Child Protection Board Policy

American International School - Riyadh 7.406

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CHILD AND TEACHER PROTECTION AND SAFEGUARDING PROCEDURES

Child maltreatment and procedures for child protection is a growing focus in schools throughout the world. Child maltreatment is a violation of children’s human rights and an obstacle to their education and development and may be a crime.

Schools hold a particular institutional role in society to protect children and to ensure all children are afforded a safe and secure environment in which to grow and develop. Further, teacher protection through developed procedures and training enables educators to operate in a safe and secure environment as well. Schools and educators, having the opportunity to observe and interact with children over a long period of time, are in a unique position to identify children who need safeguarding and protection. As such, schools and educators have a professional and ethical obligation to identify children who are in need of help and protection and to take steps to ensure that the child and family engage with the services needed to remedy any situation that constitutes child maltreatment. The American International School – Riyadh (AIS-R) strives to create a safe environment and a trusted school community. In achieving that goal, AIS-R is sensitive to all sources of suspected maltreatment of children from within the school community (including educators, staff, volunteers, parents, guardians or other children/ peers).

All staff employed at AIS-R must report suspected incidents of child maltreatment whenever the staff member has reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered maltreatment of any kind. Beyond reporting suspected maltreatment, staff members must also report members of the school community who have committed any sexual offence, neglect or abuse against a child in the past, whether as part of the AIS-R Community or not.

Reporting and follow through of all suspected incidents of maltreatment shall proceed in accordance with administrative regulations related to this policy. If a community member is reported, on any grounds, whether for current or past acts of child maltreatment or any other offence against a child, AIS-R will conduct a full investigation following a carefully designed course of due process, as set forth in Regulation 7406r. Should the outcome of such an investigation unveil child maltreatment concerns, AIS-R reserves the right to immediately terminate the employment and/or community access of the offender. AIS-R retains its discretion to adopt any measures it deems appropriate to maintain a safe school environment. Incidents of suspected child maltreatment may be reported, as appropriate, to employment sponsors, the respective embassies in Riyadh, the appropriate child protection agencies in the home country, and/or local authorities in addition to actions taken by AIS-R.

AIS-R endorses the Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which the host country Saudi Arabia is a signatory and seeks to be a safe haven for students who may be experiencing maltreatment in any aspect of their lives, or is exposed to a suspected or identified child sex offender. AIS-R will make child protection a part of every aspect of the school. As such, AIS-R will continuously communicate this policy and its implications to all members of the school community via the Child Protection Handbook (and further through Divisional Student-Parent Handbooks), will communicate and educate students regarding this policy annually, will provide annual training for all staff and will make every effort to implement hiring and student enrolment practices to ensure the safety of children practices to ensure the safety of children.