Principal's Message

Principal's Message

Welcome to the start of Week 5 of Term 3. The end of this week marks the half way point of the term and things are sailing along well at the Good Ship SMPS. We are having a spike in schools across Victoria (and overseas) wanting to visit us to see what we are doing and that is something that the community should be proud of. To showcase our children and our practice is a feather in our cap. Last week, we had a contingency of Korean educators visit the school and they were so polite and kind. 

In a few, short weeks we have our Whole School Production. Most of you will have Monday, September 9 marked in your family diary. We are grateful for your support of this event - the children and staff work so hard to bring this to you. We use it to promote our wonderful school community. It is one of the few times we get busy people like you together to model how it is to be an inclusive, multi-cultural school community. I think it sets a great example for our children to follow as they grow into adulthood. 

I have been busy interviewing new families and welcoming them into the fold. There seems to be a lovely 'word-of-mouth' advertising campaign occurring. We have you to thank for this. Families new to the school often tell me that the reason they chose SMPS is they had it highly recommended from people they know whose children attend the school already. It makes me feel proud to think that you would recommend us. 

Child Protection and Mandatory Reporting

Staff at SMPS (and at all schools) are mandated to report any suggestion of child harm reported to them to Child Protection. It may be a criminal offence not to report in these circumstances. This is a tricky thing for parents outside the school system to understand. 

I have worked in schools for close to 40 years and, in my experience, it is always a shock for parents when any outside authorities knock on their door and ask questions about the care they are providing their own children. This is understandable.

A common misconception is that the school is compelled to inform the parent when reports are made to Child Protection. This is nowhere in the legislation and never will be. Our job is to take any claim seriously. Failure to do so could cause ongoing harm to the child on our watch and that is entirely unacceptable. 

Again, in my experience, we sometimes get upset parents coming to the school wanting to know why we have made reports. Firstly, privacy dictates that we cannot disclose whether we even made the report in the first place (and we often haven't). 

Our client is your child. Not you. We don't have to protect you, we have to protect your child. That is our obligation and mission. Your own wellbeing is your job to take care of. We can refer families to services - but only in the act of ultimately helping your child. 

I have a belief that every parent loves their child. But I lost the belief that they all have the capacity to keep them safe from harm all of the time. If a child is in harms' way - we will act. We won't consider whether the parent likes our actions - we will act under the law and out of a deep care of the child. 

I have reported many lovely parents to Child Protection over the years when their child has identified that harm has come to them. Most times, the parents make a mistake in the heat of the moment. As a parent, I wasn't perfect - so I get it. But we can't make that assumption every time. Especially when those actions are repeated. Sometimes, people need saving from themselves. 

I hope no parent is on the receiving end of a phone call from Child Protection. But, if you do, it is not the end of the world. Oftentimes, it leads to a better place for the family. Corrections are made and the child is safer as a result. For those in this position, coming to the school expecting us to disclose anything is a really bad plan. It can even make things worse, to be honest. Parenting is tough. Nobody is perfect, least of all me. But focussing on the child's wellbeing is our job - and yours.