Our school adheres to the policies outlined in the CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Policies and Procedures Manual for Community Language Schools and which is available from the CLV
website: CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Manual for CLS. For reference, the corresponding sections of the manual are identified for each of the policy areas below, along with any additional policy documents with which our school complies.
The purpose of the Child Safe Standards is to prevent abuse of children by making organisations safer for children. So that children at community language schools can feel safe and be safe, responsibility for child safety should be understood and accepted by everyone in the school.
The Standards incorporate three principles related to identifying and responding to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children; children from culturally and linguistically diverse communities; and children with a disability.
Our school complies with current Child Safe Standards as outlined on Community Languages Victoria (CLV)’s Child Safety Page (in accordance with CCYP’s Child Safe Standards: CCYP | Child Safe Standards) and all staff, volunteers, and committee members must attend Child Safe Standards training upon commencement and every two years, as well as sign a Child Safety Code of Conduct annually. This establishes clear expectations for appropriate behaviour with children.
Our school uses CLV’s CLS Child Safety Policy & Procedures and CLS Child Safety Code of Conduct. These are kept on file at the school. A copy is available on request from the school or from the CLV website:
CLS Child Safety Policy & Procedures
CLS Child Safety Code of Conduct
Working with Children (WWC) Checks are required by law under the Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic) for people who engage in child-related work. All staff, volunteers, and committee members, regardless of whether they have regular contact with students, must have a valid WCC Check or current Victorian Institute of Teaching registration (VIT) at all times. Our school has a process to track and monitor the currency of these checks.
Our school maintains a register of everyone who has undertaken the training and keeps signed copies of the Code of Conduct and WWC Checks/VIT registrations on file.
The school’s enrolment form can be found on our website or can otherwise be obtained by contacting the school.
To withdraw a student/s from the program, parents must advise the school in writing.
Our school promotes positive behaviour and works to prevent behavioural issues by:
Our school responds to individual students exhibiting challenging behaviour by:
Corporal punishment is prohibited in our school and will not be used in any circumstance. Suspension is a serious disciplinary measure and the school will consider alternative interventions and support for students before proceeding to suspension as the appropriate action.
Our school models respectful relationships and gender equality practices across the entire school community. Our school is:
The classroom or subject teacher is often the best person to handle routine concerns about matters within their classroom and/or area of responsibility. Some complaints will need the involvement of the Leadership Team or the Principal.
The table below outlines the responsibilities of school staff in relation to grievances.
| Who | What for |
|---|---|
| Teacher | Student learning matters, wellbeing, class discipline, friendship issues, homework, issues outside of school that may impact learning, etc. |
| School Coordinator | Continuation of issues raised with the teacher; school-wide matters (school policies and procedures, etc), grievances with other parents, etc. |
| Principal | Continuation of unresolved issues; student protection concerns, serious breaches, etc. |
| Community Languages Victoria (CLV) | Continuation of unresolved issues |
Our school adheres to CLV’s complaints process in accordance with the Complaints Form, which is available from CLV’s website at: Complaints Form.
Bullying is not tolerated at our school. Our school acknowledges that school staff owe a duty of care to students to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of reasonably foreseeable harm, which can include harm that may be caused by bullying behaviour.
Our school ensures bullying behaviour is identified and addressed with appropriate and proportionate consequences. All bullying complaints are taken seriously and responded to sensitively. Investigations will be completed as quickly as possible to allow for the behaviours to be addressed in a timely manner.
Students who may be experiencing bullying behaviour, or students who have witnessed bullying behaviour, are encouraged to report their concerns to school staff or another trusted adult as soon as possible.
Breaches of school policy will be immediately acted upon by the Principal, and where appropriate, by the School Committee.
For more information see the Harassment, Victimisation, and Bullying section of the CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Policies and Procedures Manual for Community Language Schools: CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Manual for CLS.
Our school understands that it has a duty of care to take reasonable steps to protect its students from any harm that should have reasonably been foreseen, including that which may be encountered within the online learning environment.
Teachers will supervise and support students using digital technologies in the classroom and will respond to an online incident as soon as they are aware of its occurrence.
Students at our school will:
For more information including the Cyber Safety Use Agreement, see the Cyber Safety section of the CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Policies and Procedures Manual for Community Language Schools: CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Manual for CLS.
Our school welcomes and accepts all students, including those with disabilities and additional needs, and will ensure that they are accommodated to participate in classes on the same basis as their peers. Discrimination is not acceptable and is illegal under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic).
Within this charter document, “Students with Special Needs” refers to students who have physical conditions, cognitive/neurological conditions, or behaviours that require special educational arrangements or provisions. These students may require some adaptations to the regular school setting, curriculum, and/or instructional style to enable them to learn and develop.
Our school strives to ensure:
Extreme heat or a heatwave is a period of unusual and uncomfortable hot weather that can negatively affect health. Children and young people are more susceptible to heat stress. Our school has strategies to recognise and respond to extreme hot weather and heatwaves and will manage risks associated with heat-related illness.
If a student, staff member, or visitor shows any sign of heat exhaustion or heatstroke, the school will apply first aid and seek medical assistance immediately.
To minimise the risks associated with extreme hot weather our school will review and where practicable and appropriate implement the following:
During a period of extreme heat, the school will consider:
Sun safety is a shared responsibility and staff, parents and students are encouraged to implement a combination of sun protection measures whenever UV levels reach 3 and above (typically from mid-August to the end of April). Information about the daily local sun protection times and sun protection measures is available via the free SunSmart app, or at www.sunsmart.com.au or www.bom.gov.au.
Our school has the following measures in place to help reduce the risk of excessive UV sun exposure for staff and students. Our school will:
Our school is aware of the need to manage the risks associated with extreme heat including the need to be SunSmart.
Our school operates in accordance with Victorian and Commonwealth equal opportunity legislation which aims to promote everyone’s right to equal opportunities; eliminate, as far as possible, discrimination and sexual harassment; and provide redress for people whose rights have been breached. All employees, students, parents, school council members, contractors, and volunteers are required to act in accordance with equal opportunity, anti-discrimination, harassment, and vilification legislation.
For more information, see the Equal Opportunity section of the CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Policies and Procedures Manual for Community Language Schools: CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Manual for CLS.
Our school’s privacy policy is based on the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) (PDP Act) and the Information Privacy Principles (IPP) as passed by the state government. Further information is available at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/privacypolicy.aspx.
For more information, see the Privacy Policy section of the CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Policies and Procedures Manual for Community Language Schools: CLV Student Safety and Staff Welfare Manual for CLS.
Our school collects personal information for a range of purposes, including to:
Our school may contact parents/guardians in a variety of ways, including by post, email, SMS or telephone call. In performing our functions and activities, our school may need to disclose personal information to third parties. Third parties with whom the school may share personal information include, where appropriate:
Our school will advise parents when collecting their personal information, and how it will be used and handled, such as when information is collected at enrolment. Parents/guardians should contact the school if they have any queries about the personal information that is held about them or the way it handles that personal information.
Our school will not photograph, film, or record students without their parent/guardian’s written consent.
The purpose of this policy is to explain to parents/carers how our school will collect, use, and disclose photographs, videos, and recordings of students, how parent/carer consent can be provided, and how it can be withdrawn. Photographs, video, or digital images of a student are considered “personal information” and therefore their use and disclosure are governed by the PDP Act and the IPPs contained within it. Photographs, videos, and digital images of students may also contain copyright, and therefore may also be governed by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) (Copyright Act).
Our school will ensure that parents/carers are notified upon enrolment and at the commencement of each school year of how the school may use images of students. There are many occasions during the school year where staff photograph, film or record students participating in school activities or events. Our school will use student images reasonably, appropriately, and sensitively, consistent with our obligations under the Child Safe Standards and the consent provided by parents. An Annual Consent Form and Collection Notice will be distributed to parents/carers on enrolment and also at the beginning of each school year.
Our school uses CLV’s consent form, a copy of which is available from the school or from the CLV website at: Photographing and Filming Students Consent Form.
It is a legal requirement that all volunteers present in schools must have either a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC) or a valid Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) registration. Our school maintains a register of all checks to ensure that all staff, volunteers, and teachers’ checks are valid.
Our school is also responsible for supervising all visitors present on the premises. If they are working with children, the school will check whether they require a WWCC/VIT registration before attending the school. All visitors will report to the school staff when arriving or leaving the premises. Visitors are required to sign a log-in book upon arrival and when leaving, including printing their name, signing, and recording the date, time, and purpose of their visit. All visitors are required to wear a visitor’s badge when on school premises. The school keeps a record of all visitors on file.
Students are required to attend classes regularly. Absences may mean that students miss assessments and may not have the opportunity to demonstrate achievements of the relevant standards. Our school maintains accurate, dated records of student attendance each week. Parents should notify the school of student absences in advance, where possible.
Our school will ensure parents/guardians are:
Only parents/guardians and authorised nominees are permitted to collect students. Our school will record the details of when a student has been collected early from school including:
Where a student is collected after school hours, our school will:
If a child has not been collected from the school by closing time and the school is unable to contact parents, the school will contact the authorised nominees listed on the child’s enrolment form. In extreme circumstances where our school is unable to contact one of the authorised nominees by closing time, our school will contact the necessary authorities for the safe collection of the child.
The school uses CLV’s Student Early Collection Form, a copy of which is available from the CLV website at: Student Early Collection Form.
Appropriate supervision is an important strategy to monitor student behaviour and enables staff to identify and respond to possible risks at school as they arise. It is also an essential element in our school’s duty of care to students.
Our school has a roster for the supervision of students by staff and by approved volunteers with current WWC Checks. Staff timetabled for duty attend the designated area at the time indicated on the timetable.
Staff who are rostered for yard duty remain in the designated area until they are replaced by a relieving staff member.
Changes to the yard duty timetable are made with the approval of the Principal or responsible School Leader.
Staff are always on the move and highly visible to students.
In line with the First Aid Regulation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 2004, our school has first aid policies and procedures that include the following components:
The school keeps a list of students with allergies and their allergy plan, i.e. Individual Anaphylaxis Management Plan.
To minimise the risk of transmission of infectious disease, our school’s procedures focus on the quick and effective response to a suspected or identified infectious disease.
In the case of a suspected or confirmed infectious disease, our school will work with families, public health units, and medical practitioners to ensure the safety and well-being of all students, families, and staff. Students diagnosed with an infectious disease will be excluded from the school until medical clearance has been provided. To prevent the spread of infectious diseases, government policy encourages all families to immunise their children in accordance with the National Immunisation Program Schedule.
The First Aid Policy is kept on file at the school.
The school uses CLV’s First Aid Policy, a copy of which is available from the CLV website at: First Aid Policy
Our school has an Emergency Management Plan which it updates regularly. The Plan includes information about roles, procedures, and emergency contacts in case of a range of emergencies.
Our school’s risk management policy sets out the requirements for our school to identify and manage risks that might affect our students, staff, or operations. Our school has a Risk Management Register that identifies foreseeable risks and existing risk management strategies (controls) and new risk management strategies (treatments) to meet Child Safety and Occupational Health and Safety Requirements.
Risk Management Process
The Risk Management Process contains the following steps:
Step 1 — Establish the context
Step 2 — Risk identification
Step 3 — Risk analysis
Step 4 — Evaluation
Step 5 — Risk treatment
Step 6 — Communication and consultation
Step 7 — Monitoring and review
Step 8 — Recording and reporting
For more information, see CLV’s Risk Management Strategy section in the CLS Child Safety Policy and Procedures.
