Catholic Schools Broken Bay commits to providing safe communities for students at our school to grow and learn. We recognise the rights of children and promote safe and supportive environments where we all have a responsibility to keep children safe from harm.

Safeguarding at CSBB includes

1. Utilising best practice, child rights and child safe principles to ensure continuous improvement in the area of safeguarding therefore maintaining our responsibility under the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards and NSW Child Safe Standards.
2. Maintaining professionalism in our interactions with children and young people at all times by exercising appropriate duty of care and maintaining appropriate professional boundaries.
3. Following an established process to address concerns or complaints of inappropriate behaviour of staff towards children or young people. This upholds our legal obligation under the Children’s Guardian Act 2019.
4. Ensuring that all people working in our school who are required to undertake a Working With Children Check have a verified clearance, as per requirements under Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012.
5. Promoting the safety, welfare and wellbeing of children by responding appropriately when we suspect a child or young person is at risk of significant harm due to possible abuse or neglect. This is our legal
   obligation under the NSW Children and Young Person (care and protection) Act 1998.

Parent/Carer Helpers/Volunteers and Contractors

The participation, involvement and help of parents/carers, close relatives and other volunteers are welcome and appreciated for various activities both in school and on excursions. We recognise that parents and carers are the primary educators for their children and we strive to uphold NSW Child Safe Standard 3: families and communities are informed and involved and National Catholic Safeguarding Standard 3: partnering with families, carers and communities.

It is important that all volunteers and contractors are aware that they may be subject to child protection legislation and may require a WWCC. This means all volunteers must:

• Sign on at the front office, and get a visitors badge from the office as per school procedure.
• Complete the CSBB Contractor and Volunteer Engagement form
• Follow our commitment to Safeguarding and not engage in any inappropriate behaviour towards any children. Although volunteers are technically not employed by the school, they are considered to be
  ‘employees’ under the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 and need to be aware that complaints about inappropriate behaviour towards a child or young person is subject to investigation.

Responding to Concerns

We believe in listening to children and our school community when concerns are raised. We take complaints seriously and try to resolve them in the most appropriate, efficient, and confidential manner possible.

APPENDIX 1:

Safeguarding Information

We are committed to providing safe communities for students at our school to grow and learn as outlined in our Diocesan Commitment to Safeguarding. We recognise the rights of children as outlined in the Diocesan Framework on the Rights of the Child and promote safe and supportive environments where we all have a responsibility to keep children safe from harm.

The NSW Child Safe Standards (NSWCSS) and the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (NCSS) provide a principle-based framework that our school commits to using for continuous improvement as part of our commitment to Safeguarding.

Responding to Risk of Significant Harm

All school staff are Mandatory Reporters. This means that if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a child or young person is at risk of significant harm of abuse or neglect, then a report must be made to the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), Child Protection Helpline (CP Helpline).School staff and
Principals are supported by the CSBB Safeguarding Office as required and all records are stored confidentially.
We recognise that a statutory response is not always required and where a family may need extra support, we will assist in making referrals to support the family if needed.

APPENDIX 2:

Working With Children Checks

Working With Children Checks are required by staff, and certain volunteers and contractors in our school.

The purpose of the check is to exclude people from working with children and young people who are not suitable. A person who has been convicted or found guilty of a listed serious offence against children (whether in NSW or elsewhere) is prohibited from child-related employment.

Parent participation, involvement and help are welcome and appreciated for various activities both in school and on excursions. It is important to note that all parent helpers / volunteers are subject to child protection legislation.

CSBB Safeguarding Office supports our school to fulfil obligations under Child Protection (Working With Children) Act 2012. Further information on the Working With Children Check can be found on the website for the Office of the Children’s Guardian. Further information can be found in the SAFEGUARDING &
CHILD PROTECTION POLICY FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS BROKEN BAY: WORKING
WITH CHILDREN CHECK (January 2021).

APPENDIX 3:

MAINTAINING PROFESSIONALISM

All staff, volunteers and contractors are expected to act professionally and in accordance with the school’s expectations regarding staff conduct toward children and young people. Guidance and professional development about appropriate interactions with students, how to exercise duty of care and how to maintain
professional boundaries is provided.

We understand that staff, volunteers and contractors have a duty of care to:

• Ensure no child or young person is exposed to foreseeable risk of harm;
• Take action to minimise risk;
• Supervise actively, and report concerns to the Principal or seek further advice if they see others acting inappropriately with children or young people.

Staff, volunteers and contractors are expected to:

• Demonstrate appropriate relationships with children and young people that cannot be misinterpreted as overly personal or intimate;
• Remain within the responsibilities of their roles and allow those appropriately trained to deal with student welfare concerns;
• Minimise physical contact with children and young people unless it is necessary to exercise appropriate duty of care;
• Follow the school’s policies and procedures relating to pastoral care and wellbeing including serious incidents and reporting risk of harm.

Addressing complaints of inappropriate behaviour of adults towards children and young people

We are committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for both students and staff. This includes addressing complaints of inappropriate behaviour of staff, volunteers and contractors towards any child or young person.

Such complaints are handled differently to other types of complaints which may arise in the school because of legal obligations established by the NSW Children’s Guardian Act 2019. The NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian is a government agency which requires schools and other organisations working with children and
young people to ensure systems are in place for recording and responding to all allegations of a child protection nature against staff, volunteers and contractors.

If you have concerns about alleged inappropriate behaviour by staff, volunteers or contractors towards any child or young person it is important that you discuss your concerns with the Principal who in turn will consult with the CSBB’S Safeguarding Office.

More information can be found in SAFEGUARDING & CHILD PROTECTION POLICY FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS BROKEN BAY: ADDRESSING ALLEGATIONS OF INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR BY EMPLOYEES TOWARDS CHILDREN (January 2021).