We are pleased to announce the launch of a new self-paced eLearning course, Contextual Safeguarding in Multi Agency Practice, available from May. This flexible online course has been designed to enable professionals to engage with learning at a time and pace that suits their role and workload, supporting reflective practice alongside day-to-day responsibilities.

The course provides a comprehensive introduction to contextual safeguarding, focusing on harm that children and young people may experience beyond the family environment. This includes exploitation, peer abuse, violence, coercion and digitally mediated harm. It is particularly relevant for professionals working with adolescents where peer dynamics, community contexts and online spaces are significant risk factors.

Across six structured modules, learners can progress independently through the content, pausing and returning as needed. The course explores the theoretical foundations and evolution of contextual safeguarding, the distinction between intra familial and extra familial harm and how safeguarding responsibilities extend into schools, communities, peer networks and digital platforms. Traditional child protection models are critically examined, with an emphasis on recognising environmental patterns, contextual risk and peer influence.

The eLearning includes scenario-based activities, knowledge checks and applied reflection exercises. Learners will examine both physical and digital contexts, including social media environments, and practise identifying patterns of concern, determining appropriate escalation and selecting proportionate, coordinated multi agency responses. Practical tools are provided to support the embedding of contextual and relational safeguarding into assessments, supervision and partnership governance.

This course supports professionals across education, social care, health, youth services, police, community safety and the voluntary sector. It also complements future in person training opportunities on this subject.

Safeguarding does not stop at the front door. This flexible eLearning course reflects the reality of children and young people’s lived experiences and supports practitioners to strengthen their contextual safeguarding practice at their own pace.