Student Wellbeing

Child Safety

Child Safety Policies

At St Peter Apostle Primary School, we hold the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility of our school.

Our commitment is drawn from the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ, with love, justice and the sanctity of each human person at the heart of the gospel.

The person of each individual human being, in his or her material and spiritual needs, is at the heart of Christ’s teaching: that is why the promotion of the human person is the goal of the Catholic school (Congregation for Catholic Education 1997, n. 9).

At St Peter’s, we have a moral, legal and mission driven responsibility to create nurturing school environments where children and young people are respected, their voices heard and where they are safe and feel safe.

Where allegations of abuse concerning children and young people are raised, we will take prompt action to have those involved appropriately referred and investigated.

 

 

Child Safety Documentation

We have developed a number of documents in response to the Victorian Government’s Betrayal of Trust report and Ministerial Order No. 870 to demonstrate the strong commitment of our school to the care, safety and wellbeing of all students.

St Peter Apostle Child Safety Policy

Child Safety Code of Conduct

 

Child Safe Code of Conduct (Student version)

Reporting

Our school is committed to the MACS policy: PROTECT: Identifying and Responding to Abuse Reporting Obligations. This outlines the actions required under the relevant legislation when there is a reasonable belief that a child at our school is in need of protection or a criminal offence has been committed, and provides guidance and procedures on how to make a report.

We encourage students and their parents to report incidents when they feel unsafe or in need of protection.  They can report to The Principal, Karen Wilson, the Child Safety Officer, Pattie McCusker or any teacher in the school.  The Wellbeing email address care@stpeterahc.catholic.edu.au provides a confidential way of initial contact.

 

Volunteers and Child Safety

As part of our commitment to Child Safety as a response to Ministerial Order 870 and under the direction of Catholic Education, Melbourne, we have a rigorous screening of all volunteers who under St Peter’s Staff supervision, engage with students at the school.

Each applicant will complete an application form, undergo an interview to determine suitability and provide 2-3 referees who will be contacted.  A Working with Children’s Check is mandatory.  Once an applicant is deemed to be suitable, they will sign a Code of Conduct, be given an explicit Duty Statement and will take part in an induction process.

At all times, St Peters’ Staff will be supervising volunteers and alert to any indications of inappropriate behaviour.  They are mandated by law to report any behaviour where they form a belief that a child is in danger of or has been abused or groomed.
PROTECT: Identifying and responding to all forms of abuse in Victorian schools

 

 

School Community Volunteer Child Safety Code of Conduct 2017
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