Child protection training

This is provided by your own employer when you start, covering the basics of recognising and responding to child protection concerns specific to your role and organisation. It's not run by the Child Protection Committee, since every organisation handles it slightly differently depending on the work they do. It's a prerequisite before moving on to any of the levels below.

This is aimed at people who come into contact with children, young people, or adults at risk through their job, but who aren't doing in-depth, ongoing personal work with them; think shop staff, leisure centre workers, or contractors who might be on school or care premises. The training itself usually consists of the NES (NHS Education for Scotland) Child Protection e-learning course, alongside any induction or refresher training your own employer provides. There's typically no need to attend an in-person session for this level; it's mostly self-directed online learning

This is for people who work more closely and regularly with children, young people, or adults at risk, such as carrying out direct support work, building ongoing relationships with them, or contributing to risk assessments and family support. This level has historically involved a two-day, in-person, multi-agency course, jointly funded and delivered by the Child Protection Committee, covering both child and adult protection. It's typically delivered by a mix of presenters from organisations like Orkney Health and Care, Police Scotland, Education Services, the voluntary sector, and the Children's Reporter. You usually need to complete the NES e-learning course first, before attending. Priority for places tends to go to staff who haven't done this level of training before, since it's designed as a first step rather than a refresher, though anyone whose last training was 5+ years ago can still benefit and request a place

This is for people with specific, named responsibility for child or adult protection as part of their job, such as named persons, lead professionals, council officers, or anyone involved in investigations or complex cases. It builds on everything in Levels 1 and 2, with extra specialist content. This has typically included things like "Signs of Safety" training, emerging issues such as child sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and online safety, plus joint investigative interview training delivered jointly by Police Scotland and Social Work. Like Level 2, it's usually a two-day multi-agency course, with the NES e-learning course required beforehand.

One thing worth flagging: the document you shared references the updated 2024 National Framework, which renamed things slightly (Level 1/2/3 instead of the older Step 1/2 terminology). The detail above on course format and content comes from how this training was structured under the older framework, so it may be worth double-checking with the Child Protection Committee secretary whether anything substantive has changed under the new framework, rather than just the naming.