Glen Education Sacred Heart
Reflecting on and Reviewing Child Safety
Janine Bird, Early Childhood Teacher
Child Safe Standard 10 - Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.
“A child safe organisation takes deliberate steps to safeguard children from physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse and neglect. It puts children’s safety and wellbeing first and embeds a commitment to child safety in every aspect of the organisation”
At Glen Education Sacred Heart Kindergarten, each child’s safety is our top priority. From our policies and procedures, to our practise as teachers and educators through to our interactions and conversations with children.
We begin each year with the creation of our Community Expectations in each of our groups. This includes the children’s voice, the educators voice and the families voice. As part of this process we acknowledge the expectations that the families have outlined in their “Getting to know you” forms and each year children’s safety and wellbeing are key messages from our families. When we listen to our children, they too discuss the importance of feeling safe when coming to kindergarten each day. During our whole group gatherings we emphasise with our children the importance of ‘Being Kind” and “Being Safe”.
Active supervision, reinforcing group expectations, listening and providing opportunities for children to share their feelings, all contribute to creating a culture of care and responsibility for each other and how our actions can impact on others.
We empower our children to use their voice if they are feeling worried, sad, upset or angry. This in turn encourages children to develop strong connections with their teachers and learn the importance of sharing their thoughts and feelings in a variety of situations.
Child Safe Standard 10, states that we will regularly review and improve on our Child Safe Practises. This includes the safety of our physical environment, the safety of children through the monitoring of who can and cannot enter our learning space, the reporting of incidents to management and appropriate authorities. At Glen Education SHK we are constantly reflecting on our practise, including the documenting and reporting of information that in anyway compromises any of the Child Safe Standards.
Through regular team meetings we discuss how we can improve and continue to provide a learning environment that reflects these standards. Our regular team meetings have specific agenda items centred around Health and Safety, and the regular critical reflection of how we can improve our practise in the areas of safety and supervision. Educators engage in ongoing professional learning to support the provision of safe environments for our children and families. Some examples of these include OHS and Infection control Webinars.
Glen Education has a Policy review schedule and this is open to all educators, a reflective tool that ensures an ongoing commitment to Child Safe practises across all the Glen Education services.
At Glen Sacred Heart, our children engage in so many rich learning experiences each day and it is our belief that children grow and learn when they feel safe and secure in a supportive and trusting environment. Each educator is committed to providing a space where each child can grow and flourish at their own pace and with the Child Safe Standards as our constant guide, we strive for an inclusive and safe environment for everyone.
