Child Safety Is Important
Every child has the right to be safe, to feel safe, and to be respected wherever they are and whatever they are doing - at sport, clubs, churches, in out-of-home care, residential care, schools - everywhere! The very deep hurt and immense damage that has been done through the abuse of children and young people must not be allowed to happen at our school or anywhere else.
We have both a moral and legal responsibility to ensure the safety of all children attending our school. As a school community we must work together to make sure our students are safe and given every opportunity to thrive.
With this in mind we want to remind everyone of some important policies and practices here at school and ask that everyone cooperate with us in an effort to ensure our children's safety.
1. All visitors to the school (including parents) must report to Reception when they first arrive on site. Please do not enter the playground or classrooms without first reporting to Reception. Depending on the nature of your visit, you may be required to sign in.
2. Remember that we consider all staff, volunteers, contractors, regular visitors and students over 18 years of age to have a moral obligation to report child safety concerns, irrespective of mandatory reporting responsibilities. If you have concerns for the safety of any student at our school please be sure to speak with the Principal.
3. Volunteers are required to undergo screening the same as a potential employee would be. We require a valid working-with-children check that is linked to our school, a national criminal history check, and three referees that we can speak to. Volunteers will also be required to sign our Child Safety Code of Conduct. We understand this may seem onerous, however it is a necessary inconvenience. We do very much value parent involvement though, so please don't be put off by it all. We're keen to help parents and friends of the school through the process. Please just ask us.
4. We're asking everyone in our school community to help build a strong culture of child safety at our school. We do this by taking a genuine interest in the policies and measures we have in place to protect young people and actively supporting them. Where a potential risk to student safety is identified, please be sure to report it to us so we can rectify it. We value your input and feedback.
5. Our commitment to child safety can be found on our website along with a link to download a document which summaries our Child Safety Policy. http://www.milduracc.vic.edu.au/our-school/child-safety/
6. We recognise that empowered and aware children and young people are more likely to speak up or provide an indication of discomfort or concern. With that in mind we provide age-appropriate training to our students in personal safety - also known as protective behaviours training. Please be sure to speak with the Principal if you'd like to know more.