Focus Newsletter

And now a word from 

Mrs Richards...

CHILD SAFETY STANDARDS  

Victorian schools are required under the Child Safety and Wellbeing Act to ensure that they implement compulsory child safe standards to protect students from harm. 

The Child Safe Standards are part of an evolving story of reform in Victoria to make sure that children and young people in organisations feel safe and are safe. 

  • The Child Safe Standards emerged from two inquiries. The original Child Safe Standards were introduced in 2016 following the Victorian Betrayal of Trust Parliamentary Inquiry. 
  • Not long after the Victorian inquiry ended, the Commonwealth Government’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended that all states and territories align their Child Safe Standards with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
  • In 2019 the Victorian government reviewed the Standards and found strong support for national consistency. 
  • In 2020, work was undertaken by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing to update the Standards, with a focus on: how best to retain the concept of child empowerment, include a distinct and explicit focus on cultural safety for Aboriginal children aligning Victoria’s standards with the National Principles.
  • Consultation on the Standards was undertaken in 2020 and 2021 and new Standards were introduced on 1 July 2021 and commenced on 1 July 2022.

There are 11 Child Safe Standards:

Standard 1: Culturally safe environments – Establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.

Standard 2: Leadership, governance and culture– Ensure that child safety and wellbeing are embedded in school leadership, governance and culture.

Standard 3: Child and student empowerment– Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.

Standard 4: Family engagement– Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.

Standard 5: Diversity and equity– Equity is upheld and diverse needs are respected in policy and practice.

Standard 6: Suitable staff and volunteers– People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.

Standard 7: Child-focused complaints processes– Ensure that processes for complaints and concerns are child focused.

Standard 8: Child safety knowledge, skills and awareness– Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.

Standard 9: Physical and online environments– Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.

Standard 10: Review of child safety practices- Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.

Standard 11: Implementation of child safety practices– Policies and procedures that document how schools are safe for children, young people and students.

 

Parkdale Primary School is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and this will be the primary focus of our care and decision-making. Parkdale Primary School has zero tolerance for child abuse.

 

Parkdale Primary school is committed to providing a child safe environment where children and young people are safe and feel safe, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives. Particular attention will be paid to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children and children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as the safety of children with a disability.

 

Our commitment to child safety:

  • Parkdale Primary School is committed to child safety.
  • Everyone connected to our school can help students be safe.. 
  • We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children.
  • We have zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our robust policies and procedures.
  • We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously.
  • Parkdale Primary School has robust human resources and recruitment practices for all staff and volunteers.
  • Parkdale Primary School is committed to regularly training and educating our staff on child abuse risks.
  • Parkdale Primary School is committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early, and removing and reducing these risks.
  • We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from a culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability.
  • We have specific policies, procedures and training in place that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.

VOLUNTEERS AND THE CHILD SAFE STANDARDS

 We love having parents and grandparents working with us at Parkdale Primary School – whether this be as classroom helpers, hearing reading, working in Garden Club , attending school camps and incursions or volunteering in PPA activities such as uniform sales, buy in lunches, Mother’s/Father’s Day Stalls and Breakfasts etc.

 

Child Safe Standard 8 requires us to ensure that we have appropriate process in place for volunteers working at our school.

If you would like to volunteer in any capacity at the school you will be required to:

  • Have a current Working with Children Clearance that has been sighted and recorded at the school office,
  • sign in and out of the school office each time you are onsite,
  • acknowledge in signing in that you are familiar with the Volunteer Policy, Child Safety Code of Conduct, Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy, Procedures for Responding to incidents, disclosures and suspicions of child abuse. These are all available on the school website in the Policy section.
  • undertake the Volunteer Training that is accessed through a Powerpoint document on the school website.    https://www.parkdaleps.vic.edu.au/page/229/Child-Safety-&-Volunteers