From the AP

Child Safety

Last year as part of our School Review we reviewed and updated all of our Child Safe Standards documentation. Since then the Victorian Government has announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safe environments and protect children from abuse, as well as to align with national principles. The previous Child Safe Standards had seven principles. The new standards have eleven actions for organisations to take.

The new Child Safe Standards and Ministerial Order 1359 commenced 1st July, 2022.

The 11 new Standards are:

• Child Safe Standard 1 –Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued 
• Child Safe Standard 2 –Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture 
• Child Safe Standard 3 –Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously 
• Child Safe Standard 4 –Families and communities are informed, and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing
• Child Safe Standard 5 –Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice
• Child Safe Standard 6 –People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice
• Child Safe Standard 7 –Processes for complaints and concerns are child focused 
• Child Safe Standard 8 –Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training
• Child Safe Standard 9 –Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed
• Child Safe Standard 10 –Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved
• Child Safe Standard 11 –Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people

The new Child Safe Standards build on the current Standards, with changes and new requirements for organisations including schools. 

One of the key focuses around the new standards is ensuring there is consultation and wider promotion within the school community. This can be achieved through schools involving families and communities in their efforts to keep children and young people safe. Changes to the Standards also include a greater focus on cultural safety for Aboriginal children and young people with the belief that if they feel connected to their culture and feel safe to be themselves in an organisation, this better protects them from abuse. There is also a greater focus around better managing the risk of child abuse in online environments. 

There are a number of policies that sit under the Child Safe Standards, which must be localised for each school. Each month I will highlight one or two of the revised polices and seek any feedback from the community. 

The first policy to be featured is the Child Safety Code of Conduct which serves to support Child Safe Standard 2. The Child Safety Code of Conduct:

• promotes child safety and wellbeing
• provides guidelines to school staff and volunteers on expected standards of behaviour in relation to child safety and wellbeing 

A copy of this policy can be found on the school website Child Safe Standards — Oakleigh Primary School & Kindergarten (oakleighps.vic.edu.au). If you have any feedback around this policy please let me know.

Morning, Afternoon & Evening Routines

We certainly had a lot of tired students right across the school by the end of our first day yesterday, as we started the new term. It is a timely reminder how important re-establishing those school routines are so that students are rested and ready for school. Afternoon and evening routines play a big part in this. 

We know that primary aged children need at least 9-11 hours of sleep and that the blue light emitted from screens too close to going to bed can impact the hormone melatonin that helps us to sleep. Regular and suitable bedtimes are also important for our circadian rhythms/body clocks. At the other end, morning routines help things unfold more smoothly to ensure students are at school on time.

It is important that students are at school every day, unless unwell. Just like with routines, we know that attendance patterns are established early – a child regularly missing days in kindergarten or in the early years of school will often continue to miss classes in the later years and receive lower test scores than their classmates. 

We know the impact of regular absences or being consistently late to school each day can impact a child’s education. Even arriving 10 minutes late after the 9am bell each morning is equivalent to a block of learning lost each week. The parent-teacher meetings next week are a good opportunity to discuss your child’s attendance and progress. 

Bron 

bronwyn.orr@education.vic.gov.au

Attendance & Compass

Just a reminder that if you child is absent from school due to illness or another reason, to please remember to enter this into Compass under the option 'Add Attendance Note'. 

If your child is marked absent on the roll with no reason provided, you will receive a Compass notification relaying this.

Please make sure you follow up this notification by either adding an attendance note so we know your child is safe or phoning the school.

Instructions on how to add an Attendance Note are attached.

If you are having trouble logging into Compass or need to reset your password, please contact Susan at susan.close@education.vic.gov.au to get some help.

Uniform News!

Oakleigh Primary School's Uniform has now added a navy blue polo to it's collection!

It is available to purchase at the Spartan School World store in Hampton East.

914 Nepean Hwy Service Rd, Hampton East VIC 3188

Trading Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12noon to 5.00pm and the first Saturday of each month from 9am-12noon.

You can save time and shop online anytime at: 

https://spartanss.com.au/collections/oakleigh-primary-school

Spartan will deliver weekly on a Thursday to the school where no delivery charge will be applied.  These deliveries are individually packed and addressed to the parent/student so they can easily be distributed or collected at the school. 

Alternatively, delivery can be made to a families preferred address at a delivery cost to them.   All queries are handled directly by Spartan and not the school.