Glen Education Newsletter

Glen Education McKinnon

Working in Partnership to Create Safe Environments 

Deepti Sinha, Early Childhood Educator  

 

All children have the right to feel safe and be safe. A child safe organization takes deliberate steps to safeguard children from physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse. It puts children’s safety and wellbeing first and embeds a commitment to child safety in every aspect of the organization.

 

Following a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the Victorian Government has reviewed the standards and recommended changes to better align the Standards with the National Principles for Child Safe Organizations, and to strengthen administration of the standards. The new standards were released in 2021 and the 11 updated standards apply from 1 July 2022. 

 

This article will reflect on:

 Child Safe Standard 4 – Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing. 

 

To comply with the standards, Glen McKinnon must at a minimum ensure that:

  • 4.1: Families participate in decisions affecting their child. 
  • 4.2: The organisation engages and openly communicates with families and the community about its child safe approach and relevant information is accessible. 
  • 4.3: Families and communities have a say in the development and review of the organisation’s policies and practices. 
  • 4.4: Families, carers and the community are informed about the organisation’s operations and governance.

4.1: Families participate in decisions affecting their child. 

Families have an opportunity to participate in decisions made by the organisation that impact the safety and wellbeing of their child. Communication with families supports the full diversity of families to participate. 

 

Having families participate in decisions means you are asked for your opinion before a decision is made, and this opinion is considered as part of the decision-making process. Glen McKinnon will give families the chance to have a say about decisions that may impact the safety and wellbeing of your child. 

 

4.2 : The organisation engages and openly communicates with families and the community about its child safe approach and relevant information is accessible. 

Families, carers, and the community should be informed about the operations and governance of Glen McKinnon so you can meaningfully participate. We want families to understand what Glen McKinnon does and how it is structured. Families need to know how to contact the right people in the organisation if they have a child safety or wellbeing concern. 

 

Glen McKinnon aims to be open and transparent with families and communities by:

  • Providing accessible information about the organisation’s child safety and wellbeing policies and practices 
  • Complaint handling policies include procedures for keeping families informed and provide guidance on how to do this while complying with obligations regarding confidentiality and privacy.

4.3: Families and communities have a say in the development and review of the organisation’s policies and practices. 

Glen McKinnon will provide you with opportunities to provide feedback on the organisation’s policies, procedures and practices including the organisation’s approach to child safety and wellbeing. 

The organisation’s policies reflect the importance of family and community involvement and describe ways this involvement can occur. We take the feedback and involvement of families and communities seriously and takes your views into account. 

 

4.4: Families, carers and the community are informed about the organisation’s operations and governance

As an organisation, Glen McKinnon will support families and communities to take an active role in promoting and maintaining child safety and wellbeing by communicating about their role in child safety and wellbeing within the organisation. We will be open and transparent with families and communities by:

  • Providing accessible information about Glen McKinnon’s child safety and wellbeing policies and practices 
  • Providing information about Glen McKinnon’s governance and operations, how complaints are handled and how the organisation manages disciplinary actions and child safety risks. 

Finally, Glen McKinnon recognise that families may be made up of a wide variety of relationships, including those who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, kinship structures or other extended family structures. Families may include people who share in the daily tasks of living or share a very close, personal relationship. 

 

We also recognise that communities are a group of people who share common interests, experiences, social background, nationality, culture, beliefs or identity.  Organisations, families and children may have communities that they closely associate with or frequently engage with. Just like families, communities are diverse. 

 

We will strive to make sure you as parents, carers and families feel welcome in our organisation. Building and maintaining an inclusive culture, which is respectful of different kinds of families, supports children to feel safe and to be safe.

 

To work in partnership with:

 

Children

Glen Education is committed to maximising outcomes for children’s early years.

 

Families

Glen Education is committed to encouraging opportunities for families to be involved in their child’s early education.

 

Educators

Glen Education is committed to promoting pedagogical and career support that is consistent, professional and available.

 

Community

Glen Education is committed to providing professionally run early years services within the Glen Eira community.

 

Here are some examples of how we protect your child’s safety:

  • Every year, all Educators must undertake the compulsory “Protecting Children - Mandatory Reporting and Other Obligations - Early Childhood” 
  • We undertake First-aid training every year
  • We do daily checklists of the indoor and outdoor areas before session start and removing any hazards to keep your child and all children safe
  • We are made aware of any court orders in order for the correct person to pick up your child, as required by the family
  • Incident reporting is done; for example, in the event of above shoulder injuries, educators are required to contact head office. The incident (and any incident, not just above shoulder injuries) are recorded on an illness report, which will be available for families to read and sign at the end of the session.
  • We as educators encourage families to review the Glen Education websites if they have any concerns. Meetings with teachers can be organized if you have concerns

We asked some of our families for feedback on the new Child Safe Standards:

  • "Being kept informed (of the requirements in Child Safe Standard 4) is really important, thanks for the initiative."
  • "Keeping parents informed of safety procedures being taught to the children would be great."
  • "The initiative is clear and concise, thanks for sharing."
  • Families are keen to be aware and involved in the new Child Safe Standards and are keen to understand more about the information that will be shared and how and where it will be shared

As a final point, please see our Glen Education Vision, Purpose and Mission statement on our website: https://gleneducation.org.au/about-glen-education/glen-education-vision-mission-values-and-goals/: