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St Mark's is a Child-Safe School
St Mark’s is committed to being a child-safe organisation through the prevention, identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect. This includes the provision of support to children who have been abused; or are affected by abuse or neglect. As a School, St Mark’s believes that students should know that they are valued as people. This pastoral dimension should influence every aspect of their life.
St Mark's is proud to be a Child-Safe School, and the Anglican Schools Commission (ASC) has set policies that apply to all its schools, including St Mark's. These include:
St Mark’s follows the following 10 National Principles for being a Child Safe Organisation:
- A commitment to child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.
- Children and young people are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
- Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
- Equity is promoted, and diversity is respected in policy and practice.
- People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.
- Processes for complaints and concerns are responsive, understood, accessible and used by children, young people, families, staff and volunteers.
- Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.
- Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
- Organisations regularly review and improve the implementation of their child safety and wellbeing policies and procedures.
- Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.
Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum
The Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (KS:CPC) is a child safety program for children and young people from ages 3 to Year 12 and is implemented at St Mark's.
The aim of the KS:CPC is to teach all children from a young age, in an age-appropriate way, to:
- Recognise abuse and tell a trusted adult about it
- Understand what appropriate and inappropriate touching is
- Understand ways of keeping themselves safe.
The themes are:
- We all have the right to be safe
- We can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust
The focus areas are:
- The right to be safe
- Relationships
- Recognising and reporting abuse
- Protective strategies
Parents can access more information on the KS:CPC here.