Principal

Child Safety

From July 1, 2022, Ministerial Order 1359 replaces Ministerial Order 870 in relation to Child Safety Standards. Schools must update their child safety strategies, policies, and practices by 1 July to comply with the new standards.

St Bede’s College has been working on updating all strategies, policies and practices, in partnership with our legal firm, Moore Australia.

The new standards are:

Child Safe Standard 1 – Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued

Child Safe Standard 2 – Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture

Child Safe Standard 3 – Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously

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

Child Safe Standard 5 – Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice

Child Safe Standard 6 – People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice

Child Safe Standard 7 – Processes for complaints and concerns are child focused

Child Safe Standard 8 – Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training

Child Safe Standard 9 – Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed

Child Safe Standard 10 – Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved

Child Safe Standard 11 – Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people

What will be different?

Although similar to our current Child Safe Standards, key changes include new requirements:

to better involve families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
for a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people
to manage the risk of child abuse in online environments
in relation to governance, systems and processes to keep children and young people safe.

Training has already occurred with the following groups:

The Leadership Team and Child Safety Committee – a half-day session outlining the changes and developing new policies, procedures and strategies in line with Ministerial Order 1359.
All staff (teaching and non-teaching) – a two-hour session to outline individual responsibilities and highlight the changes from Ministerial 870 to Ministerial Order 1359.
The College Board – a 90-minute session highlighting the changes, particularly pertaining to governance.

Victoria's Senior Secondary Education is Changing

From 2023, the new VCE Vocational Major will replace Intermediate and Senior VCAL. This means the VCE will recognise different students equally. While we do not offer it at St Bede’s College at this stage, the new Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) will replace Foundation VCAL. Students will have more education choices, a higher-quality curriculum and better workplace experiences – preparing them for further study, training at TAFE or work. From 2023, more students will study the VCE. That is, because the VCE will include the Vocational Major, a 2-year program that sits within the VCE. There will also be the Victorian Pathways Certificate for those who need flexibility in their learning. A new information and awareness campaign, “Many Talents, One VCE” will roll out explaining the changes. The changes are a result of the Review into Vocational and Applied Learning Pathways in Senior Secondary Schooling (the Firth review). The review found we needed to improve vocational learning in schools. St Bede’s College will switch to the VCE Vocational Major from 2023.Some schools that do not offer VCAL will expand their options to include the VCE Vocational Major. Teachers and careers counsellors are available to answer questions and to support students as they make decisions about their final years at school. Now, students will have greater access to high-quality, relevant vocational education and applied learning opportunities. For more information, go to vic.gov.au/oneVCE.

National Reconciliation Week

Congratulations and thank you to all students and staff involved in the activities which marked National Reconciliation Week at the College. This was an opportunity for us all to reflect on our history, but also to consider our own behaviours moving forward. While it is wonderful that we have this very important and special week, it is also important that we don’t consider National Reconciliation a week-long event only.

Careers

Thank you to our Careers team for the work they have done with our Year 10 students recently. Every student has had a one-on-one interview, following Morrisby testing, to look at what could be the best pathway as they move into the final two years of their secondary schooling.

During the pandemic many schools are grappling with what to include in order to replace the traditional work experience placement that is not favourably viewed by employers in the current circumstances. Our Careers team have arranged a week that allows students to access guest speakers in a variety of fields, visit tertiary institutions and take part in virtual work experience.

Per Vias Rectas

Deb Frizza

Principal