Assistant Principal's Report
Child Safe Standards
In this newsletter I would like to share an update around the new Child Safe Standards, which came into effect in July 2022.
The Child Safe Standards recognise that all children are vulnerable and require schools to take steps to prevent child abuse and build a culture of child safety. They aim to promote the safety of children, prevent abuse, and ensure effective processes are in place to respond and report all allegations of child abuse.
The original Child Safe Standards were implemented in Victoria in 2016, following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse. Victoria adopted the seven Child Safe Standards, which aligned with National Principles, in 2021. After a more recent review, the Child Safe Standards were updated and now there are 11 Standards which follow the framework provided by the Ministerial Order 1359. The updated Standards now include a focus on the safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students along with better management of the risk of child abuse in online environments.
Policies related to the updated Child Safe Standards include:
- Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
- Child Safety Code of Conduct
- Child Safety Responding to and Reporting Obligations Policy and Procedures
- Bullying Preventio0n Policy
- Digital Learning Policy
- Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy
- Visitors and Volunteers Policy
- Yard Duty and Supervision Policy
- Complaints Policy
Child Safe Standards
Speak Up!
Four Critical Response Actions
Child Safe Standards
Speak Up!
Four Critical Response Actions
We complete a Child Safety Risk Register every year, which ensures continual monitoring of the management of potential risks to Child Safety and the review and update of policies and procedures where necessary.
School Council members have participated in Child Safe Training, which outlined the role they play in ensuring our school remains a Child Safe environment. The Child Safe Training for School Council members covered the four Standards relating to School Council members in detail, as well as an overview of the other seven Standards.
Staff will be participating in Child Safe Training – which will cover all 11 Standards in detail, over the next few weeks.
Resources
Below are some resources you may find useful in relation to Child Safety.
eSafety Website
Commission for Children and Young People website
Fact Sheets & Videos
- App checklist for parents
- Parental controls in social media, games and apps
- Parental controls on devices and accounts