Child Safety

Celebrating Our Child Safety Student Team

This year, our Child Safety Student Team has played an essential role in shaping how Huntingtower approaches child safety and wellbeing. These dedicated students have been working alongside staff and Child Safety Champions to ensure that our policies are not only robust but also student-friendly and accessible.

Through discussions and feedback sessions, the team has provided valuable insights into how policies can be better understood by students of all ages. Their contributions have led to the creation of clearer, more relatable child safety documents, written in language that empowers students to feel confident to speak up and understand how to seek help.

We are incredibly grateful for the team’s commitment and thoughtful collaboration throughout the year. Their voice has helped ensure that every Huntingtower student can be an active participant in building a safe and caring school environment.

As we look ahead to 2026, we invite interested students to join the Child Safety Student Team and continue this important work. If you would like to be part of the team next year, please speak to one of our Child Safety Champions to learn more about how you can get involved. Together, we make Huntingtower a place where every student feels safe, valued, and heard.

Mr Dean Owens

Head of Wellbeing and Learning Enrichment

Substance Use and Addiction

SchoolTV Special Report

Substance use and addiction are complex issues that can affect young people in many different ways. While some may experiment out of curiosity or peer influence, others may use substances as a way to manage stress, anxiety or emotional pain. What may begin as occasional use can sometimes become a pattern that impacts mood, motivation and wellbeing. The developing teenage brain is particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol, vaping and drugs, making early use more likely to lead to harm.

For many families, understanding substance use means looking beyond the behaviour to what might be driving it. Risk-taking is a normal part of adolescence, but for some young people, it can also be a signal that they are struggling to cope. Substances can offer temporary relief, but they can also mask underlying issues such as loneliness, low self-esteem or poor mental health. When left unrecognised or unsupported, substance use can interfere with school performance, relationships and emotional development, leading to more serious challenges later in life.

This edition of SchoolTV guides families to help young people develop resilience, self-awareness and the skills to make healthy, informed choices that protect their wellbeing into adulthood.

Child Safety at Huntingtower

At Huntingtower we are committed to providing a nurturing school environment where our students are safe and feel safe, where their participation is valued, their views respected, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives. Our child safe policies, strategies and practices are inclusive of the needs of all students. The welfare of each child and young person studying at Huntingtower is the School’s paramount concern. Huntingtower has a zero-tolerance policy for child abuse and is committed to promoting child safety.

Everyone employed or volunteering at Huntingtower has a responsibility to understand the important and specific role they play individually and collectively to ensure a child safe culture in which the wellbeing and safety of all students is at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make. We encourage any student who feels unsafe to contact one of the School’s Child Safety Champions. Huntingtower’s Child Safety email address for parent and community feedback – ChildSafety@huntingtower.vic.edu.au. We look forward to hearing from you.