Child Protection

In many societies, including ours, children are valued, and their health, safety and wellbeing are important. Protecting our children and young people from harm is everyone's job.

In Australia, each state has laws to keep children safe and to make sure their needs are met. In NSW, this law is the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.

Department of Communities and Justice  (DCJ) is the main government department in NSW that puts this law into practice, but all government departments, partnership agencies, and the community share this responsibility.

Harm in the form of child abuse and neglect can happen to any child or young person in any family, and it can have lasting and damaging effects.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety, welfare, and wellbeing of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We have zero tolerance for child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns are treated very seriously and consistently with our robust policies and procedures. St Columba Anglican School has a legal and moral obligation to contact authorities when we are worried about a child's safety, which we follow rigorously.

If a parent or community member has any concerns in regard to child protection, staff misconduct and child safety, these should be brought to the attention of the Principal or Deputy Principal in the first instance.  You can also make a complaint or give feedback via our Feedback Form.

St Columba Anglican School's Statement of Commitment to Child Safety

St Columba Anglican School has developed the following Statement of Commitment to Child Safety as an overarching statement that provides key elements of our approach to protecting children and young people from abuse and sets the tone for the School’s entire Child Protection Program.

It is designed to be St Columba Anglican School's public statement of commitment to child safety and a demonstration of the School’s leaders’ commitment to champion child safety in our School. It has also been approved and endorsed by the School Council and is regularly reviewed by them.

The Statement is published on our public website and communicated through other mediums such as the Annual Report, Induction and Welcome Packs and all Staff contracts for School Council members, staff members, Direct Contact Volunteers and Direct Contact Contractors.

Objectives

This Statement provides the framework for:

Statement of Commitment 

St Columba Anglican School is committed to providing education and care to children and young people to assist them to develop into high-achieving supported students, positively connected to each other and to the communities in which they live and which they will serve.

The School is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and wellbeing of all children and young people at the School and is dedicated to protecting them from abuse and harm. At St Columba Anglican School, we have a zero tolerance for child abuse. The School regards its child protection responsibilities with the utmost importance. As such, it is committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure compliance with all relevant child protection laws and regulations and to maintain safe and supportive School physical and online environments for all children and young people.

Child Safe Values and Principles 

The following child safe principles guide the School's commitment to child safety and form the basis for all child protection policies and procedures at the School.

Our Child Protection Officers are:

Mr Allan Guihot - Principal

Ms Emma Bylsma - Deputy Principal

Ms Shannon Rosewood and Mr Paul Rikmanis - Heads of School

They can be contacted through the email principal@scas.nsw.edu.au.

Our Child Protection Officers are available to answer any questions that you may have with respect to our Statement of Commitment to Child Safety and the Child Protection Program.

Responsibilities

The School acknowledges that child protection is everyone's responsibility. At St Columba Anglican School, all directors of the School Council, staff members, Volunteers, Third Party Contractors and External Education Providers have a shared responsibility for contributing to the safety and protection of children and young people.

Reporting Child Protection Concerns

Our Child Protection Program provides detailed guidance for all members of the School community as to how to identify key risk indicators of child abuse and how to report child abuse concerns to one of our School’s nominated Child Protection Officers. It also contains detailed procedures with respect to the reporting of child abuse incidents to relevant external authorities. Staff, Volunteers, Third Party Contractors, External Education Providers, students, parents/carers or other community members who have concerns that a child or young person may be subject to abuse are asked to contact one of the School’s Child Protection Officers. 

Communications will be treated confidentially on a 'need to know basis'. Whenever there are concerns that a child is in immediate danger the Police should be called on 000. St Columba Anglican School is committed to the continuous improvement of our Child Protection Program and to ensuring the School’s compliance with NSW child protection law and regulation. The Program is regularly reviewed for overall effectiveness and to ensure compliance with all child protection related laws, regulations and standards.

The Association of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW) has provided the videos below for parents and community members.