Our Commitment To Child Safety

Our Kindergarten is committed to child safety.

We want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers.

We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children.

We have zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our robust policies and procedures.

We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously.

Our Kindergarten is committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early, and removing and reducing these risks.

Our Kindergarten has robust human resources and recruitment practices for all staff and volunteers.

Our Kindergarten is committed to regularly training and educating our staff and volunteers on child abuse risks.

We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from a culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability.

We have specific policies, procedures and training in place that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.

If you believe a child is at immediate risk of abuse, phone 000.

Our children

This policy is intended to empower children who are vital and active participants in our Kindergarten. We involve them when making decisions, especially about matters that directly affect them. We listen to their views and respect what they have to say.

We promote diversity and tolerance in our Kindergarten, and people from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds are welcome. In particular we:

promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal children
promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds
ensure that children with a disability are safe and can participate equally.

Our staff and volunteers

This statement guides our staff and volunteers on how to behave with children in our Kindergarten.

Code of conduct

All staff, volunteers and board members of St Dunstan’s Kindergarten are required to observe child safe principles and expectations for appropriate behaviour towards and in the company of children, as noted below.

All personnel of St Dunstan’s Kindergarten are responsible for supporting the safety, participation, wellbeing and empowerment of children by:

adhering to St Dunstan’s Kindergarten child safe policy at all times / upholding St Dunstan’s Kindergarten statement of commitment to child safety at all time
taking all reasonable steps to protect children from abuse
treating everyone with respect
listening and responding to the views and concerns of children, particularly if they are telling you that they or another child has been abused and/or are worried about their safety or the safety of another
promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of Aboriginal children (for example, by never questioning an Aboriginal child’s self-identification)
promoting the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of children with culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds (for example, by having a zero tolerance of discrimination)
promoting the safety, participation and empowerment of children with a disability (for example, during personal care activities)
ensuring as far as practicable that adults are not left alone with a child
reporting any allegations of child abuse to St Dunstan’s Kindergarten Child Safety Officer Michele Daniel, and ensure any allegation to reported to the police or child protection
reporting any child safety concerns to St Dunstan’s Kindergarten Child Safety Officer Michele Daniel
if an allegation of child abuse is made, ensure as quickly as possible that the child(ren) are safe
encouraging children to ‘have a say’ and participate in all relevant organisational activities where possible, especially on issues that are important to them.

Staff and volunteers must not:

develop any ‘special’ relationships with children that could be seen as favouritism (for example, the offering of gifts or special treatment for specific children)
exhibit behaviours with children which may be construed as unnecessarily physical (for example inappropriate sitting on laps. Sitting on laps could be appropriate sometime, for example while reading a storybook to a small child in an open plan area)
put children at risk of abuse (for example, by locking doors)
do things of a personal nature that a child can do for themselves, such as toileting or changing clothes
engage in open discussions of a mature or adult nature in the presence of children (for example, personal social activities)
use inappropriate language in the presence of children
express personal views on cultures, race or sexuality in the presence of children
discriminate against any child, including because of culture, race, ethnicity or disability
have contact with a child or their family outside of our organisation without our child safety officer/Director’s knowledge and/or consent (for example, no babysitting). Accidental contact, such as seeing people in the street, is appropriate)
have any online contact with a child or their family (unless necessary, for example providing families with e-newsletters)
ignore or disregard any suspected or disclosed child abuse.

By observing these standards you acknowledge your responsibility to immediately report any breach of this code to St Dunstan’s Kindergarten Child Safety Officer Nikki Samuel.

If you believe a child is at immediate risk of abuse phone 000.

I agree to adhere to this Code of Conduct:

Name: ………………………………………….

Signature: ……………………………………

Date: …………………………………………..