What, Why & Who

What  

The PCANZ Safety WOF is a video-based training course for all those working with children and young people under the age of 18, who do so as part of the PCANZ.    

 

The WOF training takes approximately 4 hours and encompasses essential training on:   

– An introduction to the PCANZ Child Protection Policy and Ethical Practice 
– Health and Safety Practices 
– Recognising, Recording and Responding to Abuse + Safe Recruitment Practices 

Sessions are interactive and provide lots of practical scenarios and examples. 

The full WOF training only needs to be completed once. After that those working with children or young people only need to do the WOF Refresher course which takes approximately 60 minutes every three years. 

 

 

 Why  

  

We acknowledge the tremendous responsibility churches have for the safety and well-being of children and young people attending their churches and programmes.   

  

On the 11 Dec 2018 The Council Assembly published a Child Protection Policy(Dec 2020 update) for the Presbyterian Church, this is a stand-alone Supplementary Provision to the Book of Order. This Policy must be applied when people in the Church work with and or have responsibility for children and young people. Congregations must comply with this policy by the end of 2019.   

The Child Protection Policy calls all of our churches to:   

“…do all in our power to ensure that children and young people in our care will be nurtured and cared for in a safe environment and be protected from harm”   

The PCANZ Safety Warrant Fitness Training provides practical tools and insights to assist all those working with children and young people. The training will equip parishes to comply with New Zealand law, the PCANZ’s Child Protection Policy and, most importantly, keep the children and young people in our care safe.   

 

Who

 Who needs to do this training:  

 Due to the sensitive nature of some of the content in the WOF training day the minimum age of a WOF participant is set at 16 years of age. 

This training is compulsory for all those working with children and young people under the age of 18 who do so as part of the PCANZ.    

  1. All voluntary or paid workers who work with and/or have responsibility for children or young people under the auspices of the PCANZ are implicated in the specific training, recruitment, police vetting, health, safety and ethical practices, and reporting of child abuse stipulated in the PCANZ Child Protection Policy. 

 

Part 1 Section Part A of the CPP states: 

 “This policy outlines what is expected of all parts of the church including voluntary or paid workers who work with or have responsibility for children or young people” 

 

People specifically required to comply with the Training and Police Vetting Requirements etc of the PCANZ Child Protection Policy include but are not limited to: 

 

  • any members of a mainly music (or similar) team who interact with children or young people as part of the ministry, including those amazing people who serve morning tea if they interact with the children present in any way need to be police checked. The key leader of the ministry also needs to do the PCANZ Safety WOF Training. 
  • anyone involved in a church’s children’s or youth ministry where they interact with children or young people 
  • anyone who helps run a church playgroup where they interact with children 
  • a choir or music director who works with children or young people as part of a PCANZ ministry 
  • anyone who mentors or disciples a child or young person 
  • someone who acts as a security guard for a youth event where they are interacting with young people 
  • the key leaders of all-age ministry services and gatherings where children, young people and adults interact together as part of the ministry of the church, including homegroups 
  • any volunteers and staff responsible for any breakout ministry activities that happen for children and young people in the context of an all age ministry gathering, including homegroups 

 

People not specifically required to comply with the Training and Police Vetting Requirements etc of the PCANZ Child Protection Policy: 

  • those attending a Sunday worship service who are not working with or have a responsibility for children or young people, even if children or young people are present in the service 
  • Anyone attending or leading a home group for adults where the hosts children are present but are not part of the homegroup proceedings 

 

We understand that current New Zealand law and the PCANZ Child Protection Policy require far more people to be trained and vetted than ever before. The object of the policy isn’t to subject a lot of wonderful volunteers to unnecessary paperwork and training, it is to ensure that we are doing all we can to keep children and young people safe in our care. Sadly, even recent history shows us that one mishap with a child or young person in our care can undo decades of a church’s goodwill in the community. 

 Due to the sensitive nature of some of the content in the WOF training day the minimum age of a WOF participant is set at 16 years of age.