The National PSO group has been developing a variety of resources designed to support PSOs and their roles. In collaboration with PSOs and safeguarding professionals across all dioceses, they identified some key priorities.
A central message across all of their work was the emphasis that safeguarding should be viewed as the responsibility of the Parochial Church Council (PCC), rather than being solely the responsibility of the PSO.
PSO role and recruitment:
You can access the revised PSO role description here: Parish Safeguarding Officer role description | The Church of England.
An Information and Welcome pack has been created to support PCCs and PSOs coming into role.
Safeguarding Dashboard:
There is a series of six two-minute videos (12 mins in total) to support PSOs in understanding the features and benefits of the Safeguarding Dashboard which absolutely does help make the PSO role more manageable. This video is located on the Safeguarding Virtual Library on our eLearning portal. You can also view the video here.
If your parish is not yet using the Safeguarding Dashboard please reach out to Louisa McCabe louisa.mccabe@peterborough-diocese.org.uk for more information on how to access this valuable resource.
Primary Information Hub:
The printed hand-book has been discontinued in favour of the Safeguarding e-manual. Please dispose of any remaining hard copies, as the guidance is now out of date.
The national group recognised the need to have one central place for information and guidance to support the PSO in their role. They agreed this aim would best be met via the Safeguarding e-manual Safeguarding e-manual | The Church of England and the Safeguarding Dashboard.
Both of these offer easy and timely access to information and tools relevant to the PSO and their role.
Another great resource for key documents - Templates and resources | The Church of England
PSO Induction/Refresher training:
The National Safeguarding Team is currently reviewing the existing training package. Once the materials are ready, training dates will be shared through the diocesan newsletter.
Safeguarding Links on Parish Websites & A Church Near You:
It is not essential to have full safeguarding details on the home page of your website, it is perfectly acceptable for the word ‘Safeguarding’ to be a link from the homepage, either across the top or in an easily-accessible drop down menu. The link should be clearly visible on the homepage, but the whole information does not need to appear on the home page itself, as long as it is available when someone clicks on the link. Clicking that link should take someone to a further page which contains more detailed safeguarding information, including contact details for the Parish Safeguarding Officer, the Diocesan Safeguarding Team and a clear statement of the parish’s commitment to safeguarding. If possible a link to the Diocesan Safeguarding webpages should be included. This should also be reflected on any A Church Near You sites.
Some suggested wording for your statement of committment to safeguarding is below:
"Our parish of [name] is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults from harm. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and policies and have our own Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO). Our Diocese of [name]’s safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor who advises our PSO. If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the PSO [add their details or link to a page that shows the info] or the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor [add their details here or link to your own page that shows the info or the diocesan safeguarding page]. If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority’s children or adult social care services."
Thank you for your continued support and all the valuable contributions you make to the Diocese.