THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST UK • ARCHWAY MINISTRY ACADEMY

Church Safeguarding Awareness Course

Recognise • Respond • Record • Report • Protect

Purpose

Help ministers, officers, staff, volunteers and church members understand safeguarding responsibilities, recognise possible harm, follow safer working practice, respond appropriately to disclosures, record and report concerns, and know how concerns are escalated.

Lessons

1. Safeguarding Foundations at The Church of Pentecost UK — Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
2. Recognising Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation — Understand the forms of harm described in the COPUK policy.
3. Safer Working Practice and Professional Boundaries — Everyday behaviours that protect children and adults at risk.
4. Responding to Disclosures: The COPUK Five R’s — Receive, Record, Report, Refer, Monitor and Escalate.
5. Recording, Confidentiality and Information Sharing — Write clearly, protect privacy, and share on a need-to-know basis.
6. Safer Recruitment, DBS and Supervision — Safer appointments and ongoing support are part of safeguarding.
7. Allegations, Whistleblowing and Managing Risk — Raise concerns safely, including concerns about people in authority.
8. Safeguarding Governance and Local Church Readiness — Turn the policy into everyday practice across the district.

Suggested delivery

• Self-paced learning through the eight styled HTML lessons.
• Complete the five-question knowledge check after each lesson.
• Suggested quiz pass mark: 80% (configure in your platform).
• Use fictional scenarios only for practice; never put real case details into group activities.
• Confirm learners know the current DSO, National Safeguarding Lead route, local authority contacts and approved reporting method.

Policy reference

Primary source: The Church of Pentecost UK, Safeguarding Policy (Adults & Children), 2026, uploaded by the user. Key course topics are drawn from the policy's guiding principles, procedures for disclosures, Code of Safer Working Practice, governance, DBS, risk management, abuse definitions and Appendices D–F.

Mandatory review before rollout

The policy includes specific reporting deadlines, named contacts, local-authority contact details and references to legislation/DBS requirements. The COPUK National Safeguarding Lead or an authorised safeguarding lead should verify these details against the current approved policy and local procedures before the course is published or used for formal induction. Each Area, District or Local church should maintain the correct local authority contacts for its own location.