Commitment to Child Safety

St Patrick's Primary School is an inclusive and multicultural community, where each person is welcomed, valued and supported.

At St Patrick's we hold the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility of our school. Our commitment is drawn from and inherent in the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ, with love, justice and the sanctity of each human person at the heart of the gospel (Victorian Catholic School Statement of Commitment to Child Safety).

The person of each individual human being, in his or her material and spiritual needs, is at the heart of Christ’s teaching: that is why the promotion of the human person is the goal of the Catholic school (Congregation for Catholic Education 1997, n. 9).

St Patrick's School commitment to child safety:

1. We are committed to the safety, wellbeing, participation and empowerment of all children.
2. We will listen and respond to the views and concerns of all children.
3. We support and respect all children, staff and our volunteers.
4. We have a zero tolerance for child abuse. All allegations and safety concerns will be treated seriously and consistently, in line with our child safety policies and procedures.
5. We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we will follow rigorously.
6. We are committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early and removing and reducing these risks.
7. We have in place screening procedures and recruitment practices for all staff and volunteers.
8. We are committed to regularly training and educating our staff and volunteers on child abuse risks.
9. We are committed to the safety of children from a culturally and/or linguistically diverse background.
10. We have specific policies, procedures and training in place that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.