Develop your knowledge of social work in relation to child safeguarding. Critically evaluate your own practice. Share your experience with other practitioners.
Aimed at current practitioners, this short course will help you to develop an advanced understanding of social work practice in the area of child safeguarding.
You'll critically evaluate your own practice through exploring current research in several areas of contemporary safeguarding practice and share knowledge and experience with other social work practitioners.
The course is delivered via interactive workshops at the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's over five months, between 10am and 4pm on the following dates:
There will also be five hours of asynchronous input via online podcasts. The total learning time is 300 hours (teaching sessions and independent learning).
Assessment submission will take place on 19 February 2026. You'll demonstrate your learning by way of a negotiated assessment exploring a piece of your own practice, relating to one of the topics covered on the course. This could be a written assignment, a presentation, or other assessment format, as agreed with the module leader, testing all learning outcomes.
This course, worth 30 credits, is suitable for people working in social work/care environments with children’s safeguarding responsibilities. Applicants should have a qualification at Level 6 (or equivalent work experience) and be supported by their employer to complete the course. Please contact the course leader to discuss: lesley.deacon@sunderland.ac.uk.
The employer usually meets course costs – we advise you to speak to your workforce development lead before applying.
We also accept self-funded applicants and encourage anyone wishing to explore their options to contact cpd@sunderland.ac.uk(opens in new tab).
Contact the Corporate and Professional Education team for further information about applying for this course by calling 0191 515 3361(opens in new tab) or emailing cpd@sunderland.ac.uk(opens in new tab).