CHILD SAFETY IS EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY
Child Safe Standard 9:
Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
Overview
This standard focuses on child safety and wellbeing in physical and online environments and ensuring that procurement also reflects child safety.
Schools need to have policies and strategies:
- for identifying and responding to risk and reducing or removing the risk of harm
- for online conduct and online safety
- ensuring that procurement policies for facilities and services ensure the safety of children and students
Schools must analyse and understand potential risks to students. It is important to think about risks created by school structure and culture, activities and physical and online environments.
Online technologies are constantly changing which presents significant challenges for schools, parents and carers. Online behaviour needs to be addressed in the Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy and Codes of Conduct to promote child safety.
Arrangements with external agencies also create child safety risks. They create opportunities for unknown people to have contact with students.
To comply with this standard, at minimum, schools must:
- make sure child safety and wellbeing policies, procedures and practices enable school staff and volunteers to identify and mitigate risks without compromising a student’s right to privacy, access to information, social connections and learning opportunities.
- develop and endorse a policy or statement on online conduct and online safety.
- develop procurement policies for facilities and services from third parties that ensure the safety of students.
Relevant Policies
Cyber Safety and Use of Digital Technologies
Respectful Behaviours Within the School Community
Child Safe Standard 10:
Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.
Overview
This standard focuses on continuous improvement in child-safe policies, procedures and practices.
Schools must:
- regularly review and evaluate policies and strategies
- analyse child safety incident data
- share review findings with the school community.
To comply with this standard, at Ripponlea Primary School we:
- review and evaluate child safety and wellbeing policies, procedures and practices after any significant child safety incident, or at least every 2 years and improve where applicable
- analyse complaints, concerns and safety incidents to identify causes and systemic failures and to inform continuous improvement
- report on the outcomes of relevant reviews to staff, volunteers, the community, families and students.
Ripponlea Primary School acknowledges that being a child-safe organisation requires ongoing effort. We will always strive to create a Child-safe organisation with an open and transparent culture, putting the interests of children first.
Regular reviews of policies, procedures and practices:
- makes sure they are adequate, up-to-date and effective, fully implemented and followed by everyone
- helps schools maintain the best approach to child safety and wellbeing and minimise the risk of harm.
Policies to review:
- Child Safety and Wellbeing policy
- Child Safety Code of Conduct
- Child Safety Risk Register
- Complaints Policy
- Procedure for responding to complaints and concerns relating to child abuse
- Recordkeeping and information management protocols
- Policies and practices on accessibility, cultural safety, diversity and inclusion
- Recruitment policies and practices for staff and volunteers
- Induction programs
- Training for staff and volunteers
- Communication aimed at students, their families and the community about child safety
- How the school is embedding child safety and rights in the curriculum.
Child Safe Standard 11:
Implementation of Child Safe Practices
Policies and procedures that document how schools are safe for children, young people and students.
This standard focuses on incorporating the 11 Child Safe Standards into school policies, procedures and practices, which work together to create a child-safe culture.
Overview
Schools should ensure these policies and procedures are:
- informed by community consultations so they are relevant to the school
- accessible to all
- informed by best practice
- championed by leaders
- well understood by those they apply to
- implemented effectively.
To comply with this standard, at Ripponlea Primary School we:
- implement practices for a child-safe environment
- establish policies and procedures that meet all the Child Safe Standards
- make sure all relevant school staff, governing body and volunteers understand and implement the policies and procedures
- champion and model the policies and procedures for a child-safe environment
- document their policies and procedures and make them easy to understand
- make sure their policies and procedures are informed by best practice models and stakeholder consultation.
Examples of actions for implementing child safety policies and procedures
Make policies and procedures easily accessible
- Publish your child safety policies in an easily accessible, public-facing location, such as the school website.
- Integrate child safety into induction processes, ongoing education, training and supervision for all staff and volunteers.
- Provide copies of your child safety policies in welcome packs and transition resources.
Ensure policies are easy to understand
- Use plain language in written materials.
- Use visual representations to accompany discussions with students and their families, as needed to aid understanding.
- Display easy-to-read posters in various locations around the school.
Nominate a child safety champion
- Nominate one or more child safety champions to promote, monitor and report on the implementation of the school’s child safety strategies
- Support the child safety champions by empowering them to investigate child safety issues and allocate time for child safety.
Build a culture of ongoing monitoring and reviewing
- Highlight child safety in recruitment processes.
- Have child-focused complaints policies and procedures.
- Review recordkeeping of child safety complaints to make sure it captures all relevant information.
- Manage child safety risks relating to child abuse using the Child Safety Risk Register template.
- Consider using the Child Safety Risk Register to include other child safety risks, or use another register or format to record these risks
Champion and model compliance with policies and procedures
- Allocate regular time for a child safety agenda item for all-staff or faculty meetings.
- Schedule child safety briefings at information evenings and orientation days.
- Include a regular child safety item in newsletters to families.
Use best-practice models and stakeholder consultation
- Seek feedback on policies and procedures from the school community, staff, families, and students.
- Be aware of emerging legislation, research and resources in child safety and wellbeing and ensure that policies and procedures are informed by any new developments.
Integrate child safety into policies, procedures and practices
- Nominate child safety champions to support school leaders in effectively implementing and monitoring the child safe policies and practices.
- Document the school’s policies, procedures and statements required across all 11 Child Safe Standards.
- Seek feedback from students, families, staff and volunteers on whether the policies and procedures are easy to understand. Make any relevant improvements.
- Produce child safety material in different formats. Use child-friendly and plain language and translated versions.
- Maintain high visibility of child safety and wellbeing. Discuss child safety at staff and parent meetings, and school assemblies. Display posters, write articles, newsletters and staff bulletins on child safety topics.
- Train staff and volunteers on school policies and their responsibilities. Create regular opportunities to discuss and reinforce understanding.
- Identify formal and informal ways to monitor policy implementation. Analyse whether current processes achieve the outcomes for each child's safe standard.
- Monitor how staff and volunteers contribute to child safety through supervision, discussions, staff meetings and surveys.
School Council Training
This presentation is delivered to school council members at Ripponlea Primary School.
The presentation contributes to multiple requirements in the Child Safe Standards.
The school council has a specific role in:
- Child Safe Standard 2 - child safety and wellbeing
- Child Safe Standard 6 - suitable staff and volunteers
- Child Safe Standard 8 - child safety knowledge, skills and awareness
- Child Safe Standard 9 - child safety in physical and online environments.
School council training- Child Safe Standards (PPTX, 741KB).
School Staff
This presentation is delivered to school staff, including contractors in child-related work at Ripponlea Primary School.
Annual child safety training for staff is mandatory under the Child Safe Standards.
This presentation contributes to:
- annual staff training requirements for Child Safe Standard 8 - child safety knowledge, skills and awareness
- induction requirements for Child Safe Standard 6 - suitable staff and volunteers.
School staff training- Child Safe Standards (PPTX, 1MB).
Volunteers
This presentation is delivered to volunteers in child-related work in government schools. It may be adapted for use in all Victorian schools.
Under the Child Safe Standards, volunteers must receive an induction and training in child safety that is appropriate to their role and responsibilities.
This presentation contributes to:
- Training requirements for Child Safe Standard 8- child safety knowledge, skills and awareness
- induction requirements for Child Safe Standard 6- suitable staff and volunteers.