7.4 Training and Learning Policy

1. Introduction

South Tyneside Safeguarding Children Partnership (SCP) and South Tyneside Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) aim to ensure that practitioners, volunteers, supervisors and managers across the partnership have the knowledge, skills and shared understanding needed to safeguard children, young people and adults with care and support needs. This policy sets out how multi-agency safeguarding learning will be identified, developed, delivered, quality assured and evaluated so that learning is accessible, evidence-informed and translated into improved practice.

2. Scope

• Audience: practitioners, supervisors, managers and volunteers from partner agencies who work with children, young people, adults with care and support needs, families or carers.
• Offer: face-to-face, virtual, e-learning, briefings and learning events delivered or commissioned through the SCP and SAB.
• Out of scope: single-agency mandatory or induction training, which remains the responsibility of individual organisations.
• Alignment: the offer will reflect SCP and SAB priorities, statutory guidance, business plans, reviews, audits, assurance activity, local data and emerging safeguarding themes.

3. Principles and Priorities

• Multi-agency by design: learning supports agencies to understand roles, thresholds, information sharing, escalation and joint decision-making.
• Child-focused, person-centred and Think Family: learning promotes the voice of the child, Making Safeguarding Personal, whole-family thinking and transitional safeguarding.
• Evidence-informed and reflective: learning is shaped by local and national evidence, review learning, audit findings, lived experience and practitioner feedback.
• Trauma-informed, strengths-based and inclusive: learning recognises trauma, inequality, discrimination and barriers to support, and promotes respectful and proportionate practice.
• Accessible and practical: learning is designed around real safeguarding practice, clear takeaways and different workforce needs.
• Impact-focused: evaluation considers whether learning is embedded in practice and contributes to improved safeguarding outcomes, not attendance alone.

4. Governance, Roles and Responsibilities

Training is part of the South Tyneside safeguarding assurance framework. Learning arising from Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) and related review activity will be identified through the Safeguarding Adults Review Group (SARG), while learning arising from Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews (CSPRs), Rapid Reviews and related review activity will be identified through the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Group (CSPRG). Both groups will formally transfer relevant learning, practice problems, systems findings and recommendations to the Practice, Evaluation and Learning Subgroup (PEL). PEL will oversee the development of proportionate SMART action plans and will coordinate workforce development, implementation, audit and assurance activity, monitoring and impact evaluation. Assurance will be reported to the SCP and SAB through the relevant governance arrangements, including quarterly and annual training reports. Safeguarding learning, implementation and evidence of frontline impact are shared partnership responsibilities and are not solely the responsibility of the Learning and Development Advisor.

• SCP and SAB: set strategic direction, approve priorities and receive assurance on quality and impact.
• Safeguarding Adults Review Group (SARG): identifies learning, specific practice problems, systems findings and recommendations arising from Safeguarding Adult Reviews, Rapid Reviews, Near Miss Reviews and other adult review or learning activity and formally transfers these to PEL.
• Child Safeguarding Practice Review Group (CSPRG): identifies learning, specific practice problems, systems findings and recommendations arising from Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Rapid Reviews and other child review or learning activity, and formally transfers these to PEL.
• Practice, Evaluation and Learning Subgroup (PEL): receives learning and recommendations formally transferred by SARG and CSPRG; agrees learning priorities; translates recommendations into proportionate SMART action plans; and coordinates delivery, workforce development, audit and assurance activity, implementation monitoring, impact evaluation and long-term assurance.
• Learning and Development Advisor – Safeguarding: coordinates, commissions, supports delivery and reports on the multi-agency learning offer. This role supports the system but does not hold sole responsibility for identifying, cascading, embedding or evidencing all learning.
• Partner agencies: promote attendance, release staff, contribute expertise, cascade learning internally, support implementation through supervision and team learning, and provide evidence of impact from their own services.
• Trainers and facilitators: deliver to agreed standards, create safe and inclusive learning environments and contribute to evaluation and improvement.

5. Training and Learning Offer

The training and learning offer will include core safeguarding knowledge, themed learning, specialist briefings, review learning, audit-informed practice development and targeted activity in response to emerging risk. Learning will support different roles and levels of responsibility across children’s and adults’ safeguarding and will promote professional curiosity, information sharing, escalation, Think Family practice, Making Safeguarding Personal and the voice of the child and adult.

Learning journey
1. Identify need	2. Design response	3. Deliver learning	4. Embed practice	5. Evidence impact
Needs are identified through reviews, audits, data, feedback and emerging themes.	PEL agrees the proportionate learning, development or assurance response.	Learning is delivered through the most appropriate format.	Agencies reinforce learning through supervision and team activity.	Practice evidence, assurance activity and feedback demonstrate impact.

6. Training Development and Delivery

Training will use the most appropriate blend of face-to-face, virtual, e-learning, briefings and learning events. Content will reflect statutory guidance, local and national evidence, review and audit findings, performance information, lived experience and practitioner feedback.

7. Participation and Booking

Partner agencies are expected to promote attendance, release appropriate staff, manage non-attendance, ensure staff access the right level of learning for their role and support transfer of learning into practice through supervision, team discussion, management oversight and local quality assurance.

8. Evaluation and Quality Assurance

Evaluation will focus on quality, reach and impact. The partnership will not rely on attendance and satisfaction data alone but will consider whether learning improves confidence, professional curiosity, information sharing, risk assessment, escalation, recording, use of advocacy, child and adult voice, Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP) and multi-agency decision-making.

Quarterly reports will summarise delivery, attendance, non-attendance, completed e-learning modules and course evaluation findings. At this stage, any impact on learning and practice is indicative. Individual agencies are responsible for providing assurance that training has influenced frontline practice, drawing on evidence such as supervision, case records, audits, management oversight, team learning, practitioner reflection, service improvement activity and feedback from children, families, adults or carers.

9. Records, Data and Confidentiality

Training records will be maintained for assurance and reporting purposes. Any personal data associated with training activity will be managed in line with the partnership’s data protection and privacy arrangements. Case material used in learning must be anonymised unless lawful and appropriate information sharing is in place.

10. Equality, Diversity and Accessibility

Training will be accessible, inclusive and reflective of diverse workforce and community needs. Reasonable adjustments will be considered, and feedback will be used to identify and reduce barriers to participation.

11. Conclusion

This policy supports a knowledgeable, confident and reflective safeguarding workforce across South Tyneside. By working together, sharing responsibility for learning and evidencing impact, the partnership will strengthen multi-agency practice and support better outcomes for children, young people, adults with care and support needs, families and carers.