Child Safe Standards

This week we will look at:

Standard 6

People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice

In complying with Child Safe Standard 5 our school ensures that:

6.1    Recruitment, including advertising, referee checks and staff and volunteer pre-employment screening, emphasise child safety and wellbeing.

6.2    Relevant staff and volunteers have current working with children checks or equivalent background checks.

6.3    All staff and volunteers receive an appropriate induction and are aware of their responsibilities to children and young people, including record keeping, information sharing and reporting obligations.

6.4    Ongoing supervision and people management is focused on child safety and wellbeing.

So what does this actually look like in a school?

Actions

• The child safety and wellbeing requirements of each role are assessed before recruitment of new staff and volunteers. These include:
  • qualifications, experience and attributes required
  • duties and responsibilities with children
  • measures required to manage any child abuse or harm risks including screening, training and supervision requirements. (6.1)
• Information and guidance are provided to recruiting staff on how to prioritise child safety in the recruitment process, including how to identify and manage any child safety concerns raised through the application, interview and screening process. (6.1)
• Recruitment processes include:
  • a range of values-based interview questions to establish suitability to work with children
  • pre-employment screening practices including referee checks, Working with Children Check and other registration or background checking
  • verification that required qualifications, registrations and Working with Children Check are valid and up-to-date
  • keeping records of the recruitment process. (6.1)