NFCC and SFJ Awards to launch qualification for FRS staff working with children and young people

Image credit: https://sfjawards.com/

A consultation is underway to support the development of a dedicated ‘working with children and young people’ qualification for fire and rescue service personnel.

Emergency services qualifications specialists SFJ Awards and the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) have joined forces to design the Level 2 Award to help equip staff and volunteers with the knowledge and understanding required to support young people that come into contact with fire and rescue services.

Scheduled to launch in 2025, the qualification will be made available to staff and volunteers working with children and young people and will form part of their induction programme.

The Level 2 Award is anticipated to cover topic areas including child development, youth work, understanding challenging behaviour, ACEs and trauma, communication, neurodiversity and more.

David Higham, Managing Director at SFJ Awards comments:

“This new qualification provides an excellent opportunity for anyone working within fire and rescue services to gain recognition for the fantastic and beneficial work that they do supporting children and young people.

“Moreover, it will provide a professional pathway for career development and progression and enhance the different educational sessions and interventions for children and young people that fire and rescue services deliver.”

Susannah Hancock, Chief Executive Officer at NFCC said:

“The NFCC recognises the key role that fire and rescue service staff and volunteers play in delivering this important work.

“It is vital that staff and volunteers can access specialist training to enable them to carry out activities with children and young people with the appropriate level of skill and knowledge.

“Having this qualification will enhance the training and development for fire and rescue services, ultimately leading to better outcomes for children and young people and their wider communities, including accessing our activities and programmes.”

An expert reference group convened by NFCC and SFJ Awards oversaw the development of the first iteration of the qualifications, and the views of stakeholders (including fire and rescue services) are now being sought to help refine and improve the qualification prior to launch.

The Level 2 Award in Working with Children and Young People consultation is open until 4 October. To provide a response, please get in touch with the SFJ Awards team by emailing [email protected].