Help us keep football safe for all.
The FA have put together a free, online Safeguarding Awareness for Parents & Carers course and understand the role you play in creating a positive environment for children to enjoy the game.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility – but are you clear about the vital role you can play?
Safeguarding is about creating safe environments and preventing children from experiencing harm or abuse. Put simply, safeguarding refers to measures we take to protect our children – and keep them safe and well. Whether that’s your kids, the opposing players or even the ref, every young person has the right to enjoy football.
This short safeguarding for parents course is designed to help you to make an informed choice about the football setting you enrol your child in. It starts by explaining the importance of safeguarding in football and the child-centred approach the game takes.
It will then guide you through questions you should ask to ensure the club or venue where your children play football has the correct safeguarding policies, people and practices in place.
The course also highlights signs that should concern you – and how to report these concerns. Please scroll down if you want to read about the course in more detail.
Ultimately, we want you to make informed choices about where your children enjoy our great game.
The FA is doing everything it can to create safe and positive environments wherever your children play football. This course will enable you play an active role towards achieving that goal. Thank you in advance for taking it.
Expectations and goals
This course will help you:
- Know what safeguarding is and that you have a role to play as a parent or carer
- Understand that children’s football should be centred around the needs and wellbeing of children
- Increase awareness of the different forms, signs and indicators of abuse, including ‘grooming’ as well as understanding what constitutes poor practice, and how this links to abuse
- Increase your confidence regarding what safeguards should be in place at a child’s club or football setting, and how to check this
- Increase your awareness of reporting concerns through recognised channels
- Increase your awareness of the behaviours that are expected in children’s football environments
To take the course…
You first need an FA Number (FAN). If you already have one, login here. If not, select the link and choose ‘Sign Up’. This will walk you through the registration process which only takes 30 seconds.
A FAN simply gives you a unique identification number should you want to take any other England Football Learning courses.
Once you have a FAN, you can take the course here.
Upon completion of the course, you’ll receive a safeguarding certificate that will appear on your FAN account. You can return to the course to refresh your knowledge at any time.
