Child Safety
Child Safe Standards at St Joseph’s
At St Joseph’s, the safety and wellbeing of every child is our highest priority and sits at the heart of everything we do.
The Child Safe Standards, guide how schools across Victoria ensure that the safety and wellbeing of children are at the centre of everything we do. As part of the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools initiative “11 Standards in 11 Months" schools are required to ensure staff engage in professional learning around the 11 Child Safe Standard across the year.
The Child Safe Standards are a set of eleven requirements that guide schools in building a culture where children feel safe, respected and empowered, and where their wellbeing is actively protected through strong policies, practices and partnerships with families.
As part of our ongoing commitment to creating a safe, inclusive and supportive environment, we will be sharing the Victorian Child Safe Standards with our community through our school newsletters.
Child Safe Standard 2
This week our staff met to continue our work around the Child Safe Standards, which guide how schools across Victoria ensure that the safety and wellbeing of children are at the centre of everything we do. As part of the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools initiative “11 Standards in 11 Months,” we explored Child Safe Standard 2 – Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.
Our discussion reflected on how we continue to build a strong culture of respect, accountability and care so that every child feels safe, supported and heard.
We also discussed ways to strengthen our processes to support child safety, including clearer documentation of risks, improved communication around risk assessments for school activities, and strengthening volunteer procedures to ensure appropriate checks and expectations are in place. Staff were also introduced to updates about Victoria’s Child Information Sharing Scheme, which supports professionals to work together to protect children’s wellbeing. These ongoing conversations help ensure that child safety remains a shared responsibility across our whole school community.
For more information on Child Safe Standard 2 you can read the MACS Care Newsletter:
School Compliance Review (VRQA), Child Safe Standard 2 and Volunteers at St Joseph's.
Last Friday our school engaged in the second stage of our review process, where our policies and procedures were examined as part of our compliance review. We were proud to provide the reviewer with evidence of the strong practices we have in place to support the Child Safe Standards across our school. As part of this discussion, we looked closely at the processes we have for volunteers working within our community. Child Safe Standard 2 requires schools to have clear and robust procedures in place for anyone who volunteers in a school setting. Over the coming weeks we will be refining our processes in this area to ensure we continue to meet these important standards.
All parents and carers who volunteer at school will require a current Working With Children Check and proof of identity if they are assisting in general roles within the school (for example, helping with events such as sausage sizzles or assisting with maintenance tasks). For parents and carers who volunteer in roles where they will be working in closer proximity to children, additional checks will be required. This may include a current Working With Children Check, proof of identity, a brief meeting with the principal, and a reference check. This also applies to members of our School Advisory Council. These measures help ensure we meet the required child safe processes for volunteers within a school community. We also remind all volunteers that they must sign in at the school office upon arrival. We thank you for your understanding and support as we work together to maintain the highest standards of child safety in our school.
Annabelle Marinelli
Principal