking place.

At the end of this module, you will have a better understanding of what we mean by abuse and what the specific areas of abuse are.

Children and adults experiencing abuse often find it very difficult to talk about the abuse they are experiencing. The anxiety that they feel may manifest in different ways, such as displays of challenging or changed behaviours, and we need to be able to recognise these signs of abuse. Abusers are often adept at covering their tracks and may appear to be very caring people, so recognising the signs of abuse can often be the first alert to a situation.

At the end of this module, you will be more familiar with the definitions of abuse and the signs and indicators of the different types of abuse.

A person-centred approach is vital when dealing with safeguarding issues.  This module looks at what makes a child/adult an individual and how putting them at the heart of any safeguarding process can best meet their needs.

This part of the course builds on the work we did in earlier modules around the signs and different types of abuse and maintaining a person-centred approach. Individuals can disclose in a number of ways, so, while you want to maintain confidentiality where appropriate, you also need to know when to report and to whom. It is vital that you respond quickly and appropriately when presented with a disclosure of abuse, and this module covers the right process to follow and what to do (and what not to do) in order to achieve the desired outcome.

By the end of this module, you will have a better understanding of the correct procedures to follow in response to a potential abuse situation and will know what to do if you have concerns about the behaviour of an adult. 

It is the right of families experiencing the safeguarding or child protection process to make a complaint if they feel the need. All complaints should be given equal attention, and part of the role of the Safeguarding Officer is to ensure that the policy for dealing with complaints is appropriate and fair.

By the end of this module, you will have further understanding of the process for complaints and how to process a complaint or allegation in the right way.

You will now take all that you have learned and apply it to an assessment of your knowledge. The final assessment is your opportunity to show how much you have absorbed and why it is so important to have child/adult protection and safeguarding training.

Once you have passed your assessment, you will be able to download your certificate. Your pass rate will be 80% but don’t worry if you do not pass the first time, as you can take the test multiple times.