Children First Foundation Level Training 2020

‘As you are aware, the full Enactment of the Children First Act (2015) has resulted in significant changes for those employed in the Early Years Sector. With a legal responsibility for organisations to have a Child Safeguarding Statement in place and the identification of those employed in Early Years Services as Mandated Persons, the Always Children First Foundation Module has been updated to reflect these and other important changes. Our trainer from Roscommon County Childcare Committee Irene Cafferky has completed her training in the updated module and is now ready to deliver this to Early Years Providers and in particular, to Designated Liaison Persons (DLP) and Deputy Designated Liaison Persons (DDLP).   A prerequisite of attending this training is that participants have completed the Tusla E Learning Children First Programme and Roscommon CCC will ask that participants send a copy of their cert to us prior to attending the training.

Those working in your services should complete this E Learning programme at https://www.tusla.ie/children-first/children-first-e-learning-programme/

To Note:

A copy of the PowerPoint presentation and other handouts will be available for participants

Roscommon CCC will be conducting training on the following dates:

Date: Thursday 23rd January 2020. Time: 10am- 4pm. Venue: Roscommon County Childcare Committee CLG, Knock Road, Castlerea, Co.Roscommon.

Date: Thursday 13th February 2020  Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm Venue: Millmount Maintenance Services, Monksland, Athlone, Co.Roscommon.

Date: Thursday 16th April 2020. Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm Venue: Roscommon Town, Venue to be confirmed.

To book into any of the training sessions please complete the following:

• Booking is essential and can be completed through the following link: https://www.eventbrite.ie/o/roscommon-county-childcare-committee-clg-18483174844
• Participants are asked to send a copy of their Tusla Children First E-Learning Certificate prior to attending the Always Children First Foundation Training to the following email address training@roscommonchildcare.ie. Participants cannot attend if we have not received this from you as this is a Tusla requirement and Roscommon CCC are required to keep a soft copy on file for each participant.

Questions & Answers

• Can staff other than Designated Liaison Person (DLP) Deputy Designated Liaison Person (DDLP) attend training? Yes, however Roscommon CCC must ensure that DLP/DDLP’s who have not received prior training are given priority

• • Can I attend the training if I haven’t completed the E Learning Programme – No, the content of the Foundation Level Programme that you are attending builds on the content of the E-Learning Programme and this previous learning is essential to support the participants understanding of the programme.

• I completed the E Learning Programme but have no cert, can I attend? A certificate of completion will have been emailed to you from Tusla. If you cannot retrieve the cert from your emails, you must complete the Tusla Children First E-learning programme again.

• Do I have to attend all 6 hours? Yes, certificates will only be presented to participants who complete the full 6 hours.

• I have completed the old module in the last 3 years but want to attend the new module, is this allowed? Yes however we will give priority to those who have never completed the training or those who completed the training over 3 years ago.

Tusla have produced a number of informative resources to support early years services develop strong Child Safeguarding Policies and Procedures such as “Developing a Child Safeguarding Statement: A Guide For Early Years Services in Ireland”. These resources can be accessed through the Tusla website https://www.tusla.ie/services/child-protection-welfare/children-first/ ‘

Tusla – Child and Family Agency also launched its new Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook 2. The Practice Handbook 2 is published as a companion document to the 2011 HSE Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook and Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (DCYA 2017). The Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook 2 can be found on the Tusla Website and will be a further support to professionals including Designated and Deputy Designated Liaison Officers within an early years’ service.

https://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/Tusla_Child_Protection_Handbook2.pdf

If you or any member of staff in your service has any further queries in relation to Always Children First training please contact our team at Roscommon County Childcare Committee or email training@roscommonchildcare.ie