Child Safety and Wellbeing
Child Safe Information
St Brigid’s College holds the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility. Central to the mission of the school is an absolute commitment to fostering the dignity, self-esteem and integrity of children and young people and providing them with a safe, supportive and enriching environment to develop spiritually, physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially.
The Child Safe Standards came into effect in July 2022 and are a vital part of what we do here at St Brigid's College. Each newsletter we will look at a standard in closer detail.
Benefits of empowering students
Empowering children and young people improves child safety. Children and young people are more likely to speak up when they feel respected and confident that they will be heard.
Children and young people benefit from strong friendships. They often see their friends as their main source of support, information and advice, and will go to them for help.
Supporting students to raise concerns about the safety or wellbeing of their friends to encourage students to support their peers.
St Brigid’s College has adopted School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) as a framework that brings together our school community to develop positive, safe, supportive learning cultures. SWPBS assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people, with the outcome being that teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction.
Our Child Safety Policy details and affirms the standards of behaviour expected for members of the St Brigid’s College community. All of our policies can be found the Policies page on our school website.
R U OK? Day
Today we recognised R U OK? Day with students encouraged to dress in yellow and bring a gold coin donation.
R U OK? Day is an initiative that focuses on preventing suicide by encouraging meaningful personal connections and helping informal support networks to help recognise the signs of distress. We urge our community to take part, emphasising the value of genuine human relationships and reminding everyone to ask the important question, "Are you OK?"
We remind families of our partnership with SchoolTV, a leading online mental health and wellbeing platform designed to proactively support families and students. The Special Report linked below provides guidance on how to talk to your child about mental health and engage in meaningful discussions.
Access the report here: